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Carbon Management

Introduction

NETL’s Carbon Management Program, comprised of a world-class team of high-performing leaders, scientists, and engineers, houses the necessary engineering and scientific expertise to manage external R&D projects that further the DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Program’s goals. Research in this area supports point source carbon capture, CO2 removal, CO2 conversion into products, reliable CO2 storage, blue hydrogen production, and critical mineral production from industrial and mining waste.

NETL’s Carbon Management Program

Limiting the Climate and Environmental Impacts from our Dependence on Fossil Fuels

  • Ensuring Affordable, Abundant, and Reliable Energy: Providing solutions that are focused on innovative technologies that will help build a clean energy economy, including sourcing low-carbon hydrogen that will be critical to produce fuels and chemicals with CO2 as a feedstock.

  • Developing Technologies to Manage Carbon Across the Full Life Cycle:  Limiting the climate and environmental impacts of fossil fuels through point source carbon capture and reliable storage (CCS) as well as CO2 removal from the atmosphere to address our hardest to decarbonize sectors, are essential to get where we need to be – a low-carbon economy at the lowest possible cost. This effort will include developing and deploying low-carbon supply chains like cement and concrete, steel, paper, fuel, nylon polyester and other important products that we rely on every day.

  • Enabling Environmental Sustainability for all Americans:  Improving the conditions of communities impacted by the legacy of the continued use of fossil fuels and envisioning a clean energy transition that produces good-paying jobs.

coal introduction

 


Carbon Management Technology Thrusts


Advanced Energy Systems

Advanced Energy and Hydrogen Systems

Increasing the availability, efficiency and reliability of carbon neutral power derived from fossil fuels and other feedstock such as waste biomass and plastics through RDD&D.


Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage

Carbon Capture

Advancing technologies and techniques focusing on point source carbon capture utilizing both new technologies and the demonstration
of more proven approaches. 

  • Pre- and Post-Combustion Capture Systems 
  • Advanced Solvents, Sorbents, Membranes and Novel Concepts

 


Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage

Carbon Utilization and Storage

Developing the tools, techniques, and innovations needed to enable safe, , lowest cost, permanent CO2 storage and to pioneer its use and reuse for industry.

  • Long-Term Storage Monitoring, Verification, Accounting, and Assessment 
  • Storage Infrastructure Demonstration
  • Carbon Utilization

 


Crosscutting

Crosscutting Research

Accelerating science and engineering-based solutions across multiple operational platforms to optimize plant performance, reduce O&M costs and water consumption, and develop the next-generation of structural and functional materials.


STEP Icon

STEP (Supercritical CO2)

Developing and modeling sCO2 power cycles with the potential to achieve efficiencies greater than 50%, and broad applicability to fossil, nuclear, waste-heat, and concentrated solar energy.

  • High-Efficiency Power Cycle
  • Reduced Water Consumption and Air Emissions
  • Reduced Power Cycle Footprint

 

Evolving Topics in Carbon Management

NETL’s Carbon Management Program focuses on cutting America’s carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reaching 100% clean electricity by 2035.

  Combatting the Climate Crisis, Providing Energy Justice and Developing Clean Energy   

Developing and Deploying
Carbon Dioxide Removal
Technologies  

Topics in Coal 1

Builds upon past efforts that have been funded  through FECM’s CCUS  activities, such as past work on Direct Air Capture, enhanced mineralization, co-firing of biomass and capture technology development.

Including Those Historically
Excluded From Environmental
Decision-making

Topics in Coal 2

Advancing fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.

Revitalizing
Fossil Energy Related
Communities 

Topics in Coal

Benefiting communities, having borne the brunt of  fossil energy related pollution, with a plan to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of climate investments and inform equitable research, development and deployment within the DOE. 

Reducing the Cost of CO2
Capture, Utilization, and
Storage (CCUS)

Topics in Coal 4

Reducing the cost and risk of CCUS to enable wider commercial deployment

Expanding the Use of
Big Data by Leveraging Artificial
Intelligence

Topics in Coal 6

Optimizing fossil fuel plant performance and CO2 sequestration with real-time analysis informed by machine learning

Project Information

NETL implements this effort as part of DOE’s Carbon Management Program.
Technology area contact:

Greg O'Neil
Associate Director, Carbon Management
Technology Development Center