WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced it will make up to $54.4 million in additional funding available to advance diverse carbon management approaches that reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution. The funding will support the development of technologies that capture CO2 from industrial and power generation sources or directly from the atmosphere and transport it either for permanent geologic storage or conversion into valuable products such as fuels and chemicals. The development of these technologies is crucial to advance the nation’s efforts to address climate change and achieve the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050.

Researchers at NETL and the University of Pittsburgh received a prestigious R&D 100 Award for their collaborative effort that resulted in the development of revolutionary technology to protect and monitor pipelines, bridges, spent nuclear fuel storage canisters and other crucial components of the nation’s infrastructure.

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based ClearSign Technologies Corporation was awarded $1.65 million in Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding for the development of its “Flexible Fuel Ultra-Low Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Process Burner,” technology that can foster decarbonized hydrogen power use across the country in industrial settings.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced the selection of nine university and industry-led projects to receive $44.5 million in federal funding to advance commercial-scale carbon capture, transport, and storage across the United States. These regional partnership projects will accelerate the understanding of specific geologic basins to enable the permanent storage of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial operations and power plants, as well as from legacy emissions in the atmosphere. The partnerships will provide technical, informational, and educational assistance to stakeholders involved in DOE and private sector-based carbon transport and storage projects located throughout the country, as well as to communities where these projects are located. These efforts support the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to ensuring that all carbon management projects continue to be designed, built, and operated safely and responsibly, and in a way that reflects the best science and commercial practice and responds to the needs and inputs of local communities. 

Several of the nation’s top engineers shared insights during a recent meeting with members of eXtremeMAT-H2, an NETL-led consortium of national laboratories, to accelerate the development of reliable, cost-effective alloys that can withstand long-term exposure to hydrogen-containing environments at elevated temperatures, such as environments found in advanced, hydrogen-fueled power plants and other industries.

NETL researchers recently took a significant step forward in harnessing the power of the world’s largest computer chip — the Wafer-Scale Engine (WSE) — by using an application programming interface designed in-house to connect commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software through data-file sharing with the next-generation computing technology.

NETL and project partner Cerebras are advancing high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI)-physics model coupling that can greatly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy research projects by as much as 30%.

Working for NETL at its research site in Albany, Oregon, has provided Billy Epting with an abundance of opportunities to explore his true passions — developing solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) technology to address climate change and enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest with his family.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced nearly $10 million for two projects that will help lower the costs and reduce the environmental impact of producing rare earth elements and other critical minerals and materials from coal, coal wastes, and coal by-products. Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the selected projects will help meet the growing demand for critical minerals and materials in the United States, while reducing our reliance on foreign supply chains. Rare earth elements and other critical minerals and materials are incorporated into many products, including U.S.-manufactured energy technologies—such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells.

The successful completion of field operations supported by NETL in southwest Utah represents a significant step forward to advance geothermal energy as a resource that will produce renewable clean electricity for the nation’s power grid.