WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced the selection of five research and development (R&D) projects to receive nearly $8 million for the treatment and management of produced water—or wastewater associated with oil and natural gas development and production—and the management of legacy wastewater associated with coal-based thermal electric power generation facilities. These projects are in addition to $10 million for four projects previously announced in December 2023 to help lower the cost of developing and demonstrating technologies to manage wastewater safely and effectively for beneficial end-uses, while supporting DOE’s goals to provide environmental and economic benefits to communities that have been affected by stressed water resources and legacy pollution. These same energy production waste streams also contain recoverable critical minerals and materials, including rare earth elements, that are essential to our national security and to manufacturing clean energy technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cells.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) today announced $8 million in federal funding for 14 projects to advance technologies that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial facilities and power plants and convert those CO2 emissions into valuable products. Advancing the development of these technologies will help decarbonize industrial processes and establish the foundation for the development of a successful carbon conversion industry in the United States--supporting the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate goals of achieving a carbon-neutral power sector by 2035 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Representatives of the Womanium Foundation, an organization that encourages girls and women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), visited NETL along with officials of the Naval Nuclear Laboratory’s Pittsburgh-based Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory to discuss potential collaborative efforts.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected NETL Director Marianne Walck as a 2023 AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions and technical excellence in geophysics, earth sciences and energy and climate science; strategic leadership at two national laboratories; and unwavering diversity, equity and inclusion leadership and advocacy.

NETL expertise in high-performance computing has significantly cut the cost and research time needed to design high-strength alloys for low-carbon energy production and has been used as a valuable tool to advance the performance of solid oxide fuel cells and water sorption materials for clean energy technologies.

NETL’s Natalie Pekney, Ph.D., was awarded the Carnegie Mellon University Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department’s Lieutenant Colonel Christopher K. Raible Distinguished Public Service Award during an alumni event held April 13 in Pittsburgh. 

An NETL research engineer who has dedicated his career to assessing the environmental and human health risks associated with U.S. oil and gas well infrastructure, has been named to a prestigious list of individuals who have advanced the fields of environmental science or environmental engineering.

NETL is launching a pilot training program for the Battery Workforce Initiative (BWI) — a national effort to ensure worker safety and open new pathways for careers in America’s fast-growing battery manufacturing sector.

NETL experts and representatives of the Department of Energy (DOE) visited North Carolina to review final preparations to ship and test a lower-cost transformational technology developed by CORMETECH Inc. that is designed to capture at least 95% of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the flue gas of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants.

Heather Quedenfeld has been named chief operating officer of NETL. During her 32 years of federal service, Quedenfeld has worked in all technology program-related areas, resulting in diverse experience at the NETL. She has held numerous senior level positions, including acting chief operating officer, deputy director for the Technology Development Center, associate director for Carbon Management research, acting chief of staff for the Laboratory director, and acting lead for the Office of Science and Technology Career Management.