NETL expertise in energy conversion engineering was front-and-center at the 17th International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC-XVII) digital meeting, held July 18-23, 2021, as NETL SOFC Technical Portfolio Lead Gregory Hackett, Ph.D., co-chaired the “Cell, Stack, and System Modeling and Simulation” session and served as moderator for a live Q&A event with conference participants. SOFCs are an important technology option for reaching decarbonization goals of carbon-free power production by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050.

In an NETL-supported project, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Kentucky (UK) are investigating ways to use carbon ore to create high-value products like carbon fiber composites for the aerospace, automotive, wind energy markets and more. The research is also helping achieve a key Biden Administration priority of environmental justice by paving the way for new clean manufacturing industries and good-paying jobs in American coal communities.

NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI) will host the 2021 Regional Advanced Manufacturing and Energy (R-AME) Innovation Group summer meeting. This meeting includes stakeholders across Appalachia, including major players in academia and industry to discuss opportunities for strengthening economic & workforce development across the region.

NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., will participate in the H2IQ Hour, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, July 21, 2021, at 12 p.m. ET, to provide an update on NETL’s hydrogen activities, including how those efforts are supporting larger diversity, equity, inclusion and environmental justice initiatives.

In partnership with NETL, researchers at Rice University are studying how an advanced conversion process called flash Joule heating (FJH) can inexpensively produce high-value graphene from carbon ore using scalable technology, producing a valuable additive for next-generation technology and advanced manufacturing methods.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected 12 projects to receive approximately $16.5 million in federal funding for cost-shared cooperative agreements to help recalibrate the nation’s vast fossil-fuel and power infrastructure for decarbonized energy and commodity production. The selected projects will develop technologies for the production, transport, storage and utilization of fossil-based hydrogen, with progress toward net-zero carbon emissions.   

After nearly two decades of collaboration and research, the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) helped the country come closer to commercial deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies.

According to the latest rankings by TOP500, NETL’s Joule 2.0 supercomputer remains among the most powerful in the nation, securing a position of 37th in the United States.

The United States Research Impact Alliance (USRIA), a technology development incubator based in Morgantown, West Virginia, will receive $1 million to accelerate NETL-supported clean energy and manufacturing projects to market and stimulate the formation of new businesses to help reach the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

Four scientists at NETL are inspiring girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at GirlCon 2021, an international tech conference aiming to empower the next generation of female leaders. Natalie Pekney, Alexandra Hakala, Circe Verba and Madison Wenzlick are slated to present at several sessions throughout the conference to share their career stories, offer tips for working in energy and address challenges girls may face in pursuing STEM.