WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) announced up to $150 million in federal funding for cost-shared projects aimed at advancing three critical priorities for the U.S. oil and natural gas industry—dramatically improving recovery efficiency from unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, advancing hydraulic fracture characterization technologies, and developing innovative solutions for produced water management. This initiative advances resident Trump’s Executive Order , “Unleashing American Energy,” and the Secretarial Order “Unleashing the Golden Era of Energy Dominance,” to provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy to all Americans through the responsible development of our nation’s abundant domestic oil and natural gas supplies.

ClearSign Technologies Corporation, with NETL project management support and funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, recently demonstrated its revolutionary process burner in front of a live industry audience at the Zeeco test facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The burner successfully operated on fuels ranging from 100% natural gas to 100% hydrogen while keeping nitrogen oxides (NOx) at ultra-low levels (under 5 parts per million) without any post-combustion treatment.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) today announced $3.6 million for nine design and engineering projects that will support the refurbishment or retrofit of existing coal power plants with transformational technologies that address wastewater systems and improve the efficiency, reliability, flexibility, and performance of coal and natural gas use. By upgrading our nation’s existing coal facilities, these initiatives will help strengthen the backbone of America's power grid and ensure all American’s have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy when they need it most.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of four coal modernization and reliability projects to strengthen coal-based generation, grid reliability, and strategic energy infrastructure. The selected projects will expand and reinvigorate America’s coal fleet through targeted upgrades that increase efficiency, extend plant life, and support reliable baseload power generation. 

NETL researchers have leveraged decades of computer modeling expertise to design a key component of an emerging class of combustion technology called rotating detonation engines (RDEs), which could enable “pressure gain combustion,” a long-sought advancement that could significantly improve efficiency, reduce fuel consumption, and lower nitrogen oxides emissions of next-generation gas turbines.

Researchers at NETL are working to significantly increase the volume of oil and natural gas that can be recovered from unconventional formations, where only a small percentage of hydrocarbons in place are typically extracted, to ensure affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the United States. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Technologies Office (ITO) has selected NETL and its partners at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to receive $10 million in funding to develop the Burner Laboratories to Advance fuel utiliZation for thermal Energy (BLAZE) Center.

When NETL held its regional Science Bowls in February, students competing in these exciting contests were tested and supported by researchers and staff dedicated to resolving complex energy issues and developing the nation’s next generation of scientific and engineering talent.

NETL’s Tammie Borders, acting associate laboratory director for the Critical Minerals & Advanced Alloys Center of Excellence, has been selected as a 2026 Oppenheimer Science & Energy Leadership Program (OSELP) fellow. This distinguished year-long program, facilitated by the National Laboratory Directors’ Council, identifies and cultivates exceptional leaders poised to shape the future of science and energy within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories.

ClearSign Technologies Corporation, with project management and financial support from NETL, is working to advance industrial fueling technologies that will address the practical demands of U.S. refineries and chemical processing facilities by enabling the cost-effective use of diverse fuel and natural gas mixed gas blends in industrial heating applications.