In celebration of Earth Day 2022, NETL will join with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) other national laboratories for a daylong showcase of the department’s commitment to the planet and research being pursued to reach a sustainable energy future. National Lab Earth Day will be a virtual “sunrise-to-sunset” event that will begin on the East Coast and conclude on the West Coast by highlighting all 17 DOE national laboratories through tours, activities, short talks and panels designed to provide engaging experiences and promote the laboratory complex. NETL’s contribution to National Lab Earth Day will be a virtual tour across the Lab’s facilities in Albany, Oregon; Morgantown, West Virginia; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At these sites, award-winning scientists and engineers are striving to ensure affordable, abundant and reliable energy while developing technologies to manage carbon emissions and enable environmental sustainability.

NETL’s Ale Hakala, Ph.D., recently spoke with seniors in the AP Environmental Science class at Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, North Carolina, highlighting her career as an energy researcher focused on environmental sustainability. Laura Helsabeck, Ph.D., who teaches the class, invited Hakala, who is currently an NETL senior fellow leading the Lab’s geological and environmental systems research, to share her perspective on issues surrounding natural gas and carbon storage. “Laura and I were in the same research group during graduate school at Ohio State, and have maintained a close personal friendship over the years, so it was great to reconnect with her on a technical level to help with her teaching section focused on climate change,” Hakala said. “And it was an honor to speak to her students and help them see that there are creative solutions to carbon management beyond what they may have learned in their textbook.”

NETL leverages its expertise in computational modeling to advance the design and improve the capability to predict the performance of alloys in harsh environments needed to reduce the environmental impact of energy production. Several studies by researchers at the Lab and others affiliated with the NETL-led eXtremeMAT consortium, which focuses on developing next-generation computational models for design and performance prediction of alloys in extreme operating conditions, are featured in a special edition of JOM, The Journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society devoted to computational design of alloys for energy technologies. 

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced $2.4 million in funding for three projects to advance novel thermal and hydrogen energy storage technologies toward increased duration, reliability and affordability. The technologies will initially support transitioning of existing fossil assets to low carbon energy systems, with the long-term potential to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of a fully decarbonized electricity grid by 2035. “The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is investing in projects that will advance thermal and hydrogen energy storage technologies for use during and beyond the electricity decarbonization transition,” said Acting Assistant Secretary of FECM Dr. Jennifer Wilcox. “By validating new options for electricity storage, these projects will move us toward achieving the cost and performance goals of DOE’s Long Duration Storage Shot—to reduce the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90 percent for systems that deliver 10 or more hours of duration in one decade.”

North Allegheny Senior High School Team One and Marshall Middle School Team One, both from Wexford, claimed victory at the 31st annual Western Pa. Bowl (WPASB), held Feb. 26 and March 5, 2022, in a virtual setting. Forty-one teams from 27 high schools and 30 teams representing 17 middle schools throughout Western Pennsylvania participated in the competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).  The winners of the 2022 WPASB competition will represent Western Pennsylvania in DOE’s National Science Bowl scheduled for April 29-May 3 which will also be in a virtual format.  The WPASB tested students’ knowledge of math and science topics. High school teams competed Saturday, Feb. 26, followed by middle school students a week later. This year’s Science Bowl continued with the altered format that went in effect last year; teams competed individually instead of head-to-head with the highest scoring teams moving up. The final winning teams in the two events will compete in the National Science Bowl.

Example and screenshot of CORD datasets used within the “CORD Platform” dashboard web application. The map (top center) displays coal delivery pathways extending from mine (black squares) to power plants (blue triangles and light blue highlighted circles) associated with the Powder River (Basin) coal source region (purple area on map). Datasets are summarized around the map within charts, lists, and graphs accordingly. NETL’s new Carbon Ore Resources Database (CORD) is a valuable online tool to enable the recovery of high-value carbons and critical minerals from U.S. mining and industrial waste streams needed to support innovative manufacturing while lowering the environmental footprint of using domestic resources. 

March is Women’s History Month, providing NETL with a prime opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women from across the Lab who are advancing research to mitigate climate change, discovering clean energy technologies and leading teams of research scientists and engineers as they contribute to the legacy of women who have served as pioneers in their fields. Throughout the month, NETL will feature some dedicated scientists and professionals and highlight the important roles they play in leading projects throughout the Lab. Watch for Women’s History Month posts on NETL social media. In addition to their accomplishments, those profiled will discuss the progress that has been made to ensure women are fairly and equally represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. These talented individuals also will share how closing the gender gap in STEM careers builds diversity and inclusion, which are essential components to cultivate workplace environments where different viewpoints and perspectives are needed to find solutions to challenging issues.

The tutelage and guidance provided by NETL’s Ruishu Wright as she mentors research associate Abhishek Venketeswaran demonstrates how the Lab is working to apply new concepts to the energy sector while fostering the careers of tomorrow’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) specialists. Venketeswaran grew up in India and developed a passion for mathematics at an early age, which prompted him to pursue engineering. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. Venketeswaran went on to earn his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University at Buffalo before joining NETL’s internship program in September 2019 as a post-doctoral research associate administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).

The February 2022 edition of the RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI), will include details on funding opportunities for advancing undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is vital for ensuring the growth of a future work force. The NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate seeks to significantly enhance its support for research, development, implementation, and assessment to improve STEM education at the nation’s two-year colleges. NSF encourages bold, potentially transformative projects that address immediate challenges facing STEM education at two-year colleges. These projects may also anticipate new structures and functions of the STEM learning and teaching enterprise. 

NETL’s Sofiane Benyahia, Ph.D., has received the Charles W. Pierce Distinguished Alumni Award from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. The award is presented annually and recognizes alumni who have brought recognition to IIT through their outstanding contributions to the advancement of the chemical and biological engineering profession and exceptional dedication and support to the university. The award will be presented at IIT in Chicago. In the early 1900s, IIT was one of a handful of universities that offered a formal course of study in chemical engineering. The award honors the legacy of Charles W. Pierce, who is not only the first graduate of the department but is also recognized as the first African American who earned a degree in chemical engineering. After earning his chemical engineering degree, Pierce taught at Tuskegee Normal College (now Tuskegee University), where colleagues included Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver, prominent African American scientists.