As securing a domestic source of rare earth elements (REEs) remains a priority for the U.S. Department of Energy, a potential opportunity to obtain these elements is within reach thanks to our nation’s abundant coal resources. With support from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is exploring methods by which REEs can be extracted, separated, and recovered from coal-based resources.

The history of NETL’s Pittsburgh site stretches back to 1910, when the newly created Bureau of Mines in the U.S. Department of the Interior opened the Pittsburgh Experiment Station in Bruceton, Pennsylvania, 12 miles south of Pittsburgh. The station’s original purpose was to investigate mining methods that would lower the number of fatal explosions and fires in U.S. underground coal mines.

Through decades of advanced research, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Carbon Storage Program, implemented by NETL, has steadily helped move carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) toward commercialization. In-house carbon storage research in technology areas like wellbore integrity and mitigation; storage complex efficiency and security; and monitoring, verification, accounting and assessment have built a strong science-based foundation for CCUS.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and NETL have announced up to $14 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002185, Advanced Coal Processing Technologies.

NETL’s Briggs White will provide an update on the development of the nation’s Fossil Energy Advanced Energy Storage Program during a webinar from 11 a.m. to noon EST on Wednesday, April 22.

The Summary Report of the Tri-Lab Workshop on Modeling & Analysis of Current & Future Energy Systems, which was hosted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), has been released.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and NETL has issued a Notice of Intent for a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to advance energy storage technologies capable of improving the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of fossil-fueled assets. The assets include fossil-fueled power generating facilities, fossil-fueled poly-generation facilities, and suitable fossil-fueled industrial applications.

At the conclusion World War II, interest in producing synthetic fuels soared. In fact, the original mission of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown centered on finding better methods of gasifying coal to produce synthesis gas. Through the years, NETL-Morgantown has continued to lead research that enables domestic coal, natural gas and oil to economically power homes, industries, businesses and transportation while protecting the environment and enhancing U.S. energy independence.

NETL presents the latest edition of our publication that showcases the Lab’s research on emerging energy technologies. NETL Edge shares the latest developments our talented scientists and engineers are advancing to use our nation’s energy resources efficiently and safely to bolster American’s energy independence. Check out the newly released edition to learn more about key laboratory initiatives in shale gas utilization, alloy development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, microwave characterization reaction chemistry and more.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NETL announced plans to provide up to $22 million for research aimed at achieving breakthroughs in the effort to capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air.  The initiative encompasses two concurrent funding announcements—one by DOE’s Office of Science (SC) and another by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy (FE)—and will span the spectrum from fundamental research in materials and chemical sciences to field testing of prototypes.