Washington — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $251 million to support 12 selected projects across seven states that will bolster the nation’s carbon management capabilities.

NETL is using a state-of-the-art tool it developed to help a new research team evaluate the economic costs and benefits of capturing and purifying minerals that can be reused to create valuable products as part of desalination — the process of removing salt from brackish wastewater.

NETL’s Lingxiang Zhu, a researcher who specializes in the development of membranes to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial sources, will receive the 2023 Young Membrane Scientist Award at the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) annual meeting May 13-17 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

When NETL researchers teamed up with colleagues at West Virginia University (WVU) and Malachite Technologies, their mission was to improve on a process that has dominated ammonia production for more than 100 years by producing the valuable chemical at low temperatures and near-ambient pressures. The team found success by combining cutting-edge microwave reaction science research at NETL with specialized catalyst development from WVU and reactor manufacturing experience from Malachite to create the award-winning Microwave Ammonia Synthesis (MAS) process. 

NETL researchers are investigating the use of microwaves to convert a combination of waste plastics and the stalks, leaves and cobs that remain in fields after corn is harvested, called corn stover, into hydrogen, which can then be used in various industrial and energy-related applications.

As new technologies and processes are created to achieve the administration’s goal of a net-zero greenhouse gas emission energy economy by 2050, a skilled NETL team takes precise steps to understand the innovations’ environmental impacts through rigorous life cycle analysis (LCA) processes. The results help people make better decisions to improve and protect the environment.

High school and middle school teams that won NETL’s annual regional Science Bowl competitions for West Virginia and western Pennsylvania made strong showings at the national contest held April 27-May 1 in Washington, D.C. Suncrest Middle School Team 1 and Morgantown High School Team 1 earned trips to compete in the National Science Bowl after winning the 2023 West Virginia Regional Science Bowl.

NETL Director Brian Anderson highlighted the expertise of the Lab’s researchers to advance innovations and scientific discoveries that support the development of regional clean hydrogen hubs across America, including a project planned through a partnership with the State of West Virginia, EQT Corp., the nation’s largest natural gas producer, and others.

An advanced material that demonstrated unparalleled durability in a groundbreaking NETL test was recently selected by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and their industry collaborator Hatch for use in a novel chemical looping combustion (CLC) reactor.

The United States currently imports nearly all its supply of rare earth elements (REEs), which are a group of critical minerals that are vital for decarbonizing the energy system.