In this quarter’s Research Associate Spotlight and Mentor Profile, up-and-coming environmental engineer Preom Sarkar discusses the important contributions she is making in collaboration with NETL experts to create more environmentally friendly methods of flue gas desulfurization (FGD).

Request for Information Will Guide the Selection and Management of Critical Climate Investments of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law 

NETL researchers will share their internationally recognized geo-data science and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) expertise through an invited talk and other sessions during the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dec. 13-17.

The December 2021 edition of the SSAE Newsletter provides updates about recent research initiatives undertaken within NETL’s Strategic Systems Analysis and Engineering (SSAE) directorate. Click here to access this latest edition and learn about activities that SSAE is leading to gain insights into new energy concepts, support the analysis of energy system interactions and advance its capabilities. Highlights in this edition include:

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced its intent to fund projects through its University Training and Research Program, which is composed of the University Coal Research (UCR) program and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Institutions (HBCU-OMI) program. The programs serve to prepare the next generation of engineers and scientists working to advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory will host a webinar at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, discussing research and development opportunities available within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM) Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Institutions (HBCU-OMI) Program.

In 2021, NETL’s Materials Engineering & Manufacturing (MEM) researchers advanced multiple discoveries, which included developing cost-effective materials to withstand extreme service environments in tomorrow’s highly efficient power plants, removing contaminants from water, finding new uses for carbon wastes, and helping the nation achieve its decarbonization goals while ensuring robust supplies of affordable energy and creating jobs for American workers. Notable MEM research achievements in the past year were:

NETL is exploring new avenues by which Appalachian energy communities can realize exciting new economic opportunities through the use of carbon-neutral modular gasification technologies to produce hydrogen and other valuable products.

The November 2021 edition of RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative, details a funding opportunity from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that focuses on increasing and broadening the participation of students in engineering careers.

NETL’s Program Execution and Integration functions are powered by highly trained experts that are developing clean energy technologies, assisting with problem-solving and evaluating and managing project risk, as well as defining, soliciting, negotiating, awarding, managing and delivering federally sponsored research and development benefits to the nation. Applying these assets, NETL has guided a range of successful research, development and demonstration projects. A sample of NETL’s many collaborative successes in 2021 follow: