As part of the ongoing POWERGEN+ series of presentations, NETL’s Tom Sarkus provided an in-depth look at how the power plant workforce will change in both the near- and long-term, as markets shift toward renewables, new technologies and operations emerge and workplace demographics and expectations evolve.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has announced $6 million in Federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002405, Advanced Coal Waste Processing: Production of Coal-Enhanced Filaments or Resins for Advanced Manufacturing and Research and Development of Coal-Derived Graphite.

NETL leaders participated in the recent kickoff meeting of the Advanced Welding Workforce Initiative (AWWI) to discuss how the new program will provide workers with needed technical skills to fill good-paying jobs in the energy sector and emerging industries across Appalachia.

NETL together with the Quantum Science Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Pittsburgh Quantum Institute (PQI) to hold a joint workshop on April 16th as part of the PQI2021 Virtual Workshop on quantum information science, held April 13-16. As a free workshop, PQI2021 gave attendees the opportunity to explore panel discussions on quantum science applications in communications, defense and other topics, along with a series of speakers from national and international universities.

NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI), together with the Tri State Energy and Advanced Manufacturing (TEAM) Consortium and the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), highlighted the various elements at play to paint a picture of what the future of manufacturing and energy jobs holds during the “Predicting Future Regional and National Energy Workforce Needs” webinar.

NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., shared his leadership philosophies and best practices regarding the Lab’s technology transfer program in pursuit of net-zero carbon emissions during the annual meeting of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), held in a virtual format April 6-8.

NETL and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to share geologic samples containing rare earth elements (REE) and critical minerals (CM). The arrangement will bolster REE and CM research for both organizations and help ensure vital components of clean energy technology will continue to be manufactured well into the future as the nation works to secure independence from offshore REE reliance.

Check out the March 2021 edition of RWFI E-Note Monthly to learn how to engage with NETL and other federal agencies in collaborative development efforts to prepare workers for high-tech jobs in energy-related fields and to meet the growing demand for a diverse and highly skilled workforce.

NETL’s work to unite public research initiatives with private industry to proliferate sustainable energy technologies were front and center during the 2021 Oil and Natural Gas Technology Symposium: Focus on Sustainability.

NETL highlighted its expertise in data management and curation at the virtual U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Data days Conference (D3), which recently released its final report on conference proceedings.