Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) today announced more than $18 million in available funding for research and development projects that focus on the characterization, treatment, and management of produced water—or wastewater associated with oil and natural gas development and production—as well as management of legacy wastewater associated with coal-based thermal electric power generation facilities, primarily coal combustion residuals waste streams.

NETL has released the latest edition of its semiannual publication that showcases research on emerging energy technologies. NETL Edge shares the latest developments in the Lab’s mission to drive innovation and deliver solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. 

Morgantown High School-Team 1 and Suncrest Middle School-Team 1, also from Morgantown, claimed first-place victories in the 2023 West Virginia Regional Science Bowl sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NETL.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $131 million for 33 research and development projects to advance the wide-scale deployment of carbon management technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution. The projects will address technical challenges of capturing CO2 from power plants and industrial facilities or directly from the atmosphere and assess potential CO2 storage sites, increasing the number of sites progressing toward commercial operations.

As the U.S. economy moves toward a net zero carbon emissions future, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking to partner with states, local governments and public utilities or agencies to support the procurement and use of carbon conversion products. These efforts have been enabled by provisions included in Section 40302 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Food processing company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), with support from NETL, demonstrated an integrated system of processing carbon dioxide (CO2) and transporting it from an ethanol plant to the Mt. Simon Sandstone saline reservoir for permanent geologic storage. This is the largest demonstration of its kind in the United States and marks a crucial step forward in efforts to decarbonize the U.S. economy and power sector by 2050.

NETL and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) representatives toured six sites during four days in California where projects are being developed with the Lab’s oversight and support to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and lower atmospheric levels of the greenhouse gas.

NETL representatives recently attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the City Water, Light and Power (CWLP) plant in Springfield, Illinois, to celebrate the advancement of a large pilot carbon dioxide (CO2) capture project made possible with funding and project management support from the Lab. The project is led by the University of Illinois, in partnership with the Linde Group, BASF Corporation, Affiliated Engineers, Inc., Affiliated Construction Services, Inc., and Visage Energy.

Barbara Kutchko, Ph.D., a celebrated and award-winning NETL researcher who works to increase the safety and efficiency of oil and gas well operations around the world, will share her technical and personal perspectives with a new generation of young people as part of Penn State University’s Celebrating Women in Energy and Water Research seminar series in February.

NETL and the University of Pittsburgh have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore areas of cooperation in the field of novel sensors for infrastructure monitoring. Such sensors are essential to ensuring the optimum operation of existing and new energy technologies while driving economic development. “This MOU presents an exciting opportunity for both the Lab and our academic partners at Pitt to combine our strengths in pursuit of common goals,” said NETL’s David Alman, associate director, Materials Engineering & Manufacturing.