NETL experts who specialize in water management issues are attending the North American Shale Water Management Conference in Houston, Texas, this week to exchange ideas and focus on the conference topic of “Reducing the Cost of Water Recycling and Reuse” in energy production. The conference, which runs through Friday, presents an opportunity for leading water management experts and key regulators to meet with shale operators and service companies to explore new cost-effective water treatment, sourcing, disposal, and storage solutions for North American shale plays.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced the selection of eight projects to receive nearly $24 million in federal funds for cost-shared research and development (R&D) for Novel and Enabling Carbon Capture Transformational Technologies. The selected projects will focus on the development of solvent, sorbent, and membrane technologies to address scientific challenges and knowledge gaps associated with reducing the cost of carbon capture. Secretary Perry announced these projects today at a joint press conference with International Energy Agency Executive Director, Dr.

Registration is now open for two workshops hosted at NETL-Pittsburgh for teachers in April. NETL’s educational workshops provide middle and high school teachers with tools and resources to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) into the classroom. These annual gatherings serve to “educate the educator” and inspire the next generation of innovators through fun activities teachers can take back to share with their students.

Inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and other STEM professionals means showing children and youth how science and math form the foundation of the world around us. It means demonstrating to middle and high school students how these fields are fun and fascinating, and it means welcoming college and graduate students into the lab to advance their research skills and instill a passion for lifelong learning. NETL researchers are proud to share their expertise and STEM enthusiasm with students in our local areas.

National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., gave an in-depth description of his laboratory’s fossil energy research priorities, activities and capabilities when he delivered the 2019 Carnegie Mellon University Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation Distinguished Lecture Series Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

A collaborative NETL-led effort to transform Pittsburgh’s energy infrastructure and establish the Steel City as a “Clean Energy City of the Future” will receive the 2019 State and Local Economic Development Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for Technology Transfer.

Developing turbines and other advanced energy systems that can operate at extremely high temperatures boosts efficiency, thereby cutting operating costs and offering potential savings for consumers. Monitoring is critical to ensure that these complex systems run safely and effectively, with minimal downtime; however, the necessary ultra-high temperatures also introduce challenges in developing sensors that can withstand such harsh environments.

Entrepreneurs often play a critical role in the evolution of NETL technologies, shepherding emerging innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace. Entrepreneurs invest in technology transfer initiatives that stimulate the economy, expedite access to the Lab’s energy technology solutions and expand their reach for maximum benefit.

The coming decades will usher great opportunities for high-paying jobs in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) industries, but if too few candidates enter the STEM education pipeline, those jobs could go unfilled. That is why it so important to reach out to today’s elementary and middle school students and get them excited about STEM careers.

NETL recently led a technical team that updated a petroleum refinery life cycle model that provides information on environmental impacts of petroleum refineries. A manuscript detailing the work has been published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology and is available here.