NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., will highlight NETL’s carbon capture technology development and its vital role in decarbonizing the energy sector during Carnegie Mellon University’s Energy Week, which will be held virtually Monday, March 22 though Friday, March 26.

“Carbon capture technologies have the potential to offer viable pathways to enable deep decarbonatization of both the U.S. and the world,” Anderson said. “Early on, NETL recognized the need to rapidly accelerate development and deployment of these technologies, and we already have a solid foundation in place to achieve a carbon emission-free electricity sector by 2035 and economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.”

NETL manages a broad portfolio of carbon capture projects, including post-combustion and pre-combustion capture to reduce carbon emissions in a wide spectrum of industries, from fossil-fueled power generation to manufacturing and heavy industry, as well as negative emissions technologies, such as direct capture of CO₂ from the atmosphere and bioenergy with carbon capture.

In addition to NETL’s investment in identifying and maturing innovative carbon capture technologies, the Lab also developed advanced modeling and simulation capabilities, such as the Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI) and Carbon Capture Simulation for Industry Impact (CCSI2), that help accelerate development and scale up these technologies.

“NETL leads its technology development with strong systems engineering and full life cycle analysis,” Anderson said. “These tools help assess the best low-cost, clean-development path and strategy by applying a wide range of models for energy technology and systems. These are important assets to improve comparative decision-making.”

Platforms such as the Institute for the Design of Advanced Energy Systems (IDAES) framework will also support the design of integrated energy systems, which will synergistically incorporate diverse energy sources, including renewable, nuclear, and fossil with carbon capture, to more effectively provide environmentally sustainable, cost-effective and reliable power, heat, mobility and a variety of other products and services.

“At NETL, we are especially interested in deploying these technologies to create new clean energy jobs and revitalize economically distressed power plant and coal communities to ensure no one is left behind in the energy transition. I look forward to sharing the incredible work of NETL’s scientists and engineers and how we are contributing to this vision,” Anderson said.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory develops and commercializes advanced technologies that provide clean energy while safeguarding the environment. NETL’s work supports DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.