Director’s Corner

by Brian Anderson, Ph.D.

NETL’s research portfolio includes many critical technology areas for delivering integrated solutions to enable transformation to a sustainable energy future. An important aspect of that research is ensuring the technologies and innovations resulting from our work will have impact and real potential to improve people’s lives. 

This month we’re featuring just a few of the many technologies our researchers are advancing that stand out for innovation and are market-ready. Visit our website through October to read more about: 

• NETL’s Microwave Ammonia Synthesis process that is a physics and chemistry trailblazer that can run off renewable power sources, such as the solar panels and windmills, and can function even during intermittent power supplies, allowing for increased flexibility for ammonia producers.
• The Lab’s Multi-functional Sorbent Technology, which comprises a suite of versatile and low-cost, regenerable sorbent materials that look like fine grains of sand and make a big impact by removing toxic elements such as lead and mercury, among others, from acidic mine drainage, preventing the effluent streams from polluting fragile ecosystems. 
• NETL’s CO2-SCREEN tool that provides reliable and accurate carbon dioxide storage estimates for a wide variety of geological formations, allowing governments, industries and other stakeholders, including local communities, to confidently explore geologic carbon sequestration options that will help achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the electric sector by 2035 and the broader economy by 2050.
• Ensuring that emerging innovations move from the laboratory to the marketplace is critical for maximum impact and brining maximum benefit to the American people. 

I look forward to sharing more successes in the future as we continue our work to drive innovation and deliver solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future.