NETL personnel played key roles in Electric Power Transformation: 2023 MEGA Symposium — a national event focused on the transition of the energy generation industry to cleaner and climate resilient electric power that is cost-effective and reliable.

Held in late September in Pittsburgh, the symposium was hosted by the Air and Waste Management Association. NETL Associate Director Peter Balash participated in a plenary session dedicated to key issues for clean and reliable energy. Greg Hackett, NETL research engineer, presented on carbon capture technologies status and challenges.

The 2023 MEGA Symposium addressed energy and environmental policy and technology issues for transitioning the electric power sector. Other topics included climate change policy, siting and permitting, environmental justice, power generation technologies, carbon capture and storage, transportation, air emissions controls, and waste and water issues.

The MEGA Symposium provided technical information, solutions, and insights on policy developments; methods for managing compliance; and new technologies and environmental controls.  The symposium attracted a wide range of participants including power company staff who are responsible for compliance and policy; managers and engineers; technology suppliers and consultants; project developers; early career industry professionals; government agency managers and staff; academicians; and staff from environmental non-governmental organizations in North America and beyond.

NETL is well positioned to provide input on topics covered by the symposium. Its strategic system analysis and engineering experts execute comprehensive evaluations of the most complex energy systems from the sub-process to the global scale. The lab maintains multi-criteria and multi-scale decision tools and approaches that include process systems engineering research, process and cost engineering, resource and subsurface analysis, market and infrastructure analysis and environmental life cycle analysis. NETL’s expertise provides insights into how energy systems interact at plant, regional, national, and global scales.

Founded in 1907, the Air and Waste Management Association is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional organization enhancing knowledge and expertise by providing a neutral forum for information exchange, professional development, networking opportunities, public education, and outreach to more than 5,000 environmental professionals in 65 countries.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By using its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.