Director’s Corner

by Brian Anderson, Ph.D.

At NETL, our researchers continue to aggressively pursue technology solutions to our nation’s energy challenges. From discovering ways to transform fossil fuels into hydrogen and other forms of chemical energy, to investigating ways to apply machine learning and data analytics to design next-generation alloys, NETL is on the leading edge of innovation. 

The third quarter of the 2020 fiscal year was no exception. I’m proud to share a selection of accomplishments from this productive quarter. For example: 

• Our researches made advances in carbon capture and storage, such as a new version of NETL’s CO₂-SCREEN tool for estimating CO₂ storage potential and a new process developed for CO₂ separation.  
• We conducted analyses that assessed market opportunities for high-performance alloys, and resource adequacy and reliability in Texas given the current coronavirus pandemic. 
• We collaborated on several projects that made strides toward securing a domestic supply of rare earth elements from the nation’s abundant coal resources. 

These are just a few of the breakthroughs our NETL team is accomplishing. Please read more about these successes and others in our most recent Accomplishments Report. PDF Version.