Carbon Capture and Sequestration At the National Energy Technology Laboratory

Carbon, capture, and storage technologies are a promising option that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial and power generation facilities while enhancing the energy security of the United States. The U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory is implementing the federal governments program to develop and deploy technologies for CCS The program is implemented through (1) onsite research conducted at NETL in collaboration with the Regional University Alliance (RUA) and other national laboratories (2) through the management of external applied R&D projects with industry, universities, and other research organizations (3); and by administering demonstration scale CCS projects with industry. NETL and the RUA have formed a consortium of 5 Universities to leverage the facilities and resources in the region to address some of the more challenging issues associated with CCS. This partnership has established an R&D community which bridges the fundamental and applied research which is necessary to address issues associated with reducing the costs and ensuring the long term permanence of CO₂ through both laboratory research and advanced simulation capabilities. NETL’s core R&D programs are supporting industry and research labs to develop the next generation technologies necessary to minimize the costs of CCS for power generating facilities. Finally, the DOE is responsible for managing $3.4 billion dollars of recovery act funds that are being used to support the design, construction, and operation of the first fleet of commercial CCS facilities in the United States.