(427a) U.S. Department of Energy Fossil Energy R&D Program: Overview and Priorities

The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has identified five overarching research and development (R&D) priorities that require concentrated federal investments to maintain America’s dominance in the fossil energy sector: 1) advance small-scale modular coal plants of the future, 2) improve the performance, reliability, and efficiency of the existing coal-fired fleet, 3) reduce the cost of carbon capture, utilization and storage to enable wider deployment, 4) optimize recovery of oil and gas resources with real-time analysis and machine learning, and 5) improve the efficient use of the Nation’s scarce water resources.

This presentation will provide an overview of how DOE’s FE R&D Program is addressing these five key R&D priorities, as well as related FE research needs articulated by the U.S. Congress. Emphasis will be placed on potential future R&D thrusts that will require chemical engineering solutions.

The presentation will also explain the approach taken by the government-owned, government-operated National Energy Technology Laboratory to mature and commercialize technology for DOE/FE, and explain how academia and industry can partner with DOE to conduct R&D through grants and cost-shared financial assistance.