The U.S. Department of Energy is backing 32 projects with a total of $56.5 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects for advanced coal technologies and research under six separate funding opportunity announcements.
The agency spread the awards over a range of categories including carbon capture, utilization and storage; rare earth element recovery; coal-to-products; crosscutting coal R&D; steam turbine efficiency; and advanced materials. The awards further the administration's commitment to strengthening clean coal technology, the DOE said in a Sept. 20 news release.
"We will continue our commitment to investing in research, development, and demonstration initiatives to drive these innovative clean coal technologies forward," Energy Secretary Rick Perry said.
The announcement includes $10 million for 10 projects aimed at developing new uses for domestic coal, $11.9 million for two projects advancing steam turbines for coal boilers, $9.3 million for projects focused on enhancing the performance and economics of the existing coal-fired power plant fleet, $5 million for the development and deployment of innovative systems for improving efficiency and environmental performance, up to $15 million for research into extracting rare earth metals from coal, and $5.3 million for two projects related to monitoring technologies for carbon capture and sequestration.
