The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding March 2 to pursue research on new ways to use coal to create innovative high-value products.
"The MOU signed today signals the department's continued commitment to enhancing the use of our coal resources," DOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steve Winberg said in a press release. "The depth and breadth of scientific knowledge across the DOE enterprise, especially at our National Labs, is what allows for this kind of innovative partnership."
According to acting NETL Director Sean Plasynski and ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia, the MOU will lead to joint exploration of projects that use coal as a precursor for products such as pitches, fibers, nanocarbon catalysts, and other structural or functional materials.
Types of joint research that will be pursued by the laboratories include reduction of water consumption in energy production, innovation of advanced manufacturing technology for energy production, especially fossil energy technologies, and execution of workforce and economic development initiatives in the Appalachian region, among others.
