DOE Announces Over $5 Million Toward Four Lab-led Energy Projects Supporting Carbon Management and Resource Sustainability

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) today announced over $5 million for four projects selected from the Base Annual Appropriations Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). With this funding, industry and DOE National Laboratories will partner to advance lab-developed technologies toward commercialization in technology areas supported by FECM including carbon management, critical mineral production, and methane mitigation as part of DOE’s efforts to achieve a clean energy and industrial economy. 

“Accelerating commercialization of cutting-edge energy technologies is essential to achieving DOE’s clean energy goals,” said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan. “The four selected projects offer promising solutions to our climate challenges, and this funding is intended to accelerate their deployment into the private sector for maximum impact.” 

“We are excited to collaborate with DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions to harness the deep expertise of DOE’s National Laboratories to help advance these innovative technologies into the market,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. “The projects announced today will help build sustainable supply chains and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve President Biden’s ambitious energy and climate goals.” 

TCF aims to bolster America’s energy competitiveness and security by accelerating commercialization and shepherding critical energy technologies from the lab to the market, where the private sector will continue to innovate. Within DOE, the OTT is charged with managing TCF in its role of leading policy and programs related to technology commercialization. The $5 million in federal funding from FECM will catalyze over $2 million in cost-share from private sector, academic, and industry stakeholders. The following four projects have been selected for award negotiations: 

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will develop tools to monitor and project forest dynamics for forest-based carbon dioxide removal projects, which capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and sequester it in the form of biomass. The project also will take into consideration changing climate risk due to wildfires and other disturbances. 
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory together with Adelphi Technology will develop an instrument that will drastically improve our ability to measure soil carbon in agricultural fields. Understanding the impacts of soil carbon sequestration under varying conditions will help land managers make more informed decisions on managing soil for the purpose of storing carbon. 
• National Energy Technology Laboratory will accelerate commercial utilization and application of a technology that enables near real-time detection of rare earth elements and other critical minerals from domestic unconventional sources such as coal and coal wastes, acid mine drainage, mine tailings, and produced water from oil and gas production. This effort will help build a secure domestic supply chain for these materials, which are key to manufacturing clean energy technologies and are vital to our national defense.  
• Sandia National Laboratories together with Elementale Enterprises Inc. will adapt existing lab technologies to create a miniaturized methane monitoring system to help detect leaks and reduce harmful methane emissions, which are a major contributor to climate change. 

Learn more about TCF Base programs on the OTT program webpage.   

About the Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions  

The Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) is one of the largest supporters of technology commercialization in the federal government. Founded in 2015, OTT bolsters the technology industry's market skills and enables clean energy technologies to progress through research, development, demonstration, and to deployment into the private sector to meet our nation’s climate goals. Visit us at energy.gov/technologytransitions to learn more, and subscribe to receive our latest opportunities and accomplishments via email. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

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