DOE offering $9.5M in grants to create new markets for coal

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will provide up to $9.5 million for research and development on ways to create new market opportunities for coal.

Specifically, the DOE is seeking proposals to develop innovative uses of coal for feedstocks used to produce power, make steel, and make other high-value products. There are currently three areas of interest. The first is to improve domestic U.S. coal feedstocks for power production and steel-making. Under this area, they are seeking technologies that can produce an upgraded coal fuel from run-of-mine domestic coal to increase the value of coal as a power plant fuel or for steel production for domestic and international markets.

The second is related to producing products from domestic U.S. coal. Here, the DOE is looking for technologies that use domestic coal and/or closely related by-products (coal fines, coal pitch, coal char, etc.) as a manufacturing feedstock to produce solid carbonaceous materials and composites.

The third is related to developing alternative technologies such as microwave or low-temperature plasma to convert domestic U.S. coal into high-performance carbon materials. This is designed to advance the understanding of how to expand the value chain associated with domestic coal through the use of alternative technologies, such as microwave or low-temperature plasma to convert domestic coal into high-performance carbon materials.