News Releases issued in: 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

December 16, 2002
DOE Study Raises Estimates of Coalbed Methane Potential in Powder River Basin
An Energy Department report boosts estimates of natural gas in Wyoming and Montana coal seams but cautions that actual production will hinge on choice of water disposal method.  

November 21, 2002
Abraham Announces Plans to Expand DOE's Carbon Sequestration Program
Regional Partnerships, Ohio River Valley Project To Study Ways to Capture,
Store Carbon Gases
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has announced plans to create a nationwide network of "regional partnerships" to help determine the most suitable technologies, regulations, and infrastructure needs for different areas of the country if a decision is made in the future to capture and permanently store carbon gases.

November 21, 2002
Submersible Oil Pump, More Revealing Seismic Surveys Likely Products of
New Oil Technology Projects
DOE is adding two new oil technology research projects to its "Advanced Technology Development by Independents" Program. One will develop a better submersible oil pump; the other will test a new seismic surveying technology.

November 21, 2002
A Greenhouse Gas Solution Deep Beneath Our Feet?
The U.S. Department of Energy has given the go-ahead to a research team headed by American Electric Power and Battelle to begin studying potential sites in the Ohio River Valley where carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants might one day be injected deep underground.  

October 14, 2002
Clean Coal Power Now Serving Customers in Jacksonville, FL
Plant Wins POWER Magazine Award
The nation's newest clean coal technology project, the 600-megawatt Northside Station in Jacksonville, FL, is now in full operation, serving the citizens of Jacksonville, FL, demonstrating a high-tech way to burn coal, and winning praise
from major power industry publications.  

September 30, 2002
DOE-Industry Breakthrough Turns Drilling System Into Lightning Fast Computer Network - High-Speed Telemetry System is Major Advance in Oil, Gas Drilling
An innovation that turns an oil and gas drill pipe into a high-speed data transmission tool is being showcased this week. Government and industry officials at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers in San Antonio, TX, are unveiling IntelliPipe^TM, a breakthrough that can transmit data from the bottom of a well at speeds of 1 million bits per second.

September 23, 2002
Ocean Research Vessel Returns with Undersea 'Treasure' of Methane Hydrates
The R/V JOIDES Resolution, the world's largest scientific drill ship, has returned from a two-month, expedition off the Oregon coast, bringing with it the largest among of marine methane hydrate samples ever recovered.  

September 23, 2002
New DOE Projects to Develop High-Tech Drilling Systems to Tap Deep Natural Gas
Five new research projects that, if successful, could give drillers new tools to unlock natural gas supplies 20,000 feet or more beneath the earth's surface have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy.  

September 19, 2002
Energy Secretary Abraham Announces Winners of 23rd Annual UCR Competition
Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham has announced the 25 winning projects in DOE's University Coal Research Program, the agency's longest-running student-teacher research grant program.

September 17, 2002
Brigham Young University Professor Named Winner of DOE's Lowry Award
Championed Computational Fluid Dynamics to Model Combustion
The Department of Energy's most prestigious award for fossil fuel science and technology will go to L. Douglas Smoot of Brigham Young University whose research into computer modeling of fossil fuel combustion has led to groundbreaking insights into how air pollutants are formed.  

August 27, 2002
Industry Ready to Join President's Clean Coal Initiative
Opening Round of Clean Coal Competition Attracts 36 Proposals Worth $5 Billion
In the opening round of competition for federal co-funding in President Bush's clean coal initiative, technology developers and power companies have proposed more than $5 billion of innovative projects. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham calls the response "the most striking example yet of industry's willingness to invest in a new generation of clean coal technologies."  

August 21, 2002
99.99% Clean....DOE Signs Agreement to Install Advanced Pollution Control
Device on S. Dakota Power Plant
By this fall South Dakota will likely host one of the world's cleanest coal plants in terms of the tiny specks of fly ash emitted from its smokestack. A cooperative agreement signed between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Otter Tail Power Company paves the way for installation of a new type of pollution control device on the 450-megawatt Big Stone Power Plant in Milbank, South Dakota.

August 21, 2002
DOE, Tampa Electric Sign Agreement to Add ‘Intelligent' Computer System to
Florida Power Plant
The U.S. Department of Energy has signed an agreement with Tampa Electric Power Company to demonstrate how advances in 21st century computer technology can make a vintage-1970s coal-fired power plant run cleaner and more efficiently.

August 12, 2002
Four New Projects Seek to Improve Oil Recovery on Native American Lands
Four new projects awarded from DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory's petroleum office are intended to help Native Tribes and corporations develop their oil resources while protecting the environment.  

July 30, 2002
Wabash River Plant in Indiana to Host 1st Clean Coal-Powered Fuel Cell
Getting a 2-year "jump start" on demonstrating an ultra-clean, high-efficiency concept for future power plants, the Energy Department has given the go-ahead to shift the site of the world's first clean coal-powered fuel cell to the Wabash River Plant in Indiana. 

June 26, 2002
New Coal Combustor Technologies Cut Pollution and Costs
Two high-tech coal combustion systems that cut smog-forming emissions at costs at least 25% lower than more complex chemical devices could play a major role in President Bush's Clear Skies Initiative. 

May 20, 2002
New Sensor Can Detect Buried Plastic Pipes
Could Help Prevent Gas Leaks
A new flat plate sensor being developed by DOE and the Gas Technology Institute could pinpoint underground natural gas pipes before they can be accidentally damaged by "third party" construction crews

March 19, 2002
Sonic Waves Help Recover Natural Gas from Clogged Storage Sites
A new device that cleans scale from a well bore using high-intensity sound waves has shown significant promise in its first field trials. Researchers are now readying the device for more tests that could lead to the technology's commercial introduction.

March 18, 2002
DOE Kicks Off "Deep Trek" to Develop Deeper, Smarter Drilling Technology
Initiative Will Develop "Smart" Drilling System for Deep Gas
To meet the Nation's growing demand for natural gas, drillers will likely have to probe deeper into more hostile formations to find new gas supplies. To develop a new high-tech "smart" drilling system that can tap into deep reservoirs, the Department of Energy is beginning "Deep Trek." A solicitation is now available to developers who are interested in proposing "Deep Trek" drilling and completion concepts.  

March 13, 2002
DOE Opens Nomination Process For 2002 Homer Lowry Award
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy is reviving the Homer H. Lowry Award – a prize that recognizes a U.S. scientist or engineer who has made outstanding contributions to the science and technology of coal, petroleum or natural gas.

March 12, 2002
New Projects to Help Operators "See" Oil, Gas Formations More Clearly
To develop better ways for producers to "see" promising oil-bearing formations, DOE has selected six new projects to develop advanced diagnostics and imaging technologies.

March 12, 2002
New Projects to Study Ways to Recover Vast Quantities of "Left Behind" Oil
To produce hard-to-get oil once it is located, the Department also plans to award three new contracts to improve the effectiveness of oil production technologies.

March 6, 2002
DOE Adds Projects to Capture, Store Greenhouse Gases
As part of its efforts to develop "breakthrough" approaches for reducing the threat of global climate change, the Department has added three new projects to develop ways to capture carbon dioxide released from power plants and safely prevent it from entering the atmosphere.

March 4, 2002
President's Clean Coal Initiative Underway
DOE Begins Implementing President Bush's Commitment to Clean Coal
President Bush has committed $2 billion over the next 10 years to develop a new generation of clean coal technologies. The first installment of the President's program is now underway with the Energy Department's call to industry to match between $300 to $400 million in federal funding.

February 27, 2002
New Project to Develop Web Tool for Analyzing Air Quality in Ohio River Valley
A new project in DOE's Fossil Energy program will compile massive amounts of air quality data collected over three years from half a dozen sampling stations and make the information available to researchers and regulators over the Internet. The web tool will be especially useful in future State actions to regulate microscopic PM2.5 particles.

February 18, 2002
Providing Technical Aid to Small Producers in America's Oil Fields
Fracturing, New Computer Imaging Focus of Recent DOE Selections
More than half of America's oil production from the lower 48 States is supplied by small independent producers. As these companies become increasingly important to America's energy security, the Energy Department continues to provide grants for the smallest of these producers to test better technologies that can keep their wells pumping.

January 18, 2002
Workshop Will Assist Native Americans in Applying for Federal Grants to Apply Petroleum Technologies
A January 29 workshop in Las Vegas will demonstrate how applicants can respond to the Energy Department's most recent solicitation to provide federal support for applying petroleum technologies on Native American and Alaskan native corporation properties.

January 7, 2002
NETL Schedules Oil, Gas Environmental Program Stakeholder Input Workshops
Two workshops this month - in Houston and Denver - will give the oil and gas industry an opportunity to suggest research topics and objectives for improving air quality and produced water management in oil and gas exploration and production.