December 28, 2001
DOE Adds 2 More Projects to Boost Gas Production From Low-Permeability Wells
The Department of Energy is adding two new projects to its program to develop new technologies that can increase natural gas production from low-permeability, or "tight," reservoirs.

December 18, 2001
23rd University Coal Grant Solicitation Emphasizes Research on Future Energy Plants, "Out-of-the-Box" Ideas
Proposals are now being accepted from faculty-student research teams at the nation's universities for new coal research projects that could lead to future energy breakthroughs.

December 11, 2001
DOE-Sponsored Process Enhances Use of Landfill Gas, Improves Air Quality
A new process DOE helped develop captures carbon dioxide from landfills and puts it to work cleaning fuel gases and meeting other commercial needs - for example, in commercial greenhouses. The technology is being showcased at the New Jersey EcoComplex.

October 19, 2001
New Projects to Explore Energy Potential, Safety Issues of Methane Hydrates
Methane hydrates - natural gas trapped in ice - are a tantalizing prospect with an energy potential far exceeding conventional gas resources. Yet hydrates on the seafloor can pose hazards for ocean drilling operations. Read about the latest Energy Department projects to determine whether hydrates are tomorrow's new gas frontier or a safety problem for future drillers.

October 16, 2001
Abraham Announces Projects to Bolster Electricity Supply With New Technologies for Nation's Coal-Fired Power Plants
With electricity supplies still tight, the Department of Energy plans to join with industry at eight power plants around the country to demonstrate cleaner, higher performance coal technologies that can help provide the power America's economy will need.

October 16, 2001
DOE Launches Project to Improve Materials for Supercritical Coal Plants
The Energy Department will join with a consortium of U.S. boiler manufacturers and the Electric Power Research Institute to develop a family of advanced alloy components for tomorrow's high-temperature "supercritical" coal-fired power plants. 

October 3, 2001
Energy Department Looking to Expand Approaches for Storing Natural Gas
As the Nation consumes more natural gas, finding ways to store gas especially for power plants, is becoming increasingly important. The Energy Department will partner with four research teams to explore ways to expand the locations in the U.S. where gas can be stored.

October 3, 2001
Energy Dept. Adds More Cutting-Edge Projects to Improve Tomorrow's Gas Pipelines
DOE has selected a second set of industry proposals to develop cutting edge technologies that can improve the reliability and safety of the nation's gas pipelines.

October 3, 2001
National Labs to Strengthen Natural Gas Pipelines' Integrity, Reliability
Expertise from the Nation's national laboratories and government research centers is also being tapped to develop new materials and technologies for the U.S. gas delivery system.

September 20, 2001
Energy Department Selects New Projects to Improve Arctic Oil Production
The special challenges confronting oil producers working in the Arctic environment will be the focus of two new projects in the Energy Department's petroleum research program.

September 20, 2001
New Project to Help Develop Industry Standards for Sonic Stimulation
DOE will team with Michigan Tech to develop a better scientific basis for using sound waves to free oil often left behind by conventional oil field technologies.

September 20, 2001
Program to Disseminate "Best Practices" to America's Oil Producers Expands
DOE has selected four new projects in its "Preferred Upstream Management Practices" - or PUMP - program to provide oil field data and strategies to producers.

August 21, 2001
Making Tomorrow's Coal-Fired Power Plants Cleaner and More Efficient
With President Bush's National Energy Policy calling for a new commitment to clean coal innovations, the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory has selected five new research projects that, if successful, could make tomorrow's coal plants cleaner and more efficient.

August 21, 2001
Energy Department Gives Nod to Four Projects To Increase Gas Turbine Lifespan
With nine out of every 10 power plants to be built in the next decade likely to burn natural gas, the Department of Energy is supporting a $13.4 million effort with private industry to extend the life and improve the operations of advanced gas-fired turbine systems.

August 21, 2001
Super Efficient Separation System Offers New Promise for Coal's Future
America's vast coal resources have long been viewed as a potential hedge against future energy needs. Increased use of this resource, however, is complicated by the emission of pollutants and concerns about global warming.

August 15, 2001
DOE Selects 2 Projects to Help Boost Gas Flow from Low-Permeability Formations
America has vast resources of natural gas, but President Bush's National Energy Policy cautions that domestic production of the easier "conventional" gas could peak as early as 2015.

August 15, 2001
Meeting Tomorrow's Natural Gas Needs
America has plentiful supplies of natural gas, but as much as one-third of all U.S. gas reserves are substandard – that is, the gas contains too many impurities to be piped directly into homes and industries. Some gas supplies are trapped in remote regions far away from gas pipelines. Other gas resources often go undetected in isolated sections of a reservoir and are frequently abandoned.

August 15, 2001
DOE to Help Develop New Tools for Increasing Domestic Oil Production
America's best hope for slowing or perhaps halting the decline in domestic oil production may be new technologies that locate oil previously missed, produce oil that today's processes leave behind, and ensure that tomorrow's producers can meet strict environmental standards.

August 13, 2001
DOE Names Winners for 2001 University Coal Research Grants
The federal government's longest-running energy research and education grant program – the Energy Department's University Coal Research Program – will add 23 new projects in its 22nd year of support for student-professor research.

August 13, 2001
New Projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
With new projects to study microbes that can boost oil recovery to advanced ways of providing high-purity hydrogen for fuel cells, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy commemorates its 10th year of research support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority institutions this week with seven new grants.

August 8, 2001
DOE Begins R&D Push For Low-Cost Fuel Cell
$500 million, 10-year Program to Develop Breakthrough Power Units
With high costs remaining as the last major obstacle to the widespread use of clean, efficient fuel cell power plants, the Energy Department plans to contract with four industry teams in a major new effort to develop all-solid-state fuel cells that would be 10 times cheaper than the majority of units sold commercially today.

August 6, 2001
DOE Begins Public Review of Oil, Gas Technology Programs
With the President's National Energy Policy citing the potential of new technologies to boost America's oil & gas production while protecting the environment, Sec. of Energy commissioned a review of ongoing federal oil & gas research programs.

July 31, 2001
Technology Assistance Grants Go to Small Producers
Independent companies now account for nearly half the Nation's oil production from the lower-48 States. To help the smallest of these companies keep oil flowing, DOE is providing technical assistance grants.  

July 3, 2001
President Cites Promise of Carbon Storage, DOE Selects 8 New Projects
With President Bush calling attention to its promise as a way to counter global warming, DOE plans eight new projects to advance carbon sequestration.

July 3, 2001
Enhance CO2 Storage with Coal Byproducts
DOE has joined with TVA, EPRI to study how combustion byproducts from coal-fired power plants can boost the carbon uptake of soil and vegetation on reclaimed mine land. 

June 26, 2001
PUMP II Seeks "Best Practices" for Oil Recovery, Improved Information Sharing
Two months after announcing its first projects in a new program to transfer "best practices" to the nation's oil producers, the Department of Energy has issued a second call for proposals. Termed PUMP II, the new solicitation asks proposers to identify engineering and geologic practices that can be developed and deployed rapidly.

June 18, 2001
Meeting Mercury Standards
Novel Concepts Could Reduce Health Threat, Reduce Costs for Ratepayers
To help reduce concerns that harmful levels of mercury from coal power plants can collect in fish and marine mammals, the Department of Energy is joining with industry to develop high-tech ways to remove this pollutant before it enters the atmosphere.

June 11, 2001
New Projects Focus on High-Strength Materials for Futuristic Vision 21 Plants
High-strength materials will be a critical requirement for tomorrow's high-tech power plants, so the Energy Department will focus two new projects on the advanced metals needed for its "Vision 21" energy plant of the future. 

June 6, 2001
Nation May Have Less Access To Natural Gas Than Thought
Examining federal lands on a tract-by-tract basis in the Greater Green River Basin, analysts under contract to the Energy Department have found that less of the natural gas resource is accessible to exploration and development than previously thought.

May 31, 2001
Moving Natural Gas Reliably to Consumers
New Projects to Strengthen U.S. Natural Gas Delivery System
With President Bush's National Energy Policy calling for upgrades to America's gas pipeline network, DOE has selected 11 new projects to help ensure that tomorrow's gas moves reliably to consumers.

May 4, 2001
Power Industry Signals Strong Support For Clean Coal Technology
In the likely precursor to President Bush's new 10-year commitment to advanced clean coal technologies, the Department of Energy has received 24 proposals for projects to improve the performance of the nation's coal-fired power plants.

April 25, 2001
Slowing the Oil Decline
"Preferred Upstream Management Practices" Could Aid U.S. Oil Operators
DOE selects 1st projects in new effort to transfer "best practices" to smaller U.S. oil producers.

March 27, 2001
Once Abandoned Oil Lease Now Million Barrel Producer
An abandoned Bakersfield, California oil lease, brought back to life
in 1995 by a joint government-industry experimental project, has produced more than a million barrels of oil once thought unrecoverable. Because of the success, oil is now flowing from 100 new privately funded wells.

March 14, 2001
Clean Coal Technology Burner Sales Top $1 Billion
An advanced, low-polluting coal combustor is rapidly becoming one of the government's fastest growing clean coal technology success stories.

February 15, 2001
DOE to Help Develop Honeywell Hybrid Technology
DOE has selected Honeywell International to begin developing a new type of "planar solid oxide fuel cell" hybrid power system. The system could be especially suited for future distributed power applications. 

February 6, 2001
Improving U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants
Abraham Says Initiative "Certain" to be Part of Administration's Natl. Energy Strategy
The Department is kicking off a new competition for technologies that boost the output of existing or new coal-fired power plants, reduce their emissions, or lower their costs -- part of an effort that could help relieve the growing strain on America's electricity supplies in the coming years. The Department is offering $95 million in federal matching funds. 

January 27, 2001
DOE Issues Ultra Clean Fuels Program Plan
The Department of Energy outlines its rationale and plans for developing a new generation of nearly pollution-free fuels for automobiles and trucks in a newly-released program plan. Also, in February, workshops in San Francisco, Houston, and Pittsburgh will give industry the opportunity to help fashion an upcoming solicitation for projects that can build a solid scientific and technical base for tomorrow's fuels industry. 

January 22, 2001
DOE Sets Date to Launch Power Plant Initiative
The Department's Fossil Energy Office has set January 31, 2001, as the target date for issuing its call for proposals in a fast-track, power plant improvement program that could help reduce future brownouts and blackouts.  

January 15, 2001
World's Longest Running Fuel Cell Finishes Tests
An experimental solid oxide fuel cell has completed a marathon test run, accumulating more than 16,600 hours in a pioneering project that has verified the durability of this combustion-free power technology.

January 9, 2001
Energy Department Opens 22nd Year of University Coal Research Competition
In a program that offers "hands-on" research experience for university students in developing tomorrow's technologies, the Energy Department has issued a call for coal research proposals from the nation's academic community.