About the NRCCE
More Than Our Name Implies
The National Research Center for Coal and Energy advances ideas about energy and the environment through the conduct of research, technology transfer, and information dissemination activities.
We are:
- a research center and
- an information clearinghouse
located at one of our nation's leading research institutions serving the citizens of its home state and of the nation—West Virginia University.
Mission/Vision 
We are dedicated to:
-
securing our nation's energy needs and
-
protecting our environment
Energy is an economic engine. Economies that are sound are better able to protect the environment. Understanding this, our vision is of a nation with abundant energy and a healthful environment that is economically vibrant.
Expertise
We create and disseminate knowledge and technologies on:
- the development, delivery, and use of clean, efficient, abundant energy, especially fossil fuel-based energy
- the delivery, use, and protection of water quality and quantity, especially related to mining and industrial applications and for residential use in rural communities
- the protection of air quality through energy conservation and alternative transportation vehicles
- the management of solid waste, especially in industrial applications and in small, rural communities, and
- the reclamation of land affected by mining and industrial applications
Our unique collection of programs makes the NRCCE a valuable marketplace for solutions to America's energy and environmental problems.
Partners
We carry out our mission by working with others on campus, within the state, and across the nation. Our partners include:
- WVU research faculty from WVU's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences; College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; College of Business and Economics; and others at WVU. These faculty conduct NRCCE-related research at facilities within their respective colleges and departments and at laboratories and facilities located at the NRCCE itself, such as the NRCCE's high bay facility.
- Colleagues at other universities such as The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, The Pennsylvania State University, University of Kentucky, Auburn University, University of Pittsburgh, and others.
- Colleagues in state, federal, and local community agencies such as the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the West Virginia Development Office.
- Colleagues in industry.
Programs
We operate through a collection of quasi-independent programs, each having its own specific mission in support of its sponsors. Our programs include:
- U.S. Department of Energy Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
- Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science
- National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium
- Industries of the Future—West Virginia
- Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium
- Petroleum Technology Transfer Council
- Coal Mine Methane Project
- Center for Advanced Separations Technologies
- West Virginia Water Research Institute and its programs: National Mine Land Reclamation Center, Combustion Byproducts Research Consortium, Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative, Acid Drainage Technology Initiative, State Water Institute, U.S. EPA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, National Environmental Education Training Center, Institute for Industrial Decommissioning, Monongahela Basin Mine Pool Project
- National Environmental Services Center and its programs: National Drinking Water Clearinghouse, National Small Flows Clearinghouse, National Onsite Demonstration Program, National Environmental Training Center
Leadership
- Richard A. Bajura, Director, National Research Center for Coal and Energy
- Al Ebron, Executive Director, National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium
- Carl Irwin, Director, Industries of the Future - West Virginia
- Gerald Iwan, Director, National Environmental Services Center
- Doug Patchen, Director, Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium and Petroleum Technology Transfer Council
- Frank Saus, Associate Director, Center for Advanced Separation Technologies
- Trina Karolchik Wafle, Associate Director, National Research Center for Coal and Energy
- Paul Ziemkiewicz, Director, West Virginia Water Research Institute
Funding
The NRCCE's programs total between $14 million to $16 annually. Program funds are from state, federal, and private sources.
State funding
The NRCCE receives an annual allotment of University state funds, a portion of which allows the NRCCE to provide modest amounts of cost-sharing or seed funds for faculty research typically in the $10,000 to $25,000 range. Faculty who wish to have their projects considered for such funding may first discuss their requests with an NRCCE program manager or the NRCCE director and then submit a written request through their chair and dean to the NRCCE director. A memo including a brief description of the proposed work, amounts of funding being sought from other sources, and the amount requested from NRCCE should be signed by the faculty member, his or her chair, and his or her dean and then submitted to the NRCCE Director's Office.
The NRCCE also uses its University funds to cost share programs coordinated by the NRCCE such as the Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science, the West Virginia Water Research Institute, Industries of the Future-West Virginia, and the DOE EPSCoR programs.
Other sources of state funding for NRCCE activities include the West Virginia Development Office, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services Bureau for Public Health, and others.
Federal funding
The majority of NRCCE's funds are from federal sources received through the coordination of large, team-oriented proposals to federal agencies. These agencies include the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Office of Surface Mining, the Rural Development Authority, and others. The proposals may include WVU faculty and researchers at other private or public organizations.
Private funding
The NRCCE partners with industry on the submission of large, team-oriented proposals in which industry partners may provide "in-kind" cost share funding. Industry sources may also sponsor research activities individually or as part of a larger effort. For example, the NRCCE's Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium received cash contributions for research on the Trenton-Black River gas play from the following companies:
- Abarta Oil & Gas of Pittsburgh, PA
- Belden & Blake Corporation of North Canton, OH
- CEJA Corp. of Tulsa, OK
- CGAS of Columbus, OH
- Compton Petroleum of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- EOG Resources of Canonsburg, PA
- Equitable Productions of Pittsburgh, PA
- Fortuna Energy, Inc. of Horsehead, NY
- Great Lakes Energy Partners of Hartville, OH
- North Coast Energy of Ravenswood, WV
- Petro Evaluation Services of Wooster, OH
- Pioneer Natural Resources of Irving, TX
- Schlumberger HRT of Pittsburgh, PA
- Seneca Resources of Houston, TX
- Texas Keystone Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA
- Ultra Petroleum Corporation of Houston, TX
- Vintage Petroleum of Tulsa, OK
The NRCCE's Industries of the Future—West Virginia has participated in funded research with a number of companies including Century Aluminum, Pechiney Aluminum, Wheeling Nisshin Steel, HK Casting, Kelly Foundry, Sturm Rapid Response, Marble King, Judel Glass, Fenton Glass, DynaTech Adhesives, Crompton Specialty Chemicals, Dow Chemical, Bayer Corporation, PPG, Star Plastics, Burke Parsons Bowlby, Weyerhaeuser, Applied Industrial Solutions, and others.