A delegation representing North Dakota’s lignite interests will be visiting the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown on March 5.
Since 2006, representatives of the Lignite Energy Council and the National Energy Technology Laboratory have been meeting on an annual basis to discuss the R&D needs of the lignite industry and the associated technologies that are currently being developed by the U.S. Department of Energy.
“The relationship between the lignite industry and NETL has been strengthened by these annual meetings where the two groups can come together and find common ground,” said Mike Holmes, vice president of research and development for the Lignite Energy Council.
Areas of common interest include the carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects, gasification of lignite and beneficial uses of carbon dioxide.
“In addition to the CCUS updates, there will also be a session on rare earth elements,” Holmes added. “Companies in the lignite industry see this as an emerging market and the NETL has done some exciting work that they will be sharing with us.”
The lignite industry representatives scheduled for the NETL meeting include Mike Holmes, LEC; John Harju, EERC; Dennis James and Gerard Goven, The North American Coal Corporation; John Lee and Nicole Nguyen, Barr Engineering; Gerry Pfau, Minnkota Power Cooperative; and Ben Jensen, University of North Dakota.