(Washington, D.C.) – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has announced the selection of four research and development (R&D) projects to receive nearly $10 million for the treatment and management of produced water and the management of legacy wastewater associated with coal-based thermal electric power generation facilities.
Projects will advance technologies to manage the wastewater safely and effectively for beneficial end-uses, such as irrigation of non-edible crops, hydrogen generation, and aquifer recharge and recovery. These same energy production waste streams also contain recoverable critical minerals and materials, including rare earth elements, essential to manufacturing clean energy technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and hydrogen fuel cells.
