ASME reviews DOE green-gas research projects

The U.S. Department of Energy is using the findings from ASME's review of 22 current research projects on carbon sequestration to direct government research on the capture and containment of greenhouse gases, including CO₂.

In February, at DOE's request, ASME's Center for Research and Technology Development (CRTD) conducted a technical program review of DOE's carbon sequestration research projects.

"ASME has a long history of working with government agencies," said Michael Tinkleman, who is director of the CRTD. "It is really exciting to be part of helping our nation address a global environmental issue through entirely new applications of both science and engineering."

The review request to ASME followed DOE's Office of Fossil Energy publishing of the Carbon Sequestration Technology Road-map: Pathways to Sustainable Use of Fossil Energy.

This 22-page document, prepared by the National Energy Technology Lab and published in January, sets out the government's three strategies for reducing greenhouse gases: energy efficiency, low-carbon fuels, and carbon sequestration — the removal and permanent storage of CO₂.

In accomplishing sequestration, DOE plans to pursue five tech-nology pathways: separation and capture; geologic sequestration; terrestrial sequestration; ocean sequestration; and novel/advanced concepts. (For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov/products/sequestration.) The projects ASME reviewed were in these areas.

Under ASME guidelines, CRTD established a Program Review Executive Committee led by Adnan Akay, who is ASME vice president for Environment and Transportation and chair of the mechanical engineering department at Carnegie Mellon University. This committee helped set the ground rules for the review, identified relevant experts, reviewed resumes, and eventually seated an outstanding program review panel of 10 experts for two and a half days of intense project reviews.

The ASME program review covered CO₂ sequestration research projects in all five DOE technology pathways. The DOE contract was administered through West Virginia University's National Research Center for Coal and Energy under the direction of ASME member Richard Bajura.

For more information on the program review, or to find out more about the CRTD's other research activities, contact Michael Tinkleman at tinklemanm@asme.org, or visit the center's recently revised Web site at www.asme.org/research.

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