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A Message From Leadership

Everyone in the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) workforce works toward the goal of ensuring the secure, reasonably priced, and environmentally sound fossil energy supplies necessary to meet American energy needs. As the U.S. energy landscape evolves, FE evolves with it, adapting to changes and advancing necessary technologies. Take the U.S. shale revolution for example, it all began with a diamond-studded drill bit developed at the U.S. Department of Energy. It’s innovations like these that make it possible to power America. And now, FE’s current research and development efforts will set a solid foundation for our Nation’s future prosperity. We look forward to continuing the impactful work we do every day in FE.      In February, we celebrate Black History Month and National Engineers Week—two opportunities to highlight some members of the very talented staff we have in FE who are helping us do that work. So, keep an eye out for profiles spotlighting some of those colleagues.    Kenneth Humphreys Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy

Fossil Energy February Highlights

Black History Month FE is taking part in this year’s celebration by spotlighting members of our staff whose exemplary work furthers our mission every day. Stay tuned and join the conversation as we spotlight four amazing members of FE throughout the month. Our first spotlight is on Malcolm Bowens. In his own words, learn about his role at FE, his motivations, and how Black history has shaped his life. Read Full Story

This Week is National Engineers Week This year during National Engineers Week, FE is calling attention to both our current and past innovators. The accomplishments of past FE engineers have laid a foundation for the impactful work FE continues today. Look for our new blog later this week to learn more about some of our past FE innovations, as well as  the current research and development in FE.

Rare Earth Elements 101 Rare earth elements (REEs) are integral to the way we live, and to America’s economic growth and national security. But, what exactly are REEs? Find out in our NEW infographic.

The Coal FIRST Initiative: NETL Takes Major Steps Toward Developing the Coal-Fired Plants of the Future

As one of the Nation’s most stable and prevalent sources of electricity, coal has reliably powered the country for more than 100 years and will continue to be an important part of the U.S. energy mix for the foreseeable future. However, the Nation’s coal-fired power plant fleet has faced increasing retirements in recent years, threatening the long-term viability of this critical energy source. The Office of Fossil Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are working to overcome these challenges by laying the groundwork to develop the coal plants of the future through the Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, Transformative) initiative.

Coal plants developed as a result of Coal FIRST would be modular and smaller than traditional plants, cost less to build and could be located strategically to provide extra stability to the grid — all with zero to near-zero emissions.

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The Power of Plasma: Extracting REEs from Coal

As the world continues its transition to a highly tech-driven economy, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) supports innovative techniques to develop a reliable domestic supply of rare earth elements (REEs), which are vital materials for modern technologies. To that end, NETL is collaborating with the University of Kentucky and their subcontractor, Virginia Tech, to demonstrate a novel process that could see America’s coal country become a new supplier of these vital materials.

REEs are a group of 17 chemical elements that are included in the periodic table, which represent the 15 elements of the lanthanide series, plus scandium and yttrium. The word “rare” in REEs does not stem from a scarcity of deposits; rather, it signifies that REEs are often found in low concentrations too small for economical extraction. REEs are necessary components of smart phones, cars, television screens, and defense technologies, as well as windmills and other green energy assets.

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What's Coming Up?

FE at Industry Events

Click here to view ASFE Winberg’s prepared remarks from past events. Please contact FECommunications@hq.doe.gov with any media inquiries.

Next Month on Social Media

Be sure to follow FE on social media to keep up with next month's content. In March, we will be focusing on Efficiency. Check out some of our upcoming themes: 

• Produced Water 
• Decreasing CO₂ Emissions