December 5, 2021. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $35 million in funding for twelve projects focused on developing technologies to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas, and coal industries. DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year (REMEDY) program was unveiled earlier this year for universities and private companies focused on dramatically reducing U.S. methane emissions. These projects will support President Biden’s U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, announced at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which seeks to reduce methane emissions and promote American innovation and manufacturing of new technologies to achieve climate goals.
“Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide and we must adopt technologies to dramatically reduce these emissions,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “By creating new technologies, we are working to mitigate climate change and minimize the cost of methane abatement.”
The following teams selected for the REMEDY program will work to directly address the more than 50,000 engines, 300,000 flares, and 250 mine shafts that are producing methane emissions.
Natural Gas Engines:
- Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO) will develop hardware to redirect methane emissions to the engine’s turbocharger, reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency. (Selection amount: $1,500,000)
- INNIO’s Waukesha Gas Engines (Waukesha, WI) will develop a new line of pistons fabricated with friction welding. The new pistons reduce the space for methane to “slip” past the combustion zone in the engine and can be installed as part of normal engine maintenance programs. (Selection amount: $2,230,693)
- MAHLE Powertrain (Plymouth, MI) will develop a catalytic system to oxidize methane in the exhaust gas of lean-burn natural gas fired engines. (Selection amount: $3,257,089)
- Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) will demonstrate their Mixed Controlled Combustion (MCC) system which can be retrofitted into lean-burn engines. (Selection amount: $3,975,058)
- Texas A&M University (College Station, TX) will use plasma and advanced engine controls to reduce methane slip. The technology is targeting the large two-stroke engines used by gas pipeline companies. (Selection amount: $2,824,814)
Funding for the REMEDY program, managed by ARPA-E, will be released in two stages spanning a total of three years. Stage 1 is planned to focus on lab-based tests confirming the operability of technical proposals, approaches, and system components. Stage 2 will expand the scale of testing and ideally include field tests.