A group of European visitors, including representatives from Dortmund, Germany, and the European Union, visited the National Energy Technology Laboratory on April 4.
The group was able to look at NETL’s advanced research technologies and cutting-edge facilities when they visited Pennsylvania to engage with the lab and other regional stakeholders.
Four representatives from Dortmund, Pittsburgh’s sister city, and one representative of the European Union met with NETL’S Nate Weiland, senior fellow for Energy Conversion Engineering, who led the group on a virtual tour of the lab facilities.
“NETL has strong relations with the organizations represented by the Dortmund delegation, such as the city’s offices for international relations, sustainable development, and climate technologies, among others, so we’re pleased to welcome these representatives to the Lab,” said James Ferguson, NETL’s State & Local Partnerships manager.
The visitors were able to see demonstrations regarding NETL’s Reaction Analysis and Chemical Transformation (ReACT) facility at the Lab’s Morgantown campus, where researchers work toward optimizing chemical reactor designs for specific chemical transformations. The visitors were also shown the results of the Memorandum of Understanding between NETL and the City of Pittsburgh to change the city’s energy system and aging infrastructure by implementing a “grid of microgrids” that spans nine energy districts.
“This is an exciting opportunity for NETL,” Weiland said. “While we strive to cultivate new partnerships and relations among industry and academia in the United States, it’s equally important that we interact with global partners. By showing our latest research endeavors to our friends from Europe, we open the door to new networking opportunities that could not only expand NETL’s reach but also provide valuable insight into global decarbonization perspectives and other research experiences.”
The group also visited the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Hazelwood Green, a riverfront urban brownfield being transformed into a center of innovation and high-tech manufacturing.