Martin Schneider
GHG Monitor
4/11/2014
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is seeking partners for one or more applications to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in response to a recent funding opportunity announcement on low temperature geothermal mineral recovery. “The NETL is seeking project partners that can contribute technical experience, services, equipment or cash to meet the mandatory minimum cost-share to qualify for support of the research effort to be conducted under the EERE FOA,” the lab said in a notice this week, noting that the “estimated total value of each effort will be between $250,000 to $1,000,000, with 10% of that, or up to $100,000, depending on project, required to come from cost-shared funds.”
According to the notice, NETL intends to develop one or more approaches to mineral recovery from geothermal brines based on concepts that:
- Utilize CO2 as a working fluid
- Utilize CO2 in conjunction with geothermal brines to enhance mineral recovery
- Utilize CO2 with geothermal brines to selectively facilitate mineral recovery
- Utilize a bioconcentrator to enhance mineral recovery from brines
- Utilize novel chelating agents to enhance mineral recovery from brines
Responses are due by April 21 and submissions will be evaluated on: (1) technical understanding of the topics inherent to the project of their choosing, (2) qualifications and experience of proposed key personnel including organizational and management experience, and (3) adequacy and feasibility of the proposed budget and ability to meet cost share. Each criterion will carry equal weight and the selection decision will be based on overall best value, the notice says.
