DOE officials and industry sponsors unite to guide the next phase of real-world testing.
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, technology developers and industry sponsors recently gathered for the National Carbon Capture Center’s (NCCC) Fall 2026 Project Review and Industrial Advisory Committee meetings. The discussions highlighted progress across a diverse portfolio of carbon capture technologies and reinforced the collaborative approach that has helped establish the NCCC as a leading test center for advancing technologies toward commercial deployment.
The meetings came during a milestone year for the NCCC, with technology developer testing recently surpassing 175,000 hours and the evaluation of more than 90 unique carbon capture technologies. Managed and operated by Southern Company for DOE, the NCCC provides the facilities, technical expertise and operating experience needed to help developers assess performance, generate critical data and support future engineering and scale-up decisions.
Held twice a year, the Project Review Meeting brings together DOE, NETL, technology developers and sponsors to evaluate project progress, share lessons learned and discuss research priorities and future work.
Presentations highlighted a range of carbon capture projects underway at the NCCC, including novel non-amine solvent processes, an advanced amine solvent, high-performance 3D-printed absorber packing, solid sorbent processes and nanocomposite membranes. Speakers shared results from completed test campaigns, updates on active projects and plans for technologies preparing to begin testing at the site under commercially relevant operating conditions.
The Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting convened the NCCC’s private-sector sponsors to discuss testing priorities, program activities and future opportunities. IAC members provide technical insight and industry perspective that help keep the center’s work aligned with evolving energy needs.
“The NCCC is one of America’s most valuable tools for turning promising carbon capture ideas into technologies that industry can deploy,” said Savvy Bowman, program director of advanced manufacturing and carbon innovation at ClearPath. “More than 175,000 hours of testing under real-world conditions gives developers and investors the hard data they need to scale up with confidence. This public-private partnership model strengthens American energy leadership and our industrial base.”
“These meetings bring together the technical expertise and industry perspective that make the NCCC model work,” said John Northington, NCCC director. “The feedback we receive helps us focus our testing on the questions that matter most and provides developers with the real-world data they need to make informed scale-up decisions.”
The gathering reflected the collaborative approach at the heart of the NCCC. By bringing together government, industry and technology developers, the center helps bridge the gap between laboratory research and larger-scale demonstration while advancing promising carbon capture technologies toward commercial readiness. As one of DOE’s primary carbon capture research facilities, the NCCC continues to provide a neutral testing environment where emerging technologies are evaluated under real-world operating conditions, helping move the most promising solutions closer to deployment.