PNNL and Partners Exhibit the Latest Energy Research at 2025 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), working on transformative energy technologies that span from methods for advanced manufacture of alloys for fusion power to use of artificial intelligence (AI) in traffic management, participated in the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit in March. 

The annual three-day event, held this year in National Harbor, Maryland, is an opportunity for the nation’s leading scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to demonstrate the latest developments in cutting-edge energy technology and to meet key commercial partners and collaborators.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright delivered the opening keynote address. He shared his passion for energy and its role in creating opportunities to live long and prosperous lives. “I think there is no more impactful place to work in than energy,” he told the audience. “Literally, you’re going to improve lives. The more you drive forward the technology you’re working on, the better people are going to be.” Wright highlighted ARPA-E’s critical role in strengthening the country’s global competitiveness in AI and energy.

PNNL is currently leading eight ARPA-E projects. The projects are working to revolutionize city and freight transportation, buildings construction, critical material recovery, subsurface exploration, algal mining, ocean biogeochemical assessment, and nuclear materials manufacturing. Most of the novel methods developed by PNNL and its academic and industry partners are harnessing and expanding the power of AI methods and tools. 

The PNNL projects on display at the event included:

• Autonomous Intelligent Assistant (AutonomIA), a new AI-based traffic management system that leverages advanced sensing, adaptive signaling technologies, and connected automated vehicle technology.
• Optimal Global Platform for Transportation (Opt-GPT), which is enhancing intermodal freight efficiency by developing a tool for prioritizing technology and fuel investments across road, rail, and waterway.
• The Circular Home, a technology-driven, scalable approach to transform housing into a precision-engineered product, accelerating deployment while reducing dependence on slow, labor-intensive construction models.

• Supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂)-Based Mining, which is developing the first comprehensive suite of methods to deliver a proprietary scCO₂-based leaching fluid for mafic–ultramafic ores, enabling in situ enhanced critical mineral recovery.
• Integrated Experimental and Modeling Assessment on the Effects of Ocean Biogeochemical Changes, which is developing innovative models and lab experiments to test ocean alkalinity enhancement in key U.S. coastal regions. 
• Subsurface Intelligence for Undergrounding Operations: Rapid AI-Based Geophysical Imaging and Advanced Visualization uses AI methods to revolutionize undergrounding of electrical grids by rapidly building subsurface digital twins based on multi-sensor geophysical data.
• Exploring Macroalgae as Critical Mineral Crops E(MC)², which is pioneering a new approach for extracting valuable rare earth elements and platinum group metals from marine macroalgae, a unique “biological ore.”

• Advanced Manufacturing of High-Entropy Alloys for Fusion Power is working on development of novel methods for manufacturing unique tungsten alloys that can endure extreme conditions as plasma-facing components of fusion reactors.

"At PNNL, our researchers are constantly pushing the boundaries of science and technology to tackle some of the most complex energy challenges with innovative solutions,” said Sonja Glavaski, strategic advisor and sector manager for ARPA-E at PNNL. “These eight projects showcased at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit exemplify the breadth of expertise and innovation leadership PNNL brings to the table. It's a true testament to our commitment to driving forward impactful research and development across various scientific and technical disciplines.” 

ARPA-E advances high-risk, high-reward energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. ARPA-E projects have the potential to radically improve U.S. economic prosperity and national security.