Current Research Interests, Projects, and Proposals Research Activities The VCCER conducts and coordinates research for the Virginia General Assembly, state utilities and other corporate, government and academic sponsors. Typical areas of study include energy statistics and modeling, socio-economic effects of energy and coal development, environmental impacts of coal and energy, sustainable development of energy and mineral resources, carbon management and sequestration, optimization of mining systems, energy efficiency studies, coal bed methane extraction and utilization, energy infrastructure studies and innovative training programs using virtual reality. The Center also has strong interests in issues concerning global energy development, greenhouse gas emissions and deregulation of the electric utility industry. Research Facilities With offices at the main Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, the Alexandria Research Institute, and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research is poised to respond to state, national, and international energy research needs. The Center has access to excellent laboratory facilities within the Virginia Tech infrastructure and has established the VCCER Virtual Reality Laboratory within the Abingdon office. Furthermore, Center researchers enjoy access to plants, mines and industrial facilities in the Commonwealth for conducting field studies. Research Priorities The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research is developing new programs addressing environmental impacts of energy resources extraction and utilization; public policy issues related to energy, marketing, and transportation of coal; integration of high technology into systems design and education; international energy development; sustainable development issues; carbon management; and deregulation issues. You can find publications related to VCCER research: here.

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