Washington, D.C. - The Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy today announced the recent appointment of two key senior staff members to the Office of Fossil Energy – Julio Friedmann, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Clean Coal, and Paula Gant, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas.

"The Energy Department is fortunate to have attracted such qualified people with relevant industry and technical experience," said Christopher Smith, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. "Their expertise and experience make them the right people in the right jobs, and I'm proud to have them as part of our Fossil Energy team."

Julio Friedmann has over 15 years of experience on a broad spectrum of energy issues, most recently focusing on carbon capture, utilization and sequestration and fossil energy conversion.  He was the Chief Energy Technologist at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, coordinating and managing energy research programs across the Lab.  Friedmann has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in Geology from the University of Southern California.

Paula Gant spent 7 years working on federal and state regulatory policy for natural gas issues at the American Gas Association, a national trade association representing natural gas utility companies and their customers, most recently as the Senior Vice President, Policy and Planning.  She began her career working for the Duke Energy Corporation, focusing on electric power generation and gas distribution transmission, gathering and processing in the Americas, Europe and Australia.  Gant holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from McNeese State University and a PhD in Economics from Auburn University.

The Office of Fossil Energy is responsible for research and development of technologies to ensure that fossil energy use is cleaner, safer, and more sustainable, as part of the President’s All-of-the-Above Energy Strategy.