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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Advancing Clean Energy and Economic Development Goals in Pembroke Hopkins Park Township

Pembroke Hopkins Park Township (PHP) is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) pilot, which is supporting 24 communities across the United States in their efforts to transition to clean energy to improve energy reliability, lower energy costs, and strengthen local economies. Communities LEAP is specifically open to low-income, energy-burdened communities that are also experiencing either direct environmental justice impacts or direct economic impacts by moving towards clean energy solutions.

Communities LEAP↗
DOE OSTI2021

Integration of energy storage with diesel generation in remote communities

Highlights Battery energy storage may improve energy efficiency and reliability of hybrid energy systems composed by diesel and solar photovoltaic power generators serving isolated communities. In projects aiming update of power plants serving electrically isolated communities with redundant diesel generation, battery energy storage can improve overall economic performance of power supply system by reducing fuel usage, decreasing capital costs by replacing redundant diesel generation units, and increasing generator system life by shortening yearly runtime. Fast-acting battery energy storage systems with grid-forming inverters might have potential for improving drastically the reliability indices of isolated communities currently supplied by diesel generation. Abstract This paper will highlight unique challenges and opportunities with regard to energy storage utilization in remote, self-sustaining communities. The energy management of such areas has unique concerns. Diesel generation is often the go-to power source in these scenarios, but these systems are not devoid of issues. Without dedicated maintenance crews as in large, interconnected network areas, minor interruptions can be frequent and invasive not only for those who lose power, but also for those in the community that must then correct any faults. Although the immediate financial benefits are perhaps not readily apparent, energy storage could be used to address concerns related to reliability, automation, fuel supply concerns, generator degradation, solar utilization, and, yes, fuel costs to name a few. These ideas are shown through a case study of the Levelock Village of Alaska. Currently, the community is faced with high diesel prices and a difficult supply chain, which makes temporary loss of power very common and reductions in fuel consumption very impactful. This study will investigate the benefits that an energy storage system could bring to the overall system life, fuel costs, and reliability of the power supply. The variable efficiency of the generators, impact of startup/shutdown process, and low-load operation concerns are considered. The technological benefits of the combined system will be explored for various scenarios of future diesel prices and technology maintenance/replacement costs as well as for the avoidance of power interruptions that are so common in the community currently. Graphic abstract Discussion In several cases, energy storage can provide a means to promote energy equity by improving remote communities’ power supply reliability to levels closer to what the average urban consumer experiences at a reduced cost compared to transmission buildout. Furthermore, energy equity represents a hard-to-quantify benefit achieved by the integration of energy storage to isolated power systems of under-served communities, which suggests that the financial aspects of such projects should be questioned as the main performance criterion. To improve battery energy storage system valuation for diesel-based power systems, integration analysis must be holistic and go beyond fuel savings to capture every value stream possible.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Clean Energy and Microgrid Opportunities to Make Electricity Affordable, Reliable, and Clean in New Orleans

The City of New Orleans, Louisiana, is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) Pilot, which is supporting 24 communities across the United States in their efforts to transition to clean energy to improve energy reliability, lower energy costs, and strengthen local economies. Communities LEAP is specifically open to low-income, energy-burdened communities that are also experiencing either direct environmental justice impacts, or direct economic impacts from a shift away from historical reliance on fossil fuels.

Communities LEAP↗
DOE OSTI2024

Louisville Communities LEAP Engagement: Improving Energy Efficiency in Affordable Housing

This report is a comprehensive summary of the related workstreams pursued through the Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) pilot Technical Assistance (TA) program in Louisville, Kentucky. It begins with an analysis around energy efficiency technologies, focused on building envelope improvements, that explores the impact to individual residents as well as the impact to the community at-large if the upgrades were adopted city-wide. Community benchmarking ordinances and complementary policies are considered next, including comparisons of programs with peer communities. A workforce development section then covers the state of Louisville's workforce today and identifies programs in peer communities that Louisville could consider emulating to achieve a "right-sized" workforce. The document closes out with an overview of policies around energy efficiency in peer communities that Louisville could explore, with considerations for the City's unique policy context.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Connected Communities: A Multi-Building Energy Management Approach

Connected Communities (CCs) are collections of buildings and distributed energy resources (DERs) that incorporate integrated energy management strategies at the multi-building scale. Based on the research conducted for this report, RMI and NREL have identified examples of CCs that are enabling increasingly integrated solutions, sharing resources among buildings, and providing services back to the grid. As demonstrated by these examples, CCs can provide real and scalable solutions to mitigate energy costs, enable more flexibility in grid operations, and offer choices in meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goals. Nationwide examples of these solutions are included in the appendix of this report. In order to understand the most promising practices for the design, operation, and business models associated with CCs, a search was performed to create a nationwide inventory of CCs and multiple stakeholder interviews were conducted. Based on that research, this paper explores the many factors that influence the development and operation of CCs and evaluates their potential value.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benefits and Burdens: Exploring the Role of Community Benefits in Wind Energy Development [Slides]

In this webinar hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's WINDExchange initiative, NREL will provide an introduction to community benefit agreements (CBAs) and related funds and investments that serve as voluntary mechanisms that developers may utilize to provide additional financial and/or non-financial benefits for communities impacted by wind energy projects. Community benefits can come in different forms, be developed through diverse processes, and have varying impacts on key outcomes in the wind industry like project success and equity. This webinar explores the nuances of community benefits from multiple angles and provides insights that are relevant to land-based wind energy, offshore wind energy, and other renewable energy technologies.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Resource Characterization for Community Scale Tidal Instream Energy in Maine [Abstract]

Coastal and island communities in Maine are seeking solutions to increase the resiliency of their electrical grid while also reducing their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, many community scale tidal resources identified on the Maine coast have not been rigorously evaluated; previous studies identified numerous hot spots but left many of them unevaluated or under evaluated (e.g., only power density was assessed in many cases). The primary objective of this TEAMER project is to evaluate selected community scale tidal instream resources to demonstrate their potential for contributing to the renewable energy needs of nearby coastal communities. The methods developed in this study will enable the total community scale tidal instream energy resource along the Maine coast to be evaluated in follow-on studies. The study will also enable turbine developers to understand how to scale and optimize their devices for deployment in turbine farms at community scale sites. Data from the study will be shared publicly through MHKDR or relevant community websites.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2024

What to expect when you're expecting engagement: Delivering procedural justice in large-scale solar energy deployment

Community engagement in the planning process to build large-scale solar (LSS) projects can win local support and advance procedural justice. However, an understanding of community engagement in current LSS development is lacking. Using responses from a U.S. nationwide survey (n = 979) of residential neighbors living within 3 miles (4.8 km) of completed LSS projects (i.e. “solar neighbors”) and project details from the U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database (USPVDB), this study seeks to answer the following questions: How are solar neighbors' perceptions of community engagement associated with their attitudes toward their LSS projects? How do solar neighbors' perceptions of community engagement compare to their expectations? And, how do neighbors explain what they perceived about the planning process? We answer these questions using mixed methods, including regression modeling, a new gap analysis technique, and qualitative coding. We find that higher perceived engagement is associated with more positive attitudes toward the project, even when controlling for respondents who acted in opposition. Supporters and opponents alike expect more engagement than they perceived and information about projects both before construction and after operation is lacking. Awareness and engagement expectations increase at certain project size and proximity thresholds. However, most neighbors expect the public to offer input during engagement, but not make decisions. We contextualize these findings with explanatory comments from respondents.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading and Grid Impact Studies in Smart Communities

The rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace paradigms has transformed existing marketplace models, but the extent to which this approach can be applied to the energy marketplace has yet to be considered. In this paper, we examine existing approaches taken in the application of a P2P paradigm to the energy marketplace, further presenting an approach towards facilitating an online P2P energy marketplace, implementing a prototype P2P web application named SolTrade. Furthermore, we submit initial statistics based on simulated transactions facilitated through the platform, which illustrate the physical impact of marketplace transactions on the energy grid. In particular, these results show that, as the number of users rises, the chance of overloading the grid rises, but the chance of the grid being unable to sustain itself without an external source of energy falls.

peer-to-peer economy, web development, energy shar↗
DOE OSTI2020

Charting a Path for Reliable, Resilient and Affordable Clean Energy: A Roadmap for Three Communities in Utah

The roadmap identifies strategies to align deployment of distributed energy resources with the continued growth of utility-scale solar. The strategies outlined in the roadmap have been developed through collaborative discussions with project partners, but may not represent the opinions of, or positions of, all partner organizations and parties involved in the "Renewable Energy Impacts and Solutions in Utah" project. Rather, the strategies outlined in this Roadmap represent a suite of tools and actions that Salt Lake City, Park City, and the City of Moab can consider as each city works towards their community renewable electricity goals. While this Roadmap was developed to inform three communities as they progress towards their specific community energy goals, much of the analysis presented in the roadmap was conducted for Utah as a whole. Other communities in Utah can use the scenarios and strategies outlined in the roadmap to leverage the full potential of distributed energy resources to provide benefits to the community.

100% renewable↗
DOE OSTI2023

Integrated Modeling and Optimal Operation of Multi-Energy System for Coastal Community

Focusing on remote, isolated, and underserved communities, a multi-energy system is designed in this research which is capable of utilizing different energy sources in a more coordinated and energy-efficient way to support various demands, such as fresh water, electricity, hydrogen, thermal demand, etc. The energy sources considered are renewables (wind, solar, marine) and natural gas. The energy conversion process includes water desalination, gas combustion, water electrolyzation, and different types of storage (hydrogen tank, electricity, thermal, etc.) are designed to serve as buffers in supply-demand balancing. Sets of experiments are designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed operating model and investigate the impact of uncertainties from renewable generations and demands.

Chen, Yang↗
DOE OSTI2026

Staying Current: A Community Readiness Framework for Marine Energy Applied to River Current Energy in Alaska

Marine energy-including wave, tidal, and river current energy-can provide a local energy source for rural and remote communities. Marine energy has the potential to bolster self-sufficiency and create economic opportunities while preserving ecological integrity. Communities may be interested in deploying, testing, and advancing these early-stage technologies to meet their needs. However, limited capacity, workforce constraints, and other barriers can challenge development. To better understand a community's interest in and preparedness for marine energy, we developed a suite of 150 'metrics of readiness.' Organized across seven categories-technical, social, environmental, strategic, governance, economic, financial-and 29 subcategories, the metrics provide a holistic perspective beyond the technical aspects of an energy device. We conducted a desktop application of the metrics of readiness for Igiugig, Alaska. The metrics were applied retrospectively for two points in time: before (2009) and after (2018) in-stream testing of a river current energy device. By documenting changes among categories and subcategories of the metrics, our results show the evolving nature of community readiness for river current energy. They also illustrate how our interdisciplinary framework captures the investment in environmental effects research and commitment to strategic planning that occurred in Igiugig. In future applications, we envision the framework could be used to foster public engagement in marine energy, collaborate with communities in project development, shape capacity building activities, prioritize investments, and inform research needs. While our study focuses on enabling river current energy in Alaska, the metrics of readiness have the potential to inform implementation of other renewable technologies with communities in new geographies.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Fair and Equitable Clean Energy Transition in Alachua County: Project EMPOWER Final Report

This report provides an overview of the collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities LEAP Pilot and the community-led Project EMPOWER (Energy Modernization for People, Opportunity, Work, Equity, and Renewables) in Alachua County, FL. Through Communities LEAP, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and others provided technical assistance to Project EMPOWER in the areas of community engagement, solar power, weatherization and energy efficiency, green jobs, and fund development. This final report summarizes work accomplished during the engagement and provides potential next steps for the EMPOWER team to consider as it continues pursuing its goal of a fair and equitable clean energy transition for Alachua County.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Resilience framework and metrics for energy master planning of communities

Changes in the nature, intensity, and frequency of climate-related extreme events have imposed a higher risk of failure on energy systems, especially those at the community level. Furthermore, the evolving energy demand patterns and transition towards renewable and localised energy supply can affect energy system resilience. How can an energy system be planned and reconfigured to address these challenges without compromising the system's resilience against chronic stresses and extreme events? Unlike energy system reliability, resilience is neither a common nor an explicit consideration in energy master planning at the community level. In addition, there is no universally agreed-upon method or metrics for measuring or estimating resilience and defining mitigation strategies. This paper introduces a multi-layered energy resilience framework and set of metrics for energy master planning of communities, including the new generation of district energy systems. The potential system disturbances and their short and long-term impacts on various components of the energy system are discussed for commonly expected and extreme events. Three layers of energy resilience are discussed: engineering-designed resilience, operational resilience, and community-societal resilience. A starting set of energy resilience metrics to support engineering design and energy master planning for communities is identified. Implications for future research and practice are noted.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Rooftop Solar in Lawrence, MA: Community Perspectives, Deceptive Practices, and Financing Options

This report was prepared as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) pilot competitive technical assistance for the Lawrence Massachusetts Stakeholder Coalition (LSC) composed of The City of Lawrence, All In Energy, MassDevelopment, Mill City Community Investments, BlocPower and Groundwork Lawrence, and led by Browning the Green Space. The LSC identified rooftop solar photovoltaics as a top priority for this technical assistance opportunity. Lawrence faces high energy burden and electricity prices, thus rooftop solar can be a tool to help lower those costs. However, the coalition received feedback that some solar companies were using deceptive and unfair practices when marketing, selling, or financing solar energy, costing residents more money than utility rates and increasing the energy burden. This project sought to address rooftop solar community priorities through two pathways: 1. facilitating community engagement to understand community perspectives and experiences with rooftop solar development; and 2. conducting a financial cash-flow analysis highlighting the varying fiscal outcomes for rooftop solar adopters based off rooftop solar leasing, ownership, or buying electricity from the utility (National Grid).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Agrivoltaics Basics

The first in a series of five fact sheets about agrivoltaics based on themes from U.S. Department of Energy Clean Energy to Communities technical assistance projects, this document includes information about agrivoltaics basics.

agriculture↗
DOE OSTI2024

Agrivoltaics Groundwork

The third in a series of five fact sheets about agrivoltaics based on themes from U.S. Department of Energy Clean Energy to Communities technical assistance projects, this document includes information about agrivoltaics groundwork.

agriculture↗