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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

[Sources of Methane in the Boreal Region]

In determining the global methane budget the sources of methane must be balanced with the sinks and atmospheric inventory. The approximate contribution of the different methane sources to the budget has been establish showing the major terrestrial inputs as rice, wetlands, bogs, fens, and tundra. Measurements and modeling of production in these sources suggest that temperature, water table height and saturation along with substratum composition are important in controlling methane production and emission. The isotopic budget of 13 C and D/H in methane can be used as a tool to clarify the global budget. This approach has achieved success at constraining the inputs. Studies using the isotopic approach place constraints on global methane production from different sources. Also, the relation between the two biogenic production pathways, acetate fermentation and CO2 reduction, and the effect of substratum composition can be made using isotope measurements shows the relation between the different biogenic, thermogenic and anthropogenic sources of methane as a function of the carbon and hydrogen isotope values for each source and the atmosphere, tropospheric composition. Methane emissions from ponds and fens are a significant source in the methane budget of the boreal region. An initial study in 1993 and 1994 on the isotopic composition of this methane source and the isotopic composition in relation to oxidation of methane at the sediment surface of the ponds or fen was conducted as part of our BOREAS project. The isotopic composition of methane emitted by saturated anoxic sediment is dependent on the sediment composition and geochemistry, but will be influenced by in situ oxidation, in part, a function of rooted plant activity. The influence of oxidation mediated by rooted plant activities on the isotopic composition of methane is not well known and will depend on the plant type, sediment temperature, and numerous other variables. Information on this isotopic composition is important in both understanding the bio-geochemistry of the system and also in determining the regional and global inputs for the methane isotope budget. In determining the destruction of methane for balancing the atmospheric methane budget soil oxidation must be considered.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2026

Data from: Lowland Tropical Forests Remain a Methane Sink Under Warming and Long-Term Hurricane Disturbance Recovery

The repository folder contains spreadsheets and script for soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, soil moisture, soil temperature, air temperature, and precipitation measurements collected from the Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) at the Sabana Research Field Station, El Yunque National Forest (USDA Forest Service; 18°19′28.74″ N, 65°43′50.09″ W) — an open-air field warming experiment located in a lowland tropical forest in Puerto Rico within the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) — six to seven years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria (2017). All spreadsheets for soil and air microclimate data, as well as soil greenhouse gas data, are included as csv files. Air temperature data are also included as Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx). The script is built in R Studio, which is the only software required to run data analysis. This dataset is associated with the manuscript “Larocca Conte G ; Zuvela L ; Cruz-Pérez R ; Barreto-Vélez T ; Becerra-Santillan N ; Campbell S ; Chu H ; Dam T ; Grullón-Penkova I ; Kleit M ; Ortiz-Iglesias D ; Rubio-Lebrón L ; Cavaleri M ; Reed S ; Sihi D ; Wood T ; O'Connell C., 2026. Lowland Tropical Forests Remain a Methane Sink Under Warming and Long-Term Hurricane Disturbance Recovery. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. In review". The dataset was used to test the effect of warming on soil CH4 dynamics following long-term legacy effects of hurricane disturbance. The dataset includes: - An overall README file in word and pdf format describing methodology and spreadsheets’ structure. - Continuous measurements of soil temperature and moisture from January 2023 to July 2024 measured with Campbell CS655 probes (“TRACE_soil_temperature_and_moisture_2023_cleaned(in).csv” and “TRACE_soil_temperature_and_moisture_2024_cleaned. csv”). - Air temperature data measured with a HOBO MX23O1A data logger (“Hobo air temperature 2023 Sep 2024” and “Hobo air temperature 2023 Sep 2024” – “CSV FILES folders”). - Precipitation data from a nearby weather tower downloaded from González et al. (2025; “sabana_2020-2025.csv”). - Soil CH4 and CO2 effluxes measured intermittently in two summer campaigns (June – August 2023 and June – July 2024) with a LI-COR 8200-01S Portable Smart Chamber coupled with a LI-COR LI-7810 CH4/ CO2/H2O Trace Gas Analyzer (“23_24COMBO2.0.csv”). - R markdown script for data analysis (“Trace new_PLOTS.Rmd”).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modelled land use and land cover change emissions – a spatio-temporal comparison of different approaches

Abstract. Quantifying the net carbon flux from land use and land cover changes (fLULCC) is critical for understanding the global carbon cycle and, hence, to support climate change mitigation. However, large-scale fLULCC is not directly measurable and has to be inferred from models instead, such as semi-empirical bookkeeping models and process-based dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). By definition, fLULCC estimates are not directly comparable between these two different model types. As an important example, DGVM-based fLULCC in the annual global carbon budgets is estimated under transient environmental forcing and includes the so-called loss of additional sink capacity (LASC). The LASC results from the impact of environmental changes on land carbon storage potential of managed land compared to potential vegetation and accumulates over time, which is not captured in bookkeeping models. The fLULCC from transient DGVM simulations, thus, strongly depends on the timing of land use and land cover changes mainly because LASC accumulation is cut off at the end of the simulated period. To estimate the LASC, the fLULCC from pre-industrial DGVM simulations, which is independent of changing environmental conditions, can be used. Additionally, DGVMs using constant present-day environmental forcing enable an approximation of bookkeeping estimates. Here, we analyse these three DGVM-derived fLULCC estimations (under transient, pre-industrial, and present-day forcing) for 12 models within 18 regions and quantify their differences as well as climate- and CO2-induced components and compare them to bookkeeping estimates. Averaged across the models, we find a global fLULCC (under transient conditions) of 2.0±0.6 PgC yr−1 for 2009–2018, of which ∼40 % are attributable to the LASC (0.8±0.3 PgC yr−1). From 1850 onward, the fLULCC accumulated to 189±56 PgC with 40±15 PgC from the LASC. Around 1960, the accumulating nature of the LASC causes global transient fLULCC estimates to exceed estimates under present-day conditions, despite generally increased carbon stocks in the latter. Regional hotspots of high cumulative and annual LASC values are found in the USA, China, Brazil, equatorial Africa, and Southeast Asia, mainly due to deforestation for cropland. Distinct negative LASC estimates in Europe (early reforestation) and from 2000 onward in the Ukraine (recultivation of post-Soviet abandoned agricultural land), indicate that fLULCC estimates in these regions are lower in transient DGVM compared to bookkeeping approaches. Our study unravels the strong dependence of fLULCC estimates on the time a certain land use and land cover change event happened to occur and on the chosen time period for the forcing of environmental conditions in the underlying simulations. We argue for an approach that provides an accounting of the fLULCC that is more robust against these choices, for example by estimating a mean DGVM ensemble fLULCC and LASC for a defined reference period and homogeneous environmental changes (CO2 only).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2021

Modelled land use and land cover change emissions – a spatio-temporal comparison of different approaches

Quantifying the net carbon flux from land use and land cover changes (fLULCC) is critical for understanding the global carbon cycle and, hence, to support climate change mitigation. However, large-scale fLULCC is not directly measurable and has to be inferred from models instead, such as semi-empirical bookkeeping models and process-based dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). By definition, fLULCC estimates are not directly comparable between these two different model types. As an important example, DGVM-based fLULCC in the annual global carbon budgets is estimated under transient environmental forcing and includes the so-called loss of additional sink capacity (LASC). The LASC results from the impact of environmental changes on land carbon storage potential of managed land compared to potential vegetation and accumulates over time, which is not captured in bookkeeping models. The fLULCC from transient DGVM simulations, thus, strongly depends on the timing of land use and land cover changes mainly because LASC accumulation is cut off at the end of the simulated period. To estimate the LASC, the fLULCC from pre-industrial DGVM simulations, which is independent of changing environmental conditions, can be used. Additionally, DGVMs using constant present-day environmental forcing enable an approximation of bookkeeping estimates. Here, we analyse these three DGVM-derived fLULCC estimations (under transient, pre-industrial, and present-day forcing) for 12 models within 18 regions and quantify their differences as well as climate- and CO2-induced components and compare them to bookkeeping estimates. Averaged across the models, we find a global fLULCC (under transient conditions) of 2.0±0.6 PgC/yr for 2009–2018, of which ∼40 % are attributable to the LASC (0.8±0.3 PgC/yr). From 1850 onward, the fLULCC accumulated to 189±56 PgC with 40±15 PgC from the LASC. Around 1960, the accumulating nature of the LASC causes global transient fLULCC estimates to exceed estimates under present-day conditions, despite generally increased carbon stocks in the latter. Regional hotspots of high cumulative and annual LASC values are found in the USA, China, Brazil, equatorial Africa, and Southeast Asia, mainly due to deforestation for cropland. Distinct negative LASC estimates in Europe (early reforestation) and from 2000 onward in the Ukraine (recultivation of post-Soviet abandoned agricultural land), indicate that fLULCC estimates in these regions are lower in transient DGVM compared to bookkeeping approaches. Our study unravels the strong dependence of fLULCC estimates on the time a certain land use and land cover change event happened to occur and on the chosen time period for the forcing of environmental conditions in the underlying simulations. We argue for an approach that provides an accounting of the fLULCC that is more robust against these choices, for example by estimating a mean DGVM ensemble fLULCC and LASC for a defined reference period and homogeneous environmental changes (CO2 only).

land use and land cover change↗
DOE OSTI2025

Differential Expression of Core Metabolic Functions in Candidatus Altiarchaeum Inhabiting Distinct Subsurface Ecosystems

Candidatus Altiarchaea are widespread across aquatic subsurface ecosystems and possess a highly conserved core genome, yet adaptations of this core genome to different biotic and abiotic factors based on gene expression remain unknown. Here, we investigated the metatranscriptome of two Ca. Altiarchaeum populations that thrive in two substantially different subsurface ecosystems. In Crystal Geyser, a high-CO2 groundwater system in the USA, Ca. Altiarchaeum crystalense co-occurs with the symbiont Ca. Huberiarchaeum crystalense, while in the Muehlbacher sulfidic spring in Germany, an artesian spring high in sulfide concentration, Ca. A. hamiconexum is heavily infected with viruses. We here mapped metatranscriptome reads against their genomes to analyse the in situ expression profile of their core genomes. Out of 537 shared gene clusters, 331 were functionally annotated and 130 differed significantly in expression between the two sites. Main differences were related to genes involved in cell defence like CRISPR-Cas, virus defence, replication, transcription and energy and carbon metabolism. Our results demonstrate that altiarchaeal populations in the subsurface are likely adapted to their environment while influenced by other biological entities that tamper with their core metabolism. We consequently posit that viruses and symbiotic interactions can be major energy sinks for organisms in the deep biosphere.

archaea↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ambitious efforts on residual emissions can reduce CO 2 removal and lower peak temperatures in a net-zero future

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is expected to play a critical role in reaching net zero CO 2 and especially net zero greenhouse gase (GHG) emissions. However, the extent to which the role of CDR in counterbalancing residual emissions can be reduced has not yet been fully quantified. Here, we use a state-of-the-art integrated assessment model to develop a 'Maximum Sectoral Effort' scenario which features global emissions policies alongside ambitious effort across sectors to reduce their gross GHG emissions and thereby the CDR required for offsets. We find that these efforts can reduce CDR by over 50% globally, increase both the relative and absolute role of the land sink in storing carbon, and more evenly distribute CDR contributions and associated side-effects across regions compared to CO 2 pricing alone. Furthermore, the lower cumulative CO 2 and nonCO 2 emissions leads to earlier and lower peak temperatures. Emphasizing reductions in gross, in addition to net emissions while disallowing the substitution of less durable CDR for offsets can therefore reduce both physical and transition risks associated with high CDR deployment and temperature overshoot.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2004

Power Conversion with a Stirling Cycle for Venus Surface Mission

The light-filtering characteristic of the dense, mostly-CO2 atmosphere of Venus, combined with the high atmospheric cloud cover, relegates the surface mission use of photovoltaic power systems and beckons for the independence and reliability of a nuclear-powered energy source. A multi-faceted Venus mission study was completed at NASA GRC in December of 2003 that resulted in the preliminary design of a helium- charged, kinematic Stirling converter, which is powered by nuclear, General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules. The kinematic, Stirling power converter is configured to drive an electronics and sensor cooler in addition to a generator for electrical power. This paper briefly describes the design process and also describes and summarizes key features of the Stirling power converter preliminary design concept. With an estimated total efficiency of 23.4%, the power converter drives the electronics and sensor cooler, and also produces 100 watts of electricity. The converter rejects waste heat at a hot sink temperature of 500 C.

Mellott, Ken↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enriched Background Isotope Study (EBIS): Analysis of 14C-Enriched Carbon Cycle in Soils and Litter at Forested Oak Ridge and AmeriFlux Sites, 2001-2011

These data provide a record of the multi-year, multi-institutional Enriched Background Isotope Studies (EBIS) projects that ran from 2000 through 2011. Elevated levels of 14C enriched CO2 in the air and soil atmosphere as well as leaf, stem, and root tissues were observed on the Oak Ridge Reservations (ORR) during the summer of 1999, and were attributed to local incinerator activities on and/or near the ORR (Trumbore et al. 2002). The isolated enrichment of the background levels of 14C in local forest ecosystem represented a unique opportunity to study unresolved carbon cycling processes such as the contribution of leaf versus root litter contributions to soil carbon accumulation, the rate of vertical transport of carbon into deep soil storage pools, and the differential contribution of physicochemical versus faunal driven processes to soil carbon cycling and sequestration. Leaf litter from the local enriched forest was transplanted to selected sites on the ORR and to selected AmeriFlux study sites to study soil C cycling across a range of soils and climates. The EBIS research projects provide data on C flux from litter sources to mineral soil sinks for United States eastern hardwood forests necessary for testing process hypotheses and judging efficacy of soil C cycling models. Experimental results from this study are being used to parameterize and refine existing carbon dynamics models, the quantification of the long-term fate of ecosystem carbon inputs and as a means to judge the potential for ecosystem carbon sequestration via enhance litter inputs to soil. EBIS observations support conclusions that intra- and inter-annual soil carbon cycling in hardwood forest soils should be characterized as a least a two-compartment system where surface leaf-litter and belowground root turnover represent primary carbon sources for organic-layer and mineral-soil carbon cycles, respectively. EBIS experiments were conducted to complete enriched litterfall maniplations in upland forests on Ultisol and Inceptisol soils of the Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We also collected additional14C-enriched materials for new experimental applications, and applied those materials to multiple AmeriFlux sites over a range of climatic, edaphic and biological conditions. The research provided data for addressing DOE's goal of understanding mechanisms controlling C flux, and for the improvement of models to be applied to policy discussions regarding the safe levels of greenhouse gases for the earth's system. There are 5 data files provided in comma separated (*.csv) format for vegetation, field litter, soil and air [C] and C isotope data from the EBIS studies and associated environmental data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2020

Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources

Climate stabilization remains elusive, with increased greenhouse gas concentrations already increasing global average surface temperatures 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels (World Meteorological Organization 2019). Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel use, deforestation, and other anthropogenic sources reached ~ 43 billion metric tonnes in 2019 (Friedlingstein et al 2019, Jackson et al 2019). Storms, floods, and other extreme weather events displaced a record 7 million people in the first half of 2019 (IDMC 2019). When global mean surface temperature four million years ago was 2°C–3°C warmer than today (a likely temperature increase before the end of the century), ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica melted and parts of East Antarctica’s ice retreated, causing sea levels to rise 10–20 m (World Meteorological Organization 2019). Methane (CH4) emissions have contributed almost one quarter of the cumulative radiative forcings for CO2, CH4, and N2O (nitrous oxide) combined since 1750 (Etminan et al 2016). Although methane is far less abundant in the atmosphere than CO2, it absorbs thermal infrared radiation much more efficiently and, in consequence, has a global warming potential (GWP) ~86 times stronger per unit mass than CO2 on a 20-year timescale and 28- times more powerful on a 100-year time scale (IPCC 2014). Global average methane concentrations in the atmosphere reached ~1875 parts per billion (ppb) at the end of 2019, more than two-and-a-half times preindustrial levels (Dlugokencky 2020). The largest methane sources include anthropogenic emissions from agriculture, waste, and the extraction and use of fossil fuels as well as natural emissions from wetlands, freshwater systems, and geological sources (Kirschke et al 2013, Saunois et al 2016a, Ganesan et al 2019). Here, we summarize new estimates of the global methane budget based on the analysis of Saunois et al (2020) for the year 2017, the last year of the new Global Methane Budget and the most recent year data are fully available. We compare these estimates to mean values for the reference ‘stabilization’ period of 2000–2006 when atmospheric CH4 concentrations were relatively stable. We present data for sources and sinks and provide insights for the geographical regions and economic sectors where emissions have changed the most over recent decades.

fossil fuel sources↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessing Impacts of Environmental Perturbations on Urban Biogenic Carbon Exchange in the Chicago Region

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) quantification is critical for assessing city-level carbon emissions and sustainable urban development. While urban vegetation has the potential to provide environmental benefits, such as heat and carbon mitigation, the CO 2 exchange from biogenic sectors and its impact from the environmental perturbations are often overlooked. It is also challenging to simulate the plant functions in the complex urban terrain. This study presents a processed-based modeling approach to assess the biogenic carbon fluxes from the vegetated areas over the Chicago Metropolitan Area (CMA) using the Weather Research and Forecast—Urban Biogenic Carbon exchange model. We investigate the change of CO 2 sink power in CMA under heatwaves and irrigation. The results indicate that the vegetation plays a significant role in the city's carbon portfolio and the landscaping management has the potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly. Furthermore, based on the competing mechanisms in the biogenic carbon balance identified in this study, we develop a novel Environmental Benefit Score metrics framework to identify the vulnerability and mitigation measures associated with nature-based solutions (NbS) within CMA. By using the generalized portable framework and our science-policy confluence analysis presented in this study, global cities can maximize the effectiveness of NbS and accelerate carbon neutrality.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cyanobacteria newly isolated from marine volcanic seeps display rapid sinking and robust, high-density growth

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms that play important roles in carbon cycling and are promising bioproduction chassis. Here, we isolate two novel cyanobacteria with 4.6Mbp genomes, UTEX 3221 and UTEX 3222, from a unique marine environment with naturally elevated CO₂. We describe complete genome sequences for both isolates and, focusing on UTEX 3222 due to its planktonic growth in liquid, characterize biotechnologically relevant growth and biomass characteristics. UTEX 3222 outpaces other fast-growing model strains on a solid medium. It can double every 2.35 hours in a liquid medium and grows to high density (>31 g/L biomass dry weight) in batch culture, nearly double that of Synechococcus sp. PCC 11901, whose high-density growth was recently reported. In addition, UTEX 3222 sinks readily, settling more quickly than other fast-growing strains, suggesting favorable economics of harvesting UTEX 3222 biomass. These traits may make UTEX 3222 a compelling choice for marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and photosynthetic bioproduction from CO₂. Overall, we find that bio-prospecting in environments with naturally elevated CO₂ may uncover novel CO₂-metabolizing organisms with unique characteristics.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Technoeconomic Analysis of Infrastructure Buildout Scenarios

The success of CCUS deployment in the southeast will depend on the optimized pipeline network from CO 2 point sources to geologic sinks for CO 2 storage. An optimal pipeline framework will reduce both environmental impacts and pipeline building cost. However, finding an optimal pipeline/transport infrastructure design is a non-trivial task and requires simultaneous usage of large volumes of data, computational resources, and a state-of-the-art simulator. Such a transport infrastructure model must consider point sources for CO 2 capture and associated volumes, sinks for CO 2 storage, and transportation from source to sink via pipeline networks. These considerations must be addressed simultaneously and systemically in an optimization process, in which a defined objective function (i.e., capital, variable CO 2 capture, transport, and storage cost function) is required to be minimized with the consideration of practical constraints (e.g., CO 2 flow through pipelines is less than the maximum capacity). Although optimization has been widely used in subsurface resources production and CO 2 storage, its application in large scale CCUS infrastructure design is rarely reported in the literature. SimCCS, developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory, is an open-source CCUS pipeline infrastructure design toolset that facilitates the optimization of pipeline infrastructure networks.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS2012

Ground and Airborne Methane Measurements using Optical Parametric Amplifiers

We report on an initial airborne demonstration of atmospheric methane column measurements at 1.65 micrometers using a widely tunable, seeded optical parametric amplifier (OPA) lidar and a photon counting detector. Methane is an important greenhouse gas and accurate knowledge of its sources and sinks is needed for climate modeling. Our lidar system uses 20 pulses at increasing wavelengths and integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) to map a methane line at 1650.9 nanometers. The wavelengths are generated by using a Nd:YAG pump laser at 1064.5 nanometers and distributed feedback diode laser at 1650.9 nanometers and a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal. The pulse width was 3 nanoseconds and the pulse repetition rate was 6.28 KHz. The outgoing energy was approximately 13 microJoules/pulse. A commercial 20 nanometer diameter fiber-coupled telescope with a photon counting detector operated in analog mode with a 0.8 nanometer bandpass filter was used as the lidar receiver. The lidar system was integrated on NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory, based at Dryden Airborne operations Facility (DAOF) in Palmdale CA. Three flights were performed in the central valley of California. Each flight lasted about 2.5 hours and it consisted of several flight segments at constant altitudes at approximately 3, 4.5, 6, 7.6, 9.1, 10.6 km (l0, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 kft). An in-situ cavity ring down spectrometer made by Picarro Inc. was flown along with the lidar instrument provided us with the "truth" i.e. the local CH4, CO2 and H2O concentrations at the constant flight altitude segments. Using the aircraft's altitude, GPS, and meteorological data we calculated the theoretical differential optical depth of the methane absorption at increasing altitudes. Our results showed good agreement between the experimentally derived optical depth measurements from the lidar instrument and theoretical calculations as the flight altitude was increased from 3 to 10.6 kilometers, assuming a constant methane mixing ratio of 1.8 parts per million. The in-situ spectrometer did not show any significant deviations from the ambient concentrations. Further analysis using meteorological data from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/) to derive the theoretical optical depth also showed good agreement with the experimentally derived values. The OPA lidar system with slight modifications has also been used to measure CO2, water vapor, and CO in the near and mid-infrared spectral regions on the ground.

Riris, Haris↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chamber Flux and Porewater Concentration of CH4, CO2 and N2O, 2018, Columbia River bank at the Hanford site, WA, USA

This is the corresponding observations data for the paper: Jorge A Villa; Garrett J Smith; Yang Ju; Lupita Renteria; Jordan C Angle; Evan Arntzen; Samuel F Harding; Huiying Ren; Xingyuan Chen; Audrey H Sawyer; Emily B Graham; James C Stegen; Kelly C Wrighton; Gil Bohrer (2020) Methane and nitrous oxide porewater concentrations and surface fluxes of a regulated river. Science of the Total Environment.Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rivers are a critical missing component of current global GHG models. Their exclusion is mainly due to a lack of in-situ measurements and a poor understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics of GHG production and emissions, which prevents optimal model parametrization. We combined simultaneous observations of porewater concentrations along different beach positions and depths, and surface fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide at a plot scale in a large regulated river during three water stages: rising, falling, and low. Our goal was to gain insights into the interactions between hydrological exchanges and GHG emissions and elucidate possible hypotheses that could guide future research on the mechanisms of GHG production, consumption, and transport in the hyporheic zone (HZ). Results indicate that the site functioned as a net source of methane. Surface fluxes of methane during river water stages at three beach positions (shallow, intermediate and deep) correlated with porewater concentrations of methane. However, fluxes were significantly higher in the intermediate position during the low water stage, suggesting that low residence time increased methane emissions. Vertical profiles of methane peaked at different depths, indicating an influence of the magnitude and direction of the hyporheic mixing during the different river water stages on methane production and consumption. The site acted as either a sink or a source of nitrous oxide depending on the elevation of the water column. Nitrous oxide porewater concentrations peaked at the upper layers of the sediment throughout the different water stages. River hydrological stages significantly influenced porewater concentrations and fluxes of GHG, probably by influencing heterotrophic respiration (production and consumption processes) and transport to and from the HZ. Our results highlight the importance of including dynamic hydrological exchanges when studying and modeling GHG production and consumption in the HZ of large rivers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Enhanced Modeling of GHG Emissions and Mitigation in NEMS Component Design Report

The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), together with OnLocation, has developed a custom version of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), “FECM-NEMS”, that includes additional representation of energy- and industry-sector GHG emissions and mitigation options beyond those represented in the U.S. EIA's NEMS. Compared with GHG emissions published by the EPA in their Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2021, FECM-NEMS endogenously represents 81% of gross U.S. GHG emissions; however, the remaining 19%, as well as LULUCF-sector emissions and removals, are still required to properly model net-zero GHG scenarios, which requires an accounting of all GHGs. Considering recent technological advances to mitigate CO 2 and non-CO 2 emissions, the Office of Carbon Management (OCM) within FECM had tasked OnLocation with creating this component design report (CDR) to address the gap in GHG representation. This report describes how FECM-NEMS could incorporate missing GHG emissions (including LULUCF-sector emissions and removals) and engineered processes for GHG mitigation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

IAM-FIRE: a Climate Emulator–Based Framework to Project Wildfire Impacts and Risks for Integrated Assessment Models

Most Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) underrepresent dynamic feedbacks from climate-driven disturbances such as wildfires, potentially overestimating the permanence of land-based carbon sinks. In particular, representing the impacts of forest fires is becoming increasingly important, as these are expected to intensify in the coming years. We introduce IAM-FIRE (Integrated Assessment Model – Fire Impacts & Risks Emulator), a novel framework that enables the projection of wildfire burned area (BA) and carbon emissions (CE) directly from IAM outputs. IAM-FIRE combines a spatial climate emulator, land-use downscaling, vegetation productivity modelling, and an empirical fire model to generate global annual wildfire impacts for arbitrary socioeconomic and emissions scenarios at 0.5° resolution for the period 2020–2100. Calibrated against GFEDv5 observations and using inputs from the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM), we report projections BA and CE derived from IAM-FIRE for four scenarios: SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-6.6 and SSP5-7.6. The model reproduces historical global trends for total BA, including the observed global decline since the early 2000s, and for forest BA. Projected fire trajectories differ strongly among scenarios: total BA range from declines under SSP1-2.6 (-3.36 Mha yr-1) to increases under SSP3-6.6 (+1.6 Mha yr-1). Corresponding total CE show a similar divergence ranging from -15 to +10.6 TgC yr-1. Socioeconomic development exerts a dominant suppressing effect on wildfire impacts while climate change and CO2-driven increases in vegetation productivity amplify fire risk, particularly under high-emissions pathways. Compared with CMIP6 fire-enabled Earth System Models, IAM-FIRE exhibits greater sensitivity to radiative forcing and a stronger role for human-driven fire suppression, highlighting substantial structural uncertainties in future fire projections. By providing a computationally efficient and internally consistent approach to represent wildfire impacts within IAMs, IAM-FIRE enables systematic exploration of fire–climate–land feedbacks and supports improved assessments of mitigation permanence and climate risks in future integrated scenarios.

Rouhette, Theo↗
NASA NTRS1993

Atmospheric Sulfur Hexafluoride: Sources, Sinks and Greenhouse Warming

Model calculations using estimated reaction rates of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) with OH and 0('D) indicate that the atmospheric lifetime due to these processes may be very long (25,000 years). An upper limit for the UV cross section would suggest a photolysis lifetime much longer than 1000 years. The possibility of other removal mechanisms are discussed. The estimated lifetimes are consistent with other estimated values based on recent laboratory measurements. There appears to be no known natural source of SF6. An estimate of the current production rate of SF6 is about 5 kt/yr. Based on historical emission rates, we calculated a present-day atmospheric concentrations for SF6 of about 2.5 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) and compared the results with available atmospheric measurements. It is difficult to estimate the atmospheric lifetime of SF6 based on mass balance of the emission rate and observed abundance. There are large uncertainties concerning what portion of the SF6 is released to the atmosphere. Even if the emission rate were precisely known, it would be difficult to distinguish among lifetimes longer than 100 years since the current abundance of SF6 is due to emission in the past three decades. More information on the measured trends over the past decade and observed vertical and latitudinal distributions of SF6 in the lower stratosphere will help to narrow the uncertainty in the lifetime. Based on laboratory-measured IR absorption cross section for SF6, we showed that SF6 is about 3 times more effective as a greenhouse gas compared to CFC 11 on a per molecule basis. However, its effect on atmospheric warming will be minimal because of its very small concentration. We estimated the future concentration of SF6 at 2010 to be 8 and 10 pptv based on two projected emission scenarios. The corresponding equilibrium warming of 0.0035 C and 0.0043 C is to be compared with the estimated warming due to CO2 increase of about 0.8 C in the same period.

Sze, Nien Dak↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Cypress Sandstone Seal System

The Cypress Sandstone is the youngest and shallowest unit in the Illinois Basin that was featured in the United States Carbon Utilization and Storage Atlas IV as a target for saline carbon storage with an estimated 0.2 to 2.3 GT of storage potential. Additional research on a residual oil zone (ROZ) developed within the Cypress Sandstone has delineated 27 prospects with approximately 290.8 million m3 (1.8 billion barrels) of oil in place. 21 to 31 million m 3 (144 to 196 million barrels) of oil is estimated to be recoverable using carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO 2 -EOR). Storage of CO 2 associated with EOR in these ROZ prospects alone, not accounting for associated main pay zones (MPZs), underlying brine formation, or intervals adjacent to or between prospects, is estimated to be up to 10.4 billion tonnes. The Cypress Sandstone is thus well understood to be a CO 2 injection target, both for EOR and associated storage. However, the seal system overlying the Cypress Sandstone is poorly understood. Unlike deeper formations such as the Mt. Simon Sandstone or the St. Peter Sandstone which are either in use as a CO 2 sink or being characterized for prospective storage, respectively, the Cypress is not overlain by hundreds of feet of impermeable shale. Rather, the Cypress is overlain by a lithologically variable interval that is composed generally of shales and limestones with some sandstone in the part of the Basin where the Cypress is deep enough to facilitate CO 2 storage. Also, due to its status as one of the shallowest and most prolific oil reservoirs in the Basin, the seal system overlying the Cypress Sandstone has a relatively high number of legacy well penetrations. The purpose of this report is to characterize the Cypress Sandstone seal system using well logs and available core. Gross thickness, lithology (facies), and mineralogy of seals is described and mapped across the Basin. The column height of CO 2 that can be held is calculated using capillary pressure data from a representative core.

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