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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
DOE OSTI2023

Heliostat Consortium: Update on Resource, Training, and Education Development and Women+ in Concentrating Solar

One of the major barriers to Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) industry growth in the U.S. is the lack of accessibility of expert knowledge, a lack of a stable workforce pipeline, and little public awareness of the technology area. Improved Resource, Training, and Education (RTE) is needed to address these gaps, to draw workers into the field from diverse technology areas and backgrounds, and to reduce the learning curves of newcomers into the industry. As part of the RTE topic under the NREL-led Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), a public online resource database has been created to support information sharing across the heliostat and CSP community. Here, information will be presented on the existing and planned database resources, including introductory information about CSP and heliostats, a reference library of texts and publications, educational videos, a CSP power tower plant database and case studies, a contact list of component suppliers and developers, and a list of available software/metrology tools. Women+ in Concentrating Solar is a newly created organization to promote the education, professional development, and advancement of underrepresented genders in the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) community in a way that includes diverse backgrounds, attitudes, and perspectives. The main objectives of the groups are to provide the following opportunities for underrepresented genders: 1) organize events to provide networking opportunities and community building, 2) boost partnerships and scientific collaboration, 3) create resources to facilitate knowledge and experience sharing, 4) provide mentorship programs to support those new to the industry, 5) bring visibility to underrepresented genders and attract more to the field, and 6) promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and engage minorities and underrepresented groups. Initial activities being pursued by the group include creating an expert database to support event organizers in recruiting speakers with representation of all gender identities, hosting online networking and webinar events, organizing conference events including seminars and networking/social events, and establishing a mentorship program to connect members in the CSP community across the globe. The group is open to all genders and has grown to over 60 members in its first few months.

concentrating solar↗
DOE OSTI2023

CyberStrike STORMCLOUD

This presentation will be shared at the "Securing Solar for the Grid (S2G)" workshop at RE+ 2023. It provides an overview of the work INL and Sandia have done to develop CyberStrike STORMCLOUD, a training program was designed to enhance the ability of renewable energy and operators to prepare for a cyber incident impacting industrial control systems with specific considerations of the architectures and limitations of renewable energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Resilience Planning For Remote, Island, And Islanded Communities

This webinar is intended to educate prospective applicants on the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP). It includes a general description of what ETIPP does, who the ETIPP partners are, the types of technical assistance ETIPP might provide communities, and what the technical assistance application process involves.

44 EE - Strategic Programs, Energy Transition Init↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accelerating the fusion workforce in the USA

The fusion energy research and development landscape has seen significant advances in recent years, with important scientific and technological breakthroughs and a rapid rise of investment in the private sector. The workforce needs of the nascent fusion industry are growing at a rate that academic workforce development programs are not currently able to match. This paper presents the findings of the Workforce Accelerator for Fusion Energy Development Conference held in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America (USA), on 29–30 May 2024, which was funded by the National Science Foundation of the USA. A major goal of the conference was to focus on bringing public and private stakeholders together to identify opportunities for partnership in fusion research and education with the goal of meeting the needs for a talented and diverse workforce. Representatives from industry, academia, and national laboratories participated in the conference through the preparation of white papers, presentations, and group discussions, and the production of recommendations to address the challenges facing the fusion workforce in the USA.

diversity↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sustainability of the U.S. Manufacturing Sector: Use of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to improve health and education, reduce inequality, and encourage economic growth, while also preserving or improving the conditions of our oceans and forests. Pursuing these SDGs would mean $12 trillion in economic opportunities for companies, while also improving the lives of all people and bettering the planet. Some manufacturing companies are already focusing on sustainability, but not all. In 2019, almost 30% of National Association of Manufacturers members did not have a sustainable policy, goals, or program in place. Business drivers for sustainability and the SDGs are similar, with focuses on economic growth and consumer demands. Despite the shortcomings of the SDGs, they represent an opportunity for manufacturing companies to further improve energy, material efficiency, and productivity. This report evaluates the SDGs and the manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector was analyzed using the technology assessments (TAs) introduced in the 2015 Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR) review, which focused on concepts, challenges, and solutions to meet the United States' energy needs. Annual or sustainability reporting of companies performing work in one of those TAs were analyzed for mentions of the SDGs. The call-out boxes throughout this report provide examples of companies making progress toward the SDGs. The possible overlap between the SDGs and the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) was also evaluated. The TAs in the 2015 QTR Review were furthered with detailed targets in the draft Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) for Fiscal Years 2017-2021. Direct and likely relationships between the SDGs and the TAs were established. Positives, challenges, SDG-related literature, and future steps are also discussed in this report.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Final Technical Report-WestSmart EV: Western Smart Plug-in Electric Vehicle Community Partnership

The WestSmartEV (WSEV) project has accelerated adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) throughout the PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power’s (RMP) service territory in the intermountain west by developing a large-scale, sustainable PEV charging infrastructure network with coordinated PEV adoption programs. The project objectives have strategically deployed 79 DC fast charging to create two primary electric interstate highway corridors along I-15 and I-80; incentivized installation of Level 2 AC chargers at workplace locations; incentivized the purchase of PEVs; provided all electric solutions for first-mile and last-mile trips, including electrified mobility service; provided centralized data collection, analysis, modeling, and tool development to inform investment and policy decisions; and developed education outreach materials and conducted workshops across the WSEV region.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Technical Learning and Integration of Interns in Advanced Protection Lab Space: Enhancements to Testbed and Experiments to Improve Workflows for Producing Datasets

This report presents a successful technical learning integration of student interns in the Advanced Protection Laboratory space, located in the Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center (GRID-C) at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The Advanced Protection Laboratory was created for the primary goal of supporting DOE’s research projects and technical staff at ORNL. As a secondary goal, the space was used for collaborating with ORNL’s intern programs, providing support to the lab’s mentors and student interns. In 2024, three student interns spent a summer in the Advanced Protection lab space and were involved in the DarkNet Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) project. The students had a great opportunity to gain hands-on experience with communication and protective relay equipment focused on information technology, data analytics, and cybersecurity. Experiences in the lab space with real equipment and software integration offer education and professional development for students, which is especially important because of a need in the energy industry to recruit highly skilled power and communication engineers.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

E-scooter safety: How attitudinal factors influence risky behavior among shared e-scooter riders

In recent years, e-scooter usage for short-distance trips has grown rapidly. This surge in e-scooter use, combined with the high exposure of e-scooter riders to accident risk, has sparked concerns regarding e-scooter safety. Despite some studies focusing on e-scooter safety, little is known about how attitudinal factors lead e-scooter riders to engage in risky riding behaviors. In this paper, we developed a survey-based empirical model to identify the attitudinal factors influencing engagement in risky behaviors among e-scooter users. We used survey data collected from 420 shared e-scooter users in Chicago in 2022. The survey showed that 47.7% of respondents had experienced at least one collision or fall-off while riding e-scooters. We employed the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships between latent attitudinal factors and risky behavior engagement. Moreover, we conducted Permutation Multi-group Analysis (PMGA) to assess the moderating effect of socio-demographic factors within the estimated model. The findings suggest that riders’ unsafe riding attitude and riding confidence are the most influential factors shaping their risky behavior engagement. In addition, accident experience, infrastructure suitability, perceived enjoyment, traffic risk perception, and operational risk perception are among the other significant predictors. Among socio-demographic factors, gender, age, education, and car use frequency significantly influence riders’ engagement in risky behaviors. The results highlight the importance of infrastructure suitability and accident experience in analyzing e-scooter users’ riding behavior. The developed model advances our understanding of factors contributing to e-scooter riders’ risky behavior engagement. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and e-scooter vendors aiming to mitigate e-scooter users’ accident risk. Specifically, we recommend three safety countermeasures: (1) safety training programs to encourage a safer attitude, (2) practice-based initiatives to enhance riding confidence, and (3) infrastructure improvements, especially the expansion of bike lanes.

E-scooter↗
DOE OSTI2022

Clean Indoor Air and Lower Environmental Impacts: Heat Recovery Ventilation in Cold Climates

Over half of Alaska homes are at risk of poor indoor air quality, which increases the risk of respiratory and other illnesses for people and animals. Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) provide warm, fresh air to a building interior while minimizing energy use. They can be programmed to provide varying amounts of fresh air to ensure adequate ventilation for occupants and can be configured to filter air during wildfires or other events. In addition to improving the safety of indoor air and extending the life of a building, HRVs can improve surrounding outdoor air because they reduce the amount of fossil fuels needed to heat a building. Recent research by CCHRC has focused on lowering barriers to using HRVs in cold climates through laboratory evaluations and homeowner education. This poster will cover data on indoor air quality in Alaska, results of CCHRC research, and future research questions.

buildings↗
DOE OSTI2021

Global Power System Transformation Consortium

The Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium, an expert- and practitioner-driven initiative, engages key power system operators, research and educational institutes, governments, businesses, and stakeholders in all regions of the world to accelerate clean energy transitions at the ambitious scope and scale that is required. The G-PST Consortium provides coordinated, holistic support and knowledge infusion for system operators pursuing clean energy transitions, including performing cutting-edge research; providing implementation support for world-class engineering and operational solutions; supporting workforce development; building and disseminating open-access data and tools; and accelerating localized technology adoption, standards development, and testing programs.

consortium↗
DOE OSTI2020

Coupled-cluster techniques for computational chemistry: The CFOUR program package

An up-to-date overview of the CFOUR program system is given. After providing a brief outline of the evolution of the program since its inception in 1989, a comprehensive presentation is given of its well-known capabilities for high-level coupled-cluster theory and its application to molecular properties. Subsequent to this generally well-known background information, much of the remaining content focuses on lesser-known capabilities of CFOUR, most of which have become available to the public only recently or will become available in the near future. Each of these new features is illustrated by a representative example, with additional discussion targeted to educating users as to classes of applications that are now enabled by these capabilities. Lastly, some speculation about future directions is given, and the mode of distribution and support for CFOUR are outlined in the appendix.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Jackson County Community Solar Modeling Results [Slides]

Jackson County, via the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) requested support on the topic of Community Solar in their area. NREL completed a technical and financial modeling exercise to determine the potential for developing community solar in the region. The analysis performed determined that the current policy and economic environment, in large part due to Illinois's Solar For All program, is advantageous to the deployment and growth of community solar in Illinois. Across all 6 scenarios modeled, including current minimum and maximum financial incentives, the economics yielded positive net present values for both the project owner and its subscribers. The analysis shown in this presentation is only one of the first steps in deploying community solar and suggests Jackson County should pursue next steps. Such actions could include refining project economics, partnering with local utilities, policy makers, and developers to identify potential projects and outreach opportunities, and educating and engaging community members.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cyberguardians Webinar

Robust solar industry growth is creating a shortage of U.S. workers who are knowledgeable in emerging Distributed Energy Resource (DER) technologies including networking, operational software, smart advanced inverters, smart advanced PV modules, and cybersecurity. Retraining military veterans and other qualified individuals to fill workforce gaps in those technologies is the project focus. The project leverages the experience and contributions of DER and cybersecurity experts, educational organizations offering accreditation, and groups serving our nation’s veterans to meet its goals. To bridge this workforce skills gap, the Cyberguardians and STEM Warriors project will establish a complete learning and career advancement system for veterans, transitioning military personnel and other qualified individuals into the DER workforce. The project will guide participants successfully through the process of program/vocation selection, curriculum enrollment, academic mentoring, degree or certificate attainment, job board enrollment, introduction to hiring managers at DER companies, and successful job acquisition. This webinar was used to promote the Cyberguardians program and to ensure ample news coverage to reach veterans, employers, and others that would benefit from this program.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advancing ocean monitoring and knowledge for societal benefit: the urgency to expand Argo to OneArgo by 2030

The ocean plays an essential role in regulating Earth’s climate, influencing weather conditions, providing sustenance for large populations, moderating anthropogenic climate change, encompassing massive biodiversity, and sustaining the global economy. Human activities are changing the oceans, stressing ocean health, threatening the critical services the ocean provides to society, with significant consequences for human well-being and safety, and economic prosperity. Effective and sustainable monitoring of the physical, biogeochemical state and ecosystem structure of the ocean, to enable climate adaptation, carbon management and sustainable marine resource management is urgently needed. The Argo program, a cornerstone of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), has revolutionized ocean observation by providing real-time, freely accessible global temperature and salinity data of the upper 2,000m of the ocean (Core Argo) using cost-effective simple robotics. For the past 25 years, Argo data have underpinned many ocean, climate and weather forecasting services, playing a fundamental role in safeguarding goods and lives. Argo data have enabled clearer assessments of ocean warming, sea level change and underlying driving processes, as well as scientific breakthroughs while supporting public awareness and education. Building on Argo’s success, OneArgo aims to greatly expand Argo’s capabilities by 2030, expanding to full-ocean depth, collecting biogeochemical parameters, and observing the rapidly changing polar regions. Providing a synergistic subsurface and global extension to several key space-based Earth Observation missions and GOOS components, OneArgo will enable biogeochemical and ecosystem forecasting and new long-term climate predictions for which the deep ocean is a key component. Driving forward a revolution in our understanding of marine ecosystems and the poorly-measured polar and deep oceans, OneArgo will be instrumental to assess sea level change, ocean carbon fluxes, acidification and deoxygenation. Emerging OneArgo applications include new views of ocean mixing, ocean bathymetry and sediment transport, and ecosystem resilience assessment. Implementing OneArgo requires about $100 million annually, a significant increase compared to present Argo funding. OneArgo is a strategic and cost-effective investment which will provide decision-makers, in both government and industry, with the critical knowledge needed to navigate the present and future environmental challenges, and safeguard both the ocean and human wellbeing for generations to come.

ARGO↗
DOE OSTI2022

Developing an Undergraduate Research Laboratory for Experimental Physical Chemistry [Book Chapter]

Embarking on a faculty career in physical chemistry at a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI) is exciting, but also overwhelming. Becoming both an effective teacher and a productive researcher requires a good plan, hard work and support from others who understand what it takes to be successful. The phrase, “building a laboratory,” calls to mind the physical construction of a research instrument, but beginning a career at a PUI involves much more than assembling equipment. Funding for the lab must be secured, students must be recruited and mentored, and the lab must be overseen to keep things running on a daily basis. While many of these tasks would also be part of starting a career at a doctoral level institution, there are many special considerations that must be taken into account when working with undergraduate students because their laboratory experience and chemical knowledge are still within those beautiful but nascent stages. Here, this unique aspect makes building a research program challenging, but also very rewarding. Exposing young minds to the wonders of physical chemistry and building personal relationships through the mentoring process can be immensely gratifying. This chapter is a compilation of holistic advice for building an experimental physical chemistry research laboratory for undergraduates, reflecting a typical experience found in the United States.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Finding ways to reduce nuclear waste: searching for the unknown one step at a time

In my home country, Venezuela, research has been stagnant. Due to the political turmoil and the crisis, many educated people have left the country in search for a better life. This has caused a deficit in any technological and scientific advances, making Venezuela one of the first South American countries to have its rate of publications decline by 29% in 2013. Currently, Venezuela lacks the infrastructure and the means to keep up with the research progress as compared to other countries in South America, such as Brazil. Since coming to the United States (US), and currently working for a national laboratory, the active research environment endorses a wide range of careers and engineering programs that allow researchers to thrive at any given field. Researchers have access to funds and tools to succeed in developing materials for the future. There are 17 national laboratories in the US, and all of these have a different research focus/objective. As examples, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory focus is on national homeland security, weapon science, radiation effects, among others. Argonne National Laboratory focuses on nuclear energy, energy storage, high performance computing, etc. At Idaho National Laboratory (INL) the research focuses on innovating nuclear energy and clean energy resources, critical infrastructure materials, along with fuel cycle solutions to manage, dispose and find ways to recycle current and future radiological waste. Compared to other national laboratories, INL focuses slightly more on applied processes and how nuclear energy can be innovated to next reactor design and technologies. The research being conducted at INL made me apply for a Seaborg distinguished postdoctoral position. For the position itself, the researcher must submit a proposal related to actinide chemistry on a research field area. In this position, 50% of my time will be focused on my own proposal. The proposal that I am working on is focused on the innovation of nuclear energy and fuel cycle recycling, which is why I was mainly interested on working at this national laboratory. To give a bit more context of what my proposal is about, a little bit of background is necessary: After the nuclear fuel (UO2) is used in a reactor, the fuel matrix is then characterized by various fission products (FP). Among these FP (including rare earth elements, alkali/alkaline earths, and actinides), many can potentially be recovered through nuclear reprocessing technologies. In pyroprocessing, the used nuclear fuel undergoes electrochemical dissolution into a molten chloride salt mixture in an electrorefiner. Initially, uranium is reduced onto an inert cathode by applied potentials. However, numerous remaining FPs accumulate in the melt and pose challenges for recovery by an inert electrode, particularly the rare earth elements (e.g., Nd, Gd, Pr, Sm) due to their multivalent oxidation states and tendencies toward side reactions, leading to their dissolution in the electrolyte. These recovery challenges result in inefficiencies and necessitate the continual discarding of the molten chloride salt, thereby generating additional waste. Furthermore, the presence of rare earth elements and other fission products in the molten salt electrolyte alters its physical and chemical properties, affecting both uranium recovery efficiency and the longevity of the molten chloride salt. To improve the recovery efficiency of the FP, specifically rare earth elements, I am investigating the fundamental interactions between rare earth elements in the molten chloride salt and their metallic form. The kinetic pathways and the chemical reactions of these elements will give insights on how the recovery efficiency can be improved. The interactions and speciation of these elements are being studied by spectro-electrochemistry at high temperature environments in quartz and other ceramic materials (e.g., alumina crucibles). Some of the challenges I am facing specifically relates the reactivity of some of these elements with different glass and crucible materials. Although my research focuses on fundamental science, it will benefit the applied process by generating new scientific knowledge and closing the gap for an efficient recycling of the waste: one step at a time.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Fall 2025 Solar Industry Update [Slides]

Each quarter, the National Laboratory of the Rockies conducts the Quarterly Solar Industry Update, a presentation of technical trends within the solar industry. Each presentation focuses on global and U.S. supply and demand, module and system price, investment trends and business models, and updates on U.S. government programs supporting the solar industry.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗