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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Nepal Himalaya offers considerable potential for pumped storage hydropower

There is a pressing need for a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy to meet the increasing energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Himalayan region, with its unique topography and abundant water resources, offers substantial renewable energy potential, particularly through hydropower generation. However, the current exploitation rate is low owing to the predominance of run-of-river hydropower systems to support the power system. The utility-scale storage facility is crucial in the load scenario of an integrated power system to manage diurnal variation, peak demand, and penetration of intermittent energy sources. In this study, we assess the potential of pumped storage hydropower across Nepal, a central Himalayan country, under multiple configurations by pairing lakes, rivers, and available flat terrains. We then identify technically feasible pairs from those of potential locations. Infrastructural, environmental, operational, and other technical constraints govern the choice of feasible locations. Here, we show that 42% of the theoretical potential of 3000 GWh is technically feasible. We find the flat land-to-river configuration more promising than other configurations. Our findings provide insight into the potential of pumped storage hydropower and are of practical importance in planning sustainable power systems in the Himalayas and beyond.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Digital Rocks Portal (Digital Porous Media): Connecting data, simulation and community

Digital Rocks Portal (DRP, https://www.digitalrocksportal.org) organizes and preserves imaged datasets and experimental measurements of porous materials in subsurface, and beyond, with the mission to connect them to simulation and analysis, as well as educate the research community. We have over 150 projects represented in more than 200 publications, and an active community that reuses the data, most recently in multiple machine learning applications for automating image analysis as well as the prediction of transport. Such automation is crucial for performing formation evaluation tasks in near-real time. We present benchmark datasets that have played a role in recent machine learning prediction successes in the field. We further discuss the vision for further research advances, educational materials, as well as growth and sustainability plan of this digital rock physics community resource. In particular, we are in the process of expanding into a broader repository of engineered porous materials, specifically those for energy storage and the portal will transition to Digital Porous Media (DPM) in near future.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

National Solar Jobs Accelerator (Final Technical Report (FTR))

The aptitudes and experiences gained through military service—such as dynamic leadership, teamwork and critical thinking skills, technical specialization, and a mission-completion work ethic—make veterans exceptional candidates for a wide range of solar energy careers. The solar industry offers a highly collaborative and purpose-driven work environment that resonates with service members and veterans looking to rise to their next challenge, and solar employers are eager to tap into this valuable talent pool. From October 2019 - February 2023, The National Solar Jobs Accelerator (publicly the Solar Ready Vets Network TM (SRV Network; SRVN)) enhanced and streamlined options for military service members and veterans to pursue solar training, certification, and employment, while advancing solar employers’ efforts and capacity to invest in military talent as part of a long-term workforce development strategy. The SRVN was led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) in partnership with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program (HOH) and the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). Through several direct-impact and indirect, high-impact capacity building initiatives aligned with six key objectives, the SRV Network strengthened solar career pathways, and promoted increased representation of military talent across all levels and sectors of the solar workforce. A work-based learning Corporate Fellowship model connected transitioning service members with on-the-job experience in leadership roles with solar employers nationwide. The project advanced broader veteran recruitment and talent development by expanding GI Bill eligibility and streamlining veterans’ pathways for solar training and credentialing, supported direct connections to jobs with top solar employers, and led coordination among key education and industry partners to advance registered apprenticeships aligned with solar career pathways. To ensure that the project best served the needs of all stakeholders, an Advisory Committee of military-connected solar professionals, solar employers, and training providers met biannually to guide project activities and sustainability plans. The project team engaged the broader “SRV Network” (comprised of over 2,000 veterans, employers and training organizations) through regular newsletters and targeted outreach to share resources, hiring fairs, webinars, and other opportunities for engagement. The work done under this award builds on the previous iterations of the Department of Energy’s Solar Ready Vets ® program. As the solar industry continues to grow rapidly over the next decade, the military community will continue to be a highly valuable source of talent. The relationships established and work accomplished through this project will have an enduring positive impact well beyond the funding period.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2020

Central Valley Water Resources: Improving California Groundwater Assessments using GRACE and InSAR Datasets for Water Resource Management

California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world, producing approximately $20 billion in crops annually. The recent California droughts of 2007-2010 and 2012-2019 resulted in increased groundwater pumping in the Central Valley to adequately irrigate farmland. Overdrafting of the Central Valley aquifer results in groundwater depletion, land subsidence, and permanent loss of groundwater storage. In 2014, depletion of groundwater led the state of California to enact the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA),requiring critically overdrafted, high, and medium priority sub-basins to reach sustainable levels of groundwater pumping and recharge by 2042. SGMA allows local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) the authority to create Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs) at the sub-basin level. To assist California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR), this project quantified groundwater change and land subsidence in Central Valley sub-basins with sparse or unreliable well and Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) data. This was done using NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), GRACE FollowOn (GRACE-FO), and interferograms derived from Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2 (ALOS-2)Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 2 (PALSAR-2). Time series of the GRACE and InSAR data were compared with well and GPS data in data-dense sub-basins to determine the feasibility of these datasets for groundwater storage and subsidence monitoring. We found that GRACE and InSAR data are effective tools for determining groundwater change and land subsidence and can be used on their own to monitor sub-basins in the absence of well and GPS data

Water Resources↗
NASA NTRS2020

Central Valley Water Resources: Improving California Groundwater Assessments using GRACE and InSAR Datasets for Water Resource Management

California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world, producing approximately $20 billion in crops annually. The recent California droughts of 2007-2010 and 2011-2017 resulted in increased groundwater pumping in the Central Valley to adequately irrigate farmland. Overdrafting of the Central Valley aquifer results in groundwater depletion, land subsidence, and permanent loss of groundwater storage. In 2014, depletion of groundwater led the state of California to enact the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), requiring critically overdrafted, high, and medium priority sub-basins to reach sustainable levels of groundwater pumping and recharge by 2042. SGMA allows local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies the authority to create Groundwater Sustainability Plans at the sub-basin level. To assist California’s Department of Water Resources, this project quantified groundwater change and land subsidence in Central Valley sub-basins with sparse or unreliable well and GPS data. This was done using NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO), and interferograms derived from Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-SAR) and Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2 (ALOS-2) Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 2 (PALSAR-2). Time series of the GRACE and InSAR data were compared with well and GPS data in data-dense sub-basins to determine the feasibility of these datasets for groundwater storage and subsidence monitoring. We found thatGRACE and InSAR data are effective tools for determining groundwater change and land subsidence and can be used on their own to monitor sub-basins in the absence of well and GPS data.

Water Resources↗
NASA NTRS2021

An Evaluation of Remotely Sensed and In-Situ Data Sufficiency for SGMA-Scale Groundwater Studies in the Central Valley, California

California’s Central Valley aquifer is a critical freshwater resource for the state, providing drinking water to 6.5 million residents and irrigation water for more than half of the nation’s produce. Increasing demands have led to a steady decline of aquifer water levels, leading to irreversible compaction and land subsidence. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of California (SGMA), instituted in 2014, requires high-priority regions to establish sustainability plans by 2020-2022 that mitigate groundwater depletion and land subsidence. Many regions within the Central Valley lack groundwater monitoring wells or continuous well data, rendering in-situ monitoring challenging. When combined with other data, NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow On (GRACE-FO) missions provide valuable information about groundwater storage changes at a sub-basin scale. Interferometric Surface Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements can map land subsidence, and Global Positioning System (GPS) can be used to estimate crustal uplift. Yet, all of these measurements have differences in resolution, coverage, discretization, and record length. Here we assess the various datasets that are potentially useful for Central Valley sub-basin groundwater monitoring and provide an analysis of gaps and other issues in regard to their suitability for SGMA-related analysis. Finally, we offer next steps and recommendations on data treatment and integration.

Kyra H Kim↗
NASA NTRS2021

A High-Resolution Land Data Assimilation System Optimized for the Western United States

The Western Land Data Assimilation System (WLDAS) is a custom instance of the NASA Land Information System that combines land surface parameters, meteorological forcing data, and satellite products within a land surface model to produce daily estimates of the water and energy budget variables for the western United States. WLDAS was configured through discussions with partners, with the goal of groundwater sustainability planning for the state of California in mind. The publicly available output dataset has a 1-km grid resolution and spans 1979–present, which makes it suitable for water resources assessments. The data are also able to contextualize the recent drought events in California. Assimilation of Leaf Area Index, which is demonstrated herein to improve simulation over agricultural areas in California, specifically in terms of evapotranspiration in irrigation regions, will be included along with other data assimilation in subsequent releases of WLDAS.

land surface modeling↗
DOE OSTI2022

Roadmap to Automated Mobility Systems: Informing the Planning of a Sustainable, Resilient Transportation Ecosystem for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed this report to provide Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) assistance toward a vision that considers the maturation and proliferation of mobility automation, electrification, and infrastructure integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies as they present themselves on the path to 2035. In planning ongoing infrastructure investments, DFW has goals to accommodate and leverage these enabling technologies toward greater sustainability and enhanced traveler and employee experiences, ensuring that infrastructure investments are fully utilized into the future. The objective of this document is to assist DFW to anticipate and envision future airport access by travelers, employees, and goods by examining existing needs and exploring opportunities enabled by technology that informs longer-term infrastructure planning. The vast infrastructure of DFW, which includes buildings, roadways, and other physical structures, as well as growing digital and energy network infrastructures, requires long-term planning and strategy to fully leverage technology advancement and avoid abandoning assets due to functional obsolescence.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Planning for a Sustainable and Resilient Energy Future on Beaver Island, Michigan

Beaver Island formed the Smart Energy Team to identify and seek solutions to existing energy challenges on the island. The Smart Energy Team applied and was selected as one of the communities in the Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The focus of ETIPP is to provide strategic energy planning for remote and island communities to address local energy and infrastructure challenges and enhance the long-term resilience of their energy systems. Through ETIPP, the community received technical assistance from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). This report is the culmination of the technical assistance provided to Beaver Island which includes understanding how energy is used on the island, exploring opportunities to lower energy demand and potential energy generation avenues for the island, as well as stakeholder engagement with the local community.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An Overview of NASA Sustainable Aviation

An overview of NASA Aeronautics plans for sustainable aviation research is provided. Specific research activities for subsonic transports under the Sustainable Flight National Partnership (SFNP) are discussed as well as a preview of the Advanced Aircraft for Sustainable Aviation (AACES) 2050 solicitation.

James D Heidmann↗
DOE OSTI2024

Power Supply Options for the Marpi Landfill, Saipan: Comprehensive Feasibility Study

The Marpi Landfill (“Marpi” or “the landfill”), located on the northern end of the island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is powered by a single on-site diesel generator that only operates when the landfill is open and staffed. The project team, composed of representatives of the Department of Public Works and the Office of Planning and Development (OPD), aspires to provide the Marpi Landfill with 24-hour power availability despite its remote location to increase the use of sustainable energy and to ensure environmentally compliant landfill operations. This is consistent with the sustainable development goals documented in the 2021–2030 Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan (OPD 2021), including Goal #12 (ensure environmentally compliant waste management facilities) and Goal #7 (renewable energy deployment). Further, the CNMI has a 20% target for renewable energy consumption by 2030, as documented in the 2021–2030 Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan (OPD 2021) and the renewable portfolio standard (Public Law 18-62). To accomplish these goals, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, through its Interagency Reimbursable Work Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy, funded a feasibility study and follow-up study in 2023–2024 to assess and prioritize power supply options for the landfill. This report combines the results from both feasibility studies.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multi-Model Future Typical Meteorological (fTMY) Weather Files for nearly every US County

Exploring climate-induced impacts on building energy consumption can provide valuable insights for sustainable energy planning and environmental management in the face of a changing climate. By utilizing future weather data statistically downscaled from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) General Circulation Models (GCMs) from 2020-2100, this paper presents a broadening industry-consensus approach for generating future Typical Meteorological Year (fTMY) weather files through a combination of statistical downscaling and high-performance computing that generalizes across decades, multiple locations for a region, and varying climate models. Furthermore, these fTMY files have been generated for 3,128 US counties for capturing potential weather on a 20-year basis.

Building↗
DOE OSTI2025

Sustaining the Z Facility (FY24 Progress Report)

Based on planning and reviews conducted in 2020, it is clear today that the Z Facility must be sustained through 2040 or longer. This requires a well-developed and executed maintenance and sustainment effort. Z’s Sustainment Plan outlines the approach that Sandia’s Pulsed Power Sciences Center will pursue to assure that the Z Facility maintains its world class research and development program supporting the NNSA’s Science Based Stockpile Stewardship efforts. In FY24, the Pulsed Power Center at SNL planned and executed many substantial sustainment projects as well as maintenance-driven-sustainment aligned to the Sustainment Plan. These projects are listed in this section with brief descriptions of the work executed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Data Resources to Empower Your Fleet

This presentation is on how data collection and analytics can shape fleet electrification plans and help to overcome behavioral barriers.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Dust Effects on Space Mechanism Ball Bearings for Sustained Human Lunar Operations

NASA has plans to send humans back to the moon under the Artemis Mission. In 2024, the first humans will set foot on the lunar surface since Apollo 17 in 1972. Additionally, extended plans include a sustained human presence on the moon for long duration habitation. These lofty goals will require many different kinds of space mechanisms including: life support, mobility, excavation, scientific instrumentation, etc. Many of these types of systems utilize rotating machinery which require rolling element bearings. As such, dust tolerance of bearings is a major concern for long life in these critical systems. A research activity has been undertaken to characterize and reduce the damage lunar soil (called regolith) dust causes to bearings. The present work details some preliminary results of ball bearings running with grease intentionally contaminated with known quantities and sizes of lunar simulant particles to assess damage. Various bearing material combinations were tested to determine how certain typical bearing materials respond.

BEARINGS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Instrumentation and Control Digital Modernization Research Plan for Long-Term Sustainability in the Nuclear Industry

This report, developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), outlines a comprehensive research plan to support the digital modernization of safety-related instrumentation and control (I&C) systems in the U.S. nuclear industry. The modernization effort is critical to ensuring the long-term safety, reliability, and economic viability of both existing and future nuclear power plants (NPPs), particularly as aging analog systems become increasingly obsolete and difficult to maintain.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mitigating urban heat island and enhancing indoor thermal comfort using terrace garden

The United Nations advocates for sustainable urban planning and design, emphasizing green infrastructure initiatives to mitigate urban heat island effects and enhance the resilience and livability of cities globally. To address urban heat challenges, a study was conducted in Chennai, India, from April to June 2023. The study focused on assessing temperature dynamics on a building's terrace by comparing a well-maintained garden area with an exposed region. Temperature and humidity sensors were deployed in both the garden and exposed areas of the terrace, as well as within rooms beneath it, to monitor hourly temperature fluctuations. The findings indicate a significant reduction in internal room temperatures in areas with rooftop gardens, ranging from 4 to 11 °C, depending on the time of year and sun's position, compared to rooms with fully exposed roof configurations. Additionally, simulation studies were performed to validate these findings, suggesting that optimizing the distribution of soil beds and plant density across the roof could yield an additional temperature reduction of 3–4 °C, resulting in an overall difference of up to 14–15 °C. The study highlights the efficacy of rooftop gardens in providing cooling effects during daylight hours and maintaining temperature parity post-sunset. Through analysis of sensor data, the research elucidates the intricate relationship between green infrastructure and thermal comfort, offering insights for energy-efficient building design and resilient urban planning. The findings underscore the potential of rooftop gardens in fostering a more comfortable, energy-efficient, and sustainable urban living environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗