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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

A Shared Understanding and Paths Forward for Community Benefit Mechanisms: Workshop Summary Report

On October 7-8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory hosted an in-person workshop focused on research needs and strategies for community benefit mechanisms (CBMs) used in the deployment of renewable energy infrastructure. Community benefit mechanisms (such as community benefit agreements, funds, and donations) are used to provide increased benefits and/or mitigate negative impacts of energy development for the communities that are impacted. The workshop aimed to assess the current state of knowledge, tools, practices, and lessons learned, as well as to identify research and other work needed to improve the impact and effective implementation of CBMs. This report describes the purpose and structure of the workshop and summarizes key themes, questions, issues, and ideas that arose from the workshop.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measuring environmental and cost benefits of riparian buffers for drinking water production in a Midwest watershed

Here, this study focuses on the economic value and carbon benefits of riparian buffers in urban drinking water production. The impact of riparian buffers on the waterworks operation in the Raccoon River watershed was quantified using the following metrics: nitrate concentration, days of nitrate removal operation, material and energy cost (based on 17 years of historical records with a watershed model), regression, and cost analysis. The findings indicate that the presence of riparian buffers in agricultural land can substantially decrease nitrate concentration in the water intake of the waterworks during the crop-growing season: 19% in April, 9% in May, and 11% in June. These reductions mean less nitrate treatment of the plant intake flow: 23% in April, 12% in May, and 3% in June. These changes lead to significant resource savings: 425 metric tons of sodium chloride (NaCl), 147 810 kWh of electricity, 253 metric tons of powdered activated carbon, and 20.8 million liters of fresh water. The buffers would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 86.9 metric tons (CO 2 equivalent) in 17 years. The total cost saving was estimated at $\$$327 326, with the highest potential savings in May ($\$$215 100), followed by April ($\$$65 465), and June ($\$$46 761). When factoring in buffer installation, cropland loss, nitrate removal, and cost associated with buffer harvest for biofuel in an established biomass market, the benefit to the entire watershed community would be $\$$2.63 million annually. The results underscore the significant cost benefits and environmental benefits associated with cropland riparian buffers in a watershed community. The approach employed in this study holds promise for assessing riparian buffer benefits in other watersheds, contributes to an understanding of sustainable water management practices, and provides a basis for decision making in a wide range of agricultural regions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Social–ecological benefits of land–sea planning at multiple scales in Mesoamerica

Deforestation impacts the ecosystem services provided by downstream coral reefs to coastal communities in multiple ways, such as through increased sedimentation and nutrification. However, connections between terrestrial and marine ecosystems are generally assessed at a single scale and from an ecological perspective alone, limiting our understanding of how watershed management affects the benefits accrued by coastal communities at different scales. Here we explore how ecological and societal benefits of watershed interventions (restoration, protection and sustainable agriculture) differ when considered regionally versus nationally in the Mesoamerican Reef region, by using linked land–sea ecosystem service models. Results from a regional approach prioritize implementing interventions in larger multinational watersheds, leading to neighbouring nations benefiting from increased sediment retention and healthy corals. For the national prioritization approach, selecting for smaller watersheds within individual countries resulted in more societal benefits, particularly increased coastal protection and nature-based tourism, at the cost of improved coral health for neighbouring nations. Finally, we demonstrate how planning at multiple scales across the region can improve ecosystem and societal benefits, resulting in win–win outcomes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Protection and restoration of coastal habitats yield multiple benefits for urban residents as sea levels rise

Globally, rising seas threaten massive numbers of people and significant infrastructure. Adaptation strategies increasingly incorporate nature-based solutions. New science can illuminate where these solutions are appropriate in urban environments and what benefits they provide to people. Together with stakeholders in San Mateo County, California, USA, we co-developed nature-based solutions to support adaptation planning. We created six guiding principles to shape planning, summarized vulnerability to sea-level rise and opportunities for nature-based solutions, created three adaptation scenarios, and compared multiple benefits provided by each scenario. Adaptation scenarios that included investments in nature-based solutions deliver up to eight times the benefits of a traditionally engineered baseline as well as additional habitat for key species. The magnitude and distribution of benefits varied at subregional scales along the coastline. Our results demonstrate practical tools and engagement approaches to assessing the multiple benefits of nature-based solutions in an urban estuary that can be replicated in other regions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using Mapping Tools to Prioritize Electric Vehicle Charger Benefits to Underserved Communities

Mapping tools can play an important role in incorporating equity into planning, implementing, and evaluating investments in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, also referred to as EV chargers or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Federal, state, and local organizations need methodologies for using mapping tools as they pursue equity-focused goals to ensure that the benefits of investments in EV chargers flow to energy and environmental justice (EEJ) underserved communities. This report provides examples of how to apply mapping tools to identify priority locations for installing EV chargers that may benefit EEJ underserved communities through four EV charger planning approaches: corridor charging, community charging, fleet electrification, and diversity in STEM and workforce development. It also explores various methodologies for calculating low-public EVSE density. Ensuring that the benefits of EV charger investments flow to underserved communities involves prioritizing locally identified needs and incorporating community input when choosing charging station locations. Installing EV chargers in a census tract identified as an EEJ underserved community does not inherently mean that those EV chargers provide benefits to residents of that community. In addition, representatives of historically disadvantaged communities or environmental justice communities have concerns that installing EV chargers in their communities could potentially exacerbate or propagate existing inequities. While the methodologies described in this report may help identify priority census tracts for equity-focused EV charger investment, additional community engagement and site evaluation are necessary to determine whether EV chargers are accessible, affordable, and convenient to EEJ underserved community residents and what benefits the local community is looking to realize with EV charger installations. This report is the culmination of many discussions with project leaders from DOE-funded projects deploying EV chargers in communities across the nation, organizations representing EEJ underserved communities, state agencies developing EV investment plans, utilities making major EV investments, and DOE national laboratory experts working in transportation electrification. The authors distributed a draft report for peer review, and reviewer comments are summarized in this report. These methodologies are likely to evolve as more EV charger funding programs are implemented and more real-world data is available to measure the effectiveness of strategies for incorporating equity in EV charger deployment projects. Continued efforts to document best practices and critically evaluate whether equity-focused programs achieve their goals are needed as transportation electrification proceeds at the local, regional, and national levels.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Consumer Benefits of Clean Energy: The resilience value of residential solar + storage systems in the continental U.S.

Meeting national and state decarbonization goals requires a transition to clean energy technologies. Energy efficiency, demand flexibility, renewable energy and storage can reduce consumers’ electricity bills, lower total electricity system costs, and provide health and resilience benefits. Berkeley Lab developed a series of briefs that explore these consumer benefits of a clean energy transition. Clean energy resources that are located behind the meter have the potential to benefit the hosting customers by providing affordability, environmental, and reliability and resilience value. Solar plus storage systems (PVESS) are clean energy resources that can supply backup power without requiring fuel resupply or increasing local emissions. This report examines the regional value of PVESS for resilience by calculating a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) that considers the annual resiliency benefits of PVESS and the annualized cost of the investment. In addition, we estimate the expected technical mitigation potential of PVESS systems at the county-level to these expected events, and characterize the customer interruption costs by determining the value of lost load at the state level.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Consumer Benefits of Clean Energy: Renewable Energy

Meeting national and state decarbonization goals requires a transition to clean energy technologies. Energy efficiency, demand flexibility, renewable energy and storage can reduce consumers’ electricity bills, lower total electricity system costs, and provide health and resilience benefits. Berkeley Lab developed a series of briefs that explore these consumer benefits of a clean energy transition. This brief discusses some of the possible consumer benefits of utility-scale and behind the meter renewable energy, with a focus on how these resources can contribute to a low-cost electricity system. It begins with a literature review of modeled impacts, primarily considering consumer benefits, of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Next, it discusses how utility-scale renewable energy can contribute to a low-cost electricity system (e.g., in some cases, low resource costs relative to other alternatives). It concludes with a discussion of behind-the-meter renewable energy consumer benefits (e.g., reduced host electricity bill, increased property value, resilience).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Vehicle Automation Benefits and Challenges for Passenger Transport System Beyond Automated Driving

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been researching the implementation of fully automated passenger transport systems to be operated within dense urban settings, referred to as Automated Mobility Districts, based on roadway vehicle automation as opposed to track or train-based automation. This research, now in its third phase, is presently addressing the full spectrum of benefits and challenges of full automation of passenger transport systems with respect to fleet electrification and the associated multimodal, large fleet operational management, benefits beyond simply automating the driving tasks. The focal points summarized in the paper and presentation address the benefit-analysis of fleet automation to address added complexities imposed on the multi-fleet operational management when there is a simultaneous implementation of an on-demand service mode that connects with and optimizes the effectiveness of legacy transit systems and new sub-regional autonomous vehicle fleets, with specific emphasis on enhanced ability to better meet peak ridership demand. The research also begins to address challenges in operations arising from lack of personnel present to handle unexpected customer and system needs. Combined, this research articulates vehicle automation benefits and challenges beyond simply automating the driving tasks, addressing additional operational benefits automation provides to address the added complexities imposed by electrification and on-demand modes of operation.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies that maximize portfolio-wide life cycle cost reduction, resilience, and environmental justice benefits

While strategies to achieve net-zero emissions at an individual site are well understood, new analysis methods are required for organizations seeking to achieve net-zero across multiple facilities, each with concurrent priority goals. At a portfolio level, distinct locations present varied challenges that cannot be addressed through singular solutions, and competing goals can take precedence with the assumption that net-zero emissions strategies deter from energy resilience and cost savings, therefore negatively impacting nearby communities. This study tests these assumptions by analyzing 16 diverse sites (varying in size, climate, and energy use) to identify strategies that reduce emissions and assess the impact these strategies have on life cycle costs, resilience, and communities with environmental justice concerns. Methods were developed to approximate missing information essential to net-zero evaluation. Established methods were augmented to evaluate life cycle costs, resilience, and environmental justice impacts across a set of strategies and accommodate the multi-criteria analyses. Potential benefits from identified strategies were quantified using site characteristics and a set of corresponding metrics. The net-zero analysis found that 11 sites could use on-site strategies to eliminate all but 2% of emissions generated. The remaining emissions can be offset, for instance through sequestration, executed at the portfolio scale. On-site carbon-free energy was found to reduce 51% of emissions across all sites; efficiency reduced 19% of emissions; sequestration 16%; procured carbon-free energy 15%; fuel switching 1.6%; and fleet electrification 1.3%. Building electrification, however, increased emissions by 4.4%. Different strategies also provide cost, resilience, and/or environmental justice benefits—the degree to which varies with individual site conditions. The findings indicate an advantage to considering the strategies as a comprehensive set, which leads to co-benefits, both in the ability to achieve net-zero goals and in advancing other goals. The results present the case for comprehensive advanced planning at the portfolio level to prioritize investments that will balance the minimization of emissions and life cycle cost with the maximization of resilience and environmental justice benefits. The novel methods for evaluation and integration, valuation of benefits, and consideration at the portfolio scale allow organizations to select investments that simultaneously address multiple key priorities.

Net-Zero Emissions↗
NASA NTRS1970

Personal Benefits of a Health Evaluation and Enhancement Program

A study was made of the benefits reported by participants in a health evaluation and enhancement program dealing with physical activity. Program benefits were identified and defined in regard to three major areas: program effects on work; program effects on health; and program effects on habits and behavior. A strong positive and consistent relationship was found between reported benefits in each of these areas and measures of improvement in cardiovascular functioning based on treadmill performance. Significant differences in these measures of improvement were also found between participants who reported program benefits and those persons who did not. These findings provide a meaningful profile of the pattern of benefits generated by this kind of health program.

Heinzelmann, F.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A cost-benefit evaluation of the LANDSAT flow-on operational system

Disciplines to benefit from the LANDSAT Follow-on System include agriculture, petroleum and mineral exploration, hydrologic land use, water resources management, forestry, land use planning and monitoring, and soil management. The annual quantified benefits are in the range of 420 to 970 million (FY 1976 dollars). The operational system sized to achieve the quantified benefits involves a single orbiting satellite with a backup satellite in launch readiness. The ground system includes a basic processing system which feeds information to three user systems - one for agriculture, one for hydrologic land use, and a third for all other users. The resulting present worth benefit cost ratio is at least equal to four with a reasonable likelihood of exceeding nine. This benefit cost ratio is evaluated for an infinite time horizon at the discount rate of 10 percent.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Cost benefits of advanced software: A review of methodology used at Kennedy Space Center

To assist rational investments in advanced software, a formal, explicit, and multi-perspective cost-benefit analysis methodology is proposed. The methodology can be implemented through a six-stage process which is described and explained. The current practice of cost-benefit analysis at KSC is reviewed in the light of this methodology. The review finds that there is a vicious circle operating. Unsound methods lead to unreliable cost-benefit estimates. Unreliable estimates convince management that cost-benefit studies should not be taken seriously. Then, given external demands for cost-benefit estimates, management encourages software enginees to somehow come up with the numbers for their projects. Lacking the expertise needed to do a proper study, courageous software engineers with vested interests use ad hoc and unsound methods to generate some estimates. In turn, these estimates are unreliable, and the cycle continues. The proposed methodology should help KSC to break out of this cycle.

Joglekar, Prafulla N.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Benefit Estimates of Terminal Area Productivity Program Technologies

This report documents benefit analyses for the NASA Terminal Area Technology (TAP) technology programs. Benefits are based on reductions in arrival delays at ten major airports over the 10 years from 2006 through 2015. Detailed analytic airport capacity and delay models were constructed to produce the estimates. The goal of TAP is enable good weather operations tempos in all weather conditions. The TAP program includes technologies to measure and predict runway occupancy times, reduce runway occupancy times in bad weather, accurately predict wake vortex hazards, and couple controller automation with aircraft flight management systems. The report presents and discusses the estimate results and describes the models. Three appendixes document the model algorithms and discuss the input parameters selected for the TAP technologies. The fourth appendix is the user's guide for the models. The results indicate that the combined benefits for all TAP technologies at all 10 airports range from $550 to $650 million per year (in constant 1997 dollars). Additional benefits will accrue from reductions in departure delays. Departure delay benefits are calculated by the current models.

Hemm, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2015

Benefits Assessment for Single-Airport Tactical Runway Configuration Management Tool (TRCM)

The System-Oriented Runway Management (SORM) concept was developed as part of the Airspace Systems Program (ASP) Concepts and Technology Development (CTD) Project, and is composed of two basic capabilities: Runway Configuration Management (RCM), and Combined Arrival/Departure Runway Scheduling (CADRS). RCM is the process of designating active runways, monitoring the active runway configuration for suitability given existing factors, and predicting future configuration changes; CADRS is the process of distributing arrivals and departures across active runways based on local airport and National Airspace System (NAS) goals. The central component in the SORM concept is a tool for taking into account all the various factors and producing a recommendation for what would be the optimal runway configuration, runway use strategy, and aircraft sequence, considering as many of the relevant factors required in making this type of decision, and user preferences, if feasible. Three separate tools were initially envisioned for this research area, corresponding to the time scale in which they would operate: Strategic RCM (SRCM), with a planning horizon on the order of several hours, Tactical RCM (TRCM), with a planning horizon on the order of 90 minutes, and CADRS, with a planning horizon on the order of 15-30 minutes[1]. Algorithm development was initiated in all three of these areas, but the most fully developed to date is the TRCM algorithm. Earlier studies took a high-level approach to benefits, estimating aggregate benefits across most of the major airports in the National Airspace Systems (NAS), for both RCM and CADRS [2]. Other studies estimated the benefit of RCM and CADRS using various methods of re-sequencing arrivals to reduce delays3,4, or better balancing of arrival fixes5,6. Additional studies looked at different methods for performing the optimization involved in selecting the best Runway Configuration Plan (RCP) to use7-10. Most of these previous studies were high-level or generic in nature (not focusing on specific airports), and benefits were aggregated for the entire NAS, with relatively low fidelity simulation of SORM functions and aircraft trajectories. For SORM research, a more detailed benefits assessment of RCM and CADRS for specific airports or metroplexes is needed.

Oseguera-Lohr, Rosa↗
NASA NTRS2016

Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Advanced Near Net Shape Technology (ANNST) Method for Fabricating Stiffened Cylinders

This cost-benefit analysis assesses the benefits of the Advanced Near Net Shape Technology (ANNST) manufacturing process for fabricating integrally stiffened cylinders. These preliminary, rough order-of-magnitude results report a 46 to 58 percent reduction in production costs and a 7-percent reduction in weight over the conventional metallic manufacturing technique used in this study for comparison. Production cost savings of 35 to 58 percent were reported over the composite manufacturing technique used in this study for comparison; however, the ANNST concept was heavier. In this study, the predicted return on investment of equipment required for the ANNST method was ten cryogenic tank barrels when compared with conventional metallic manufacturing. The ANNST method was compared with the conventional multi-piece metallic construction and composite processes for fabricating integrally stiffened cylinders. A case study compared these three alternatives for manufacturing a cylinder of specified geometry, with particular focus placed on production costs and process complexity, with cost analyses performed by the analogy and parametric methods. Furthermore, a scalability study was conducted for three tank diameters to assess the highest potential payoff of the ANNST process for manufacture of large-diameter cryogenic tanks. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was subsequently used with a group of selected subject matter experts to assess the value of the various benefits achieved by the ANNST method for potential stakeholders. The AHP study results revealed that decreased final cylinder mass and quality assurance were the most valued benefits of cylinder manufacturing methods, therefore emphasizing the relevance of the benefits achieved with the ANNST process for future projects.

Stoner, Mary Cecilia↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Electricity Resilience Projects: State of the Art and Gap Analysis

Utilities and regulators must weigh the benefits of electricity resilience projects against their costs, which would be passed on to customers. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an appropriate method for assessing this tradeoff. Here, in this paper we review the literature on CBA of electricity resilience projects and analyze gaps in the available methods and tools. The costs of resilience projects are typically straightforward to estimate but their benefits — particularly the avoided costs of power interruptions — are complex to quantify and monetize. A common perception among practitioners is that current CBA tools are not sufficiently mature to be adopted into real-world practice. We propose an electricity resilience CBA framework consisting of several elements: risks, physical impacts, power interruptions, economic impacts, and resilience projects. While methods for some elements are well-developed, there is a need for novel approaches to value avoided power interruptions, integrate multiple risks and benefit streams, and incorporate uncertainty.

Cost-benefit analysis↗
DOE OSTI2025

Better Climate Challenge Working Groups Non-Energy Benefits of Energy Projects-Improving Financial Payback

Energy efficiency is a key strategy recently identified by the United States Department of Energy as a pillar of industrial decarbonization. For manufacturing companies, improving energy efficiency will reduce money spent on energy utilities such as gas, electricity, and oil. Energy improvement projects also provide valuable benefits outside of simple operating cost reductions, such as reducing the carbon footprint, improving safety metrics and even enhancing quality and productivity. Unfortunately, energy efficiency projects have typically faced an adoption gap, even when they meet criteria such as payback period for capital projects. The inclusion and quantification of non-energy benefits (NEBs), also known as co-benefits, in the decision-making process for energy efficiency projects can improve the overall financial payback periods for those projects as well as potentially improve the company's key performance metrics aligned with business strategies. There are no readily available tools that facilitate this, however, and the most used tools for energy audits address NEBs in a perfunctory way if at all. We integrated research for finding and quantifying non-energy benefits of energy efficiency projects into a commonly recognized continuous improvement practice, the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) Process. This process, along with software and supplemental materials, guides energy assessments to find and to quantify NEBs associated with energy conservation opportunities. Our aim is to deliver an easy to use and effective process and software tool and to maximize return on investment for energy efficiency projects as well as contribute to companies' strategic performance goals.

DMAIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cost‐benefit assessment framework for robotics‐driven inspection of floating offshore wind farms

Abstract Operations and maintenance (O&M) of floating offshore wind farms (FOWFs) poses various challenges in terms of greater distances from the shore, harsher weather conditions, and restricted mobility options. Robotic systems have the potential to automate some parts of the O&M leading to continuous feature‐rich data acquisition, operational efficiency, along with health and safety improvements. There remains a gap in assessing the techno‐economic feasibility of robotics in the FOWF sector. This paper investigates the costs and benefits of incorporating robotics into the O&M of a FOWF. A bottom‐up cost model is used to estimate the costs for a proposed multi‐robot platform (MRP). The MRP houses unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to conduct the inspection of specific FOWF components. Emphasis is laid on the most conducive O&M activities for robotization and the associated technical and cost aspects. The simulation is conducted in Windfarm Operations and Maintenance cost‐Benefit Analysis Tool (WOMBAT), where the metrics of incurred operational expenditure (OPEX) and the inspection time are calculated and compared with those of a baseline case consisting of crew transfer vessels, rope‐access technicians, and divers. Results show that the MRP can reduce the inspection time incurred, but this reduction has dependency on the efficacy of the robotic system and the associated parameterization e.g., cost elements and the inspection rates. Conversely, the increased MRP day rate results in a higher annualized OPEX. Residual risk is calculated to assess the net benefit of incorporating the MRP. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is conducted to find the key parameters influencing the OPEX and the inspection time variation. A key output of this work is a robust and realistic framework which can be used for the cost‐benefit assessment of future MRP systems for specific FOWF activities.

17 WIND ENERGY↗