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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Demand Response in Industrial Facilities: Peak Electric Demand

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Buildings, Better Plants Program (Better Plants) is a voluntary energy efficiency leadership initiative for US manufacturers and water/wastewater entities. The program encourages organizations to commit to reducing the energy intensity of their US operations over a 10-year period, typically by 25%. Companies joining Better Plants are recognized by DOE for their leadership in implementing energy efficiency practices and for reducing their energy intensity. Better Plants Partners are assigned to a Technical Account Manager, who can help companies establish energy intensity baselines, develop energy management plans, and identify key resources and incentives from DOE, other federal agencies, states, utilities, and other organizations that can enable them to reach their goals. Better Plants Partners are expected to report their progress to DOE once a year. This involves establishing an energy intensity baseline upon joining the program and then tracking their progress over time. Demand Response in Industrial Facilities: Peak Electrical Demand is intended to help companies understand peak demand response programs offering by their local utility. Manufacturing industries can learn about time-varying rates and smart technologies they can use to help them reduce their energy bills. This guidance document is applicable to companies participating at either the program or challenge level. Although this guide is intended primarily to assist companies participating in Better Plants, the methodologies and guidance within the document are applicable to any organization interested in understanding peak demand response programs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Integration Framework: Regulatory Innovation for DER Compensation and Cost Allocation

Existing regulatory approaches to DER lack the precision and granularity necessary to ensure that DER can continue to scale in a cost-effective manner that is aligned with the public interest. To address this need, with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, Berkeley Lab and Current Energy Group developed an illustrative regulatory framework. By adopting a technology-neutral and modular approach, the framework enables flexibility and scalability for DER providers, utilities, and regulators. Clear price signals and incentives encourage the provision of valuable grid services, while equitable cost allocation promotes efficient use of distribution capacity and interconnection resources. This approach mirrors traditional ratemaking principles for importing customers and positions DERs as integral components of a dynamic and cost-effective energy future.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Building Tune-Up Accelerator Program (Final Technical Report)

In 2016, the City of Seattle passed a mandatory Building Tune-Up requirement for all commercial buildings 50,000 square feet (SF) and larger as part of its Climate Action strategy. The requirement is phased in by size with large buildings (greater than 200,000 SF) required first. This allowed Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) to offer the Building Tune-Up Accelerator (TUA) Program to the “mid-size” building market (less than 100,000 SF) to meet the requirements early. With funding from the US DOE, a package of technical and financial support was developed for building owners and energy service providers to encourage this hard-to-reach market to participate in the tune-up—and even go beyond requirements for greater energy savings. Seattle City Light, the municipal electric utility, offered participants a simple per square foot financial incentive. Partners at the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab, Smart Buildings Center and Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) offered service provider trainings, analytical tools and technical support. This final technical report summarizes the program, projected energy and emissions savings and lessons learned from program development to implementation to final evaluation for the 102 buildings that participated.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dataset For: A Guide to Residential Energy Storage and Rooftop Solar: State Net Metering Policies and Utility Rate Tariff Structures

Federal and state decarbonization goals have led to numerous financial incentives and policies designed to increase access and adoption of renewable energy systems. In combination with the declining cost of both solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems and rising electric utility rates, residential renewable adoption has become more favorable than ever. However, not all states provide the same opportunity for cost recovery, and the complicated and changing policy and utility landscape can make it difficult for households to make an informed decision on whether to install a renewable system. This paper is intended to provide a guide to households considering renewable adoption by introducing relevant factors that influence renewable system performance and payback, summarized in a state lookup table for quick reference. Five states are chosen as case studies to perform economic optimizations based on net metering policy, utility rate structure, and average electric utility price; these states are selected to be representative of the possible combinations of factors to aid in the decision-making process for customers in all states. The results of this analysis highlight the dual importance of both state support for renewables and price signals, as the benefits of residential renewable systems are best realized in states with net metering policies facing the challenge of above-average electric utility rates. This dataset is intended to allow readers to reproduce and customize the analysis performed in this work to their benefit. Suggested modifications include: location, household load profile, rate tariff structure, and renewable energy system design.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1980

Air cargo market outlook and impact via the NASA CLASS project

An overview is given of the Cargo/Logistics Airlift Systems Study (CLASS) project which was a 10 man-year effort carried out by two contractor teams, aimed at defining factors impacting future system growth and obtaining market requirements and design guidelines for future air freighters. Growth projection was estimated by two approaches: one, an optimal systems approach with a more efficient and cost effective system considered as being available in 1990; and the other, an evolutionary approach with an econometric behavior model used to predict long term evolution from the present system. Both approaches predict significant growth in demand for international air freighter services and less growth for U.S. domestic services. Economic analysis of air freighter fleet options indicate very strong market appeal of derivative widebody transports in 1990 with little incentive to develop all new dedicated air freighters utilizing the 1990's technology until sometime beyond the year 2000. Advanced air freighters would be economically attractive for a wide range of payload sizes (to 500 metric tons), however, if a government would share in the RD and T costs by virtue of its needs for a slightly modified version of a civil air freighter design (a.g. military airlifter).

Winston, M. M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

MN Solar Pathways: Solar Deployment Strategies-Modeling and Case Studies

As part of the Minnesota Solar Pathways project, funded in part by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, Clean Power Research (CPR) developed a Solar Deployment Strategies modeling tool to calculate the economic impacts and market incentives created by different solar portfolios and rate structures. CPR developed the tool using Minnesota-specific data and assumptions. The case studies described in this report provide insight into possible pathways toward the state goal of 10% solar, but the emphasis of the report is the demonstration of the tool in use cases that can be expanded and modified in future years as needs change.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Baseload Hydrogen Production Using Nuclear and Renewable Energy: A Comparative Analysis

As the global push towards net zero carbon gains momentum, the demand for clean hydrogen is expected to grow rapidly across various sectors, including transportation, industries and electrical grids. To meet this growing hydrogen demand, baseload hydrogen production facilities capable of providing a continuous and reliable supply of hydrogen will be necessary throughout the world. This paper explores the technoeconomic feasibility of establishing baseload electrolytic hydrogen production facilities in the United States, utilizing different clean generation resources. The key criteria include maintaining a consistent supply of clean hydrogen without putting baseload demand stress to already vulnerable power grid. In order to do that, the proposed facilities will host onsite clean power generation and energy storage technologies. The proposed facilities can capitalize on available investment and production incentives and have ability to export excess electricity to the utility at a bulk price. Several scenarios are considered based on the clean energy resources to support the electrolysis process including light water reactors (LWRs) currently evaluating retirement options, wind, solar PVs, and advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). For each scenario, a hypothetical hydrogen production facility is considered in a location in the US where the primary generation resource is at its peak strength. Comparative analysis in this paper reveal that the nuclear power plants are most economically viable for baseload hydrogen production facilities, outperforming renewable-based facilities with significantly lower levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Even under best-case scenarios for resource availability, incentives and export prices, renewable-based facilities face challenges due to daily and seasonal generation variability, resulting in large installation sizes and lower capacity factors. Among renewable-based facilities, complementarity hybrids, providing more stable power supply, demonstrate superior economics compared to facilities based on a single renewable technology. While LWR-powered facility can achieve a negative LCOH with incentives, SMR-powered facilities can provide economic hydrogen supply with LCOH below $1/kg with high temperature electrolysis option. The analysis in this paper underscores the pivotal role of nuclear energy in the future hydrogen economy.

08 - HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optimizing design and dispatch of a renewable energy system

Renewable energy technologies are becoming increasingly important due to their cost-competitiveness, and because of enhanced climate concerns. We demonstrate the capabilities of an integer-programming optimization model that minimizes capital (investment) and operational costs, and utility charges, while adhering to system sizing constraints, demand requirements, and interoperability characteristics of the systems chosen. Furthermore, the model recommends an optimally sized mix of renewable energy, conventional generation, and energy storage technologies, while simultaneously optimizing the corresponding dispatch strategy. Our case studies explore several venues, i.e., a small campus and a local hospital, with complex utility rate tariffs, multi-technology integration opportunities, and incentives for renewable power production. Using an optimization model, versus applying rules of thumb, can produce millions of dollars in savings over a 25-year time horizon and result in thousands of kilowatts of installed renewable energy.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1988

Processes and energy costs for mining lunar Helium-3

Preliminary investigations show that obtaining He-3 from the moon is technically feasible and economically viable. With the exception of beneficiation, the proposed procedures are state of the art. Mass of equipment needed from earth is of some concern, but resupply will eventually be ameliorated by the use of titanium from indigenous ilmenite. A complete energy payback from a D/He-3 fusion reactor utilizing lunar He-3 is approx. 80, providing ample incentive for commercial investment is forthcoming. Byproducts will be of great value to the resupply of a permanent lunar base and enhancement of space exploration.

Sviatoslavsky, I. N.↗
DOE OSTI2025

HPC Digital Twins for Evaluating Scheduling Policies, Incentive Structures and their Impact on Power and Cooling

Schedulers are critical for optimal resource utilization in high-performance computing. Traditional methods to evaluate sched- ulers are limited to post-deployment analysis, or simulators, which do not model associated infrastructure. In this work, we present the first-of-its-kind integration of scheduling and digital twins in HPC. This enables what-if studies to understand the impact of parameter configurations and scheduling decisions on the physical assets, even before deployment, or regarching changes not easily realizable in production. We (1) provide the first digital twin framework extended with scheduling capabilities, (2) integrate various top-tier HPC systems given their publicly available datasets, (3) implement extensions to integrate external scheduling simulators. Finally, we show how to (4) implement and evaluate incentive structures, as- well-as (5) evaluate machine learning based scheduling, in such novel digital-twin based meta-framework to prototype scheduling. Our work enables what-if scenarios of HPC systems to evaluate sustainability, and the impact on the simulated system.

Maiterth, Matthias [ORNL] (ORCID:000000018698460X)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cost targets to achieve commercially viable thermal storage in buildings

To mitigate the variation in demand on the electric grid, thermal energy storage (TES) is an alternative to electric batteries or installing new peaking power plants. Stakeholders and policy makers across the United States have expressed interests in promoting TES, as demonstrated by the US Department of Energy’s Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings program and the efforts of various state legislatures. However, the cost value provided by TES are unclear. If reliable cost benefits were determined, stakeholders would have a clearer picture of the financial returns that can be gained from their investment in TES. In this report, EnergyPlus was used to perform whole-building simulations for two residential buildings in Indianapolis and Atlanta. The HVAC system in both buildings were equipped with phase change material TES. The TES tank was charged in off-peak hours and discharged in peak hours to perform load shifting. First, the economic value implied by existing time-of-use (TOU) rates offered by utility companies was analyzed via whole-building simulation. Second, existing demand reduction (DR) incentives sourced from 3 different electrical grid administrators (i.e., California, Texas, and New England region) were surveyed to determine their implied value. Lastly, the economic value implied by different types of deferred peak power plants were reviewed. The full value of TES to the entire society consists of value to the utility, OEMs, facility installers, and other stakeholders. This report focuses on the value to the utility with emphasis on the deferred capital of peak power plant. The value from the deferred capital of peak power plant is manifested to the customer in the form of demand reduction program and Time-of-Use utility rate program. In this report, an initial proxy of the value of TES is made by assuming the deferred capital cost of power plant is the full value to reduce peak demand. Three levels of financial value of TES systems were assessed. Two are currently available to some residential customers: (1) the benefit from TOU pricing alone and (2) the benefit from TOU pricing in combination with DR incentive programs. The third level was computed as the full cost of deferred capital cost of peaking power plants. This represents the potential value that could be gained by the utilities or conceivably be offered to consumers.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1981

Avenues and incentives for commercial use of a low-gravity environment

The scientific and commercial utilization of the low-g environments for materials research and for process and product development is considered. Any products of commercial interest which necessitate processing in space will probably be low volume, high value items. To encourage the commercialization of materials processing in low-g, NASA, in parallel with establishing and demonstrating the scientific/technological precepts for analyzing and using a low-g environment, is establishing the legal and management mechanisms to share in the cost and risk of early commercial ventures, and is now working with commercial firms on a case-by basis to explore applications of this new technology to specific needs of the company.

Brown, R. L.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electric Vehicle Adoption in Illinois

Over 1.3 million plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) have been sold in the United States since 2010 when the first Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf vehicles came on the market. Currently, electric vehicles account for about 2% of monthly light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales. More than 40 different electric vehicle models are actively being marketed, and most of these are LDVs. Over the last few years, automakers have brought more models, with varying mileage ranges, to the market, including medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks and buses. Government agencies at the federal, regional, and state levels, as well as utilities across the United States, have provided financial and non-financial incentives to promote electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure deployment. Argonne National Laboratory, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, has developed tools and collected data to quantify the energy, economic, and environmental benefits of electric vehicles. This project has three objectives. First, we summarize the policies and other actions of the federal government, various states/regions, and utilities to promote PEV adoption, and evaluate their relative effectiveness based on a review of the literature. Second, we identify possible PEV adoption paths or scenarios that would result in PEVs making up 15% of all on-road vehicles in Illinois, and we quantify the resulting impacts on petroleum consumption and electricity demand. We also summarize the possible reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) and criteria pollutant emissions due to PEV adoption. The PEV scenarios include private and public adoption of electric cars, light trucks (e.g., sports utility vehicles [SUVs], vans, pickups), medium-duty vehicles (MDVs), and heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). Third, we estimate hourly charging loads of light-duty PEVs in 2030 associated with these scenarios, incorporating assumptions about vehicle electric range, efficiency, and travel behavior.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

First Wave of Incentive-Driven CCS Projects in North Dakota

Conference poster presented at American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Conference, Houston, Texas, March 28–30, 2022. While the central interior of North America offers a tremendous storage resource, optimization will be key to meaningfully reducing the more than 2.6 billion tons of CO 2 emitted annually from large point sources in the United States. These initial projects tend to have the most favorable economics and are often able to take advantage of the best geology, with little to no competition for resource. This initial wave of projects is informing investment in and creating the opportunity for innovation that will enable the next wave of incentive-based CCS projects. Such innovation is critical for reducing costs, enhancing the design and operability of the next wave of CCS projects, and realizing more of the 250 billion tons of storage resource in North Dakota.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2020

A New Gold Mine? Achieving HVAC Energy Efficiency Through a System Metric

Washington State's Commercial Energy Code adopted a new energy metric called HVAC Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR) in 2019, a first in the codes world to regulate HVAC system efficiency. TSPR is a ratio of annual heating and cooling loads to the annual carbon emissions associated with the energy consumed by the HVAC system. TSPR provides a performance-based solution to evaluate and improve the overall HVAC design. The TSPR metric and its companion calculation tool were developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with support from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and the City of Seattle. The new metric represents a significant shift in how HVAC design will meet code requirements. Utility programs can also leverage TSPR as a measure to determine energy savings and incentive amounts for HVAC retrofits. This paper describes the efforts by NEEA and its collaborators to prepare the market for TSPR adoption in code. This paper provides the pilot projects led by University of Washington Integrated Design Lab (IDL) to understand potential issues that could be faced by early adopters. This paper also covers how training and outreach provide engagement opportunities that can streamline code compliance, help address issues faced by early adopters and promote participation in utility programs. As Washington State works on the goals of 70% energy reduction and zero fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emission homes and buildings by the year 2031 , system level performance metrics will likely become increasingly more necessary and prevalent. This paper concludes that the HVAC TSPR requirement helps familiarize the HVAC industry with this approach and helps Washington achieve its long-term goals.

Liu, Bing↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantification of Energy Savings and Demand Reduction for a Heat Pump Integrated with Thermal Energy Storage (Final Report)

To mitigate the variation in demand on the electric grid, thermal energy storage (TES) is an alternative to electric batteries or installing new peaking power plants. Stakeholders and policy makers across the United States have expressed interests in promoting TES, as demonstrated by the US Department of Energy’s Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings program and the efforts of various state legislatures. However, the cost value provided by TES are unclear. If reliable cost benefits were determined, stakeholders would have a clearer picture of the financial returns that can be gained from their investment in TES. The study in this report is conducted by ORNL with collaboration with Emerson the Helix Innovation Center. In the first part of this report, EnergyPlus was used to perform whole-building simulations for two residential buildings in Indianapolis and Atlanta. The HVAC system in both buildings were equipped with phase change material TES. The TES tank was charged in off-peak hours and discharged in peak hours to perform load shifting. First, the economic value implied by existing time-of-use (TOU) rates offered by utility companies was analyzed via whole-building simulation. Second, existing demand reduction (DR) incentives sourced from 3 different electrical grid administrators (i.e., California, Texas, and New England region) were surveyed to determine their implied value. The study suggests that the traditional value analysis that focuses on ROI for the building owner significantly undervalues TES technology making economic viability difficult. A more comprehensive value analysis that includes peak demand management and deferred capital for peaking power plants shows that TES should be economically viable but here the value is greater for the utility and requires large market penetration and aggregation to fully realize the benefits. Therefore, to facilitate commercialization, new business models are needed that include a broader range of stakeholders and distribute the value of TES proportionally. In the 2 nd part of this project, the benefits of a novel phase change material (PCM) integrated heat pump configuration were evaluated via detailed component based simulation. A one-dimensional PCM heat exchanger model which discretizes the PCM tank and refrigerant tubes into small control volumes is developed. Each control volume can have different PCM temperatures, PCM properties, and heat transfer coefficients. The PCM tank is charged by a wrapped tank condenser and discharged by an internal refrigerant coil. The PCM heat exchanger model is integrated into DOE/ORNL Heat Pump Design Model for heat pump system simulation. To demonstrate the performance of the PCM integrated heat pump, a case study in Chicago was performed. A Time-of-Use utility structure-based control strategy is implemented to schedule the PCM tank charging and discharging mode switching. Compared with a conventional electric heat pump, the PCM integrated heat pump shows superior performance on load shifting and utility cost reduction. As a result, the proposed system demonstrates 24.6% utility saving for cooling application and 25.8% utility saving for heating application.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2006

Independent Space Operators: Gaining a Voice in Design for Operability

Affordable and sustainable space exploration remains an elusive goal. We explore the competitive advantages of evolving towards independent operators for space transportation in our economy. We consider the pros and cons of evolving business organizations that operate and maintain space transportation system assets independently from flight system manufacturers and from host spaceports. The case is made that a more competitive business climate for creating inherently operable, dependable, and supportable space transportation systems can evolve out of today's traditional vertical business model-a model within which the voice of the operator is often heard, but rarely acted upon during crucial design commitments and critical design processes. Thus new business models may be required, driven less by hardware consumption and more by space system utilization.

incentives↗