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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 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Tierra del Fuego Case Study Capacity Expansion Analysis

This case study, developed by Net Zero World Initiative and the Government of Argentina, examines least-cost decarbonization pathways for Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, utilizing renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen, and other decarbonization technologies. Being the second largest natural gas producing province in Argentina, Tierra del Fuego has historically relied on natural gas for their energy sector needs. As they look at possible decarbonization pathways, they face challenges due to extreme weather conditions, isolation from the mainland, and low population density. The study utilizes the Engage web application for capacity expansion modeling, addressing both business-as-usual (BAU) and accelerated decarbonization scenarios, with varying degrees of electrification and carbon emission constraints. Key findings reveal that an interconnection with the mainland, high contribution of wind energy development on Tierra del Fuego, energy storage, and hydrogen, coupled with energy-efficient electrification technologies (such as heat pumps and electric vehicles), emerge as the most cost-effective solutions to decarbonize, significantly reducing carbon emissions and total system energy costs. The study explores self-generation and interconnection alternatives, demonstrating the economic advantage of an interconnection of Tierra del Fuego with the mainland, as an alternative to 100% local generation. Sensitivity analyses on wind data sources and temporal resolutions, as well as projected natural gas prices, highlight the influence of external factors on the feasibility of decarbonization pathways. Challenges identified include the practicality of phasing out natural gas, economic uncertainty, cost implications of long-term storage technologies as wind energy increases, and geographical limitations for wind generation. The case study concludes that while substantial emissions reductions can be achieved by 2050, and be competitive with conventional pathways, achieving a full 100% decarbonization by 2050 would entail higher costs, particularly due to the significant reliance on storage solutions with higher contribution of wind energy. The analysis offers valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in Argentina's energy sector, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning, investment in renewable energy and storage technologies, and careful consideration of local conditions in the transition towards Net Zero targets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

CO2 Saline Storage: Costs and Storage Capacity

This document provides a brief description of the current state of CO2 saline storage. It then discusses factors determining the cost of storage and provides examples for two storage formations. It concludes by discussing the factors influencing CO2 storage capacity and provides cost supply cirves for CO2 storage.

Morgan, David↗
DOE OSTI2024

Documentation for Python Automation in CYME for DER Hosting Capacity Analysis of Different Feeder Configurations

This file provides the documentation for several Python scripts that were developed by Sandia National Laboratories to enhance the automation and customization capabilities for performing various distribution system planning and analysis tasks in CYME. Specifically, these scripts (.py files detailed in Figure 1) enable the user to evaluate different distribution system configurations and the resulting impacts on hosting capacity results and other metrics. In general, these scripts—and the accompanying documentation—provide the foundation upon which future customized tools can be created. For example, the scripts show how to extract and modify parameters of various circuit components, set up and run analyses using built-in CYME tools (iteratively), and export reports for further evaluations and comparisons. Thus, the capabilities and syntaxes used in the scripts can be adapted and leveraged for countless other objectives.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimization Model and Algorithm for Capacity Planning and Operation of Reliable and Carbon-neutral Power Systems with High Penetration of Renewable Generation

In this work, we propose a Generalized Disjunctive Programming (GDP) model that optimizes both long-term capacity planning (such as the number and size of dispatchable/renewable generators, batteries, and transmission lines) and hourly operation (such as on/off schedules of dispatchable generators, power output from each generator, and power flow) to maximize power system reliability while minimizing total cost and CO2 emissions.

Cho, Seolhee↗
DOE OSTI2024

Building research capacity in Southern Appalachian mountain wetlands

This project increased research capacity in Southern Appalachian wetlands by facilitating new collaborations between the PI (UNC Asheville) and DOE and academic research partners. Mountain wetlands are among the rarest natural communities in the Southern Appalachians; most of the sites contain rare or endangered species and have been incorporated into or are being considered for the new Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge (established in 2015). PI Wilcox’s research since 2010 has focused on wetland hydrology at over a dozen priority field sites in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northern Georgia. This project provided time and funding to learn about DOE programs and resources, including meteorological data, watershed modeling programs, analytical capabilities, and computing facilities. PI Wilcox was able to meet potential research partners at professional conferences and the DOE-BER-ESS PI meeting and invite several of those potential partners to visit UNC Asheville and nearby field sites in Western North Carolina. These connections have resulted in three new collaborative research proposals, and a new cooperative agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service that includes two new field sites.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scalable Data Center Capacity for DOE's AI Prototype: A Rapidly Available Gigawatt Data Center for DOE

The multilaboratory Gigawatt Data Center working group was commissioned to identify approaches to rapidly establish federal data centers with scalable capacities up to 1,000 MW. These state-of-the-art facilities will serve as hubs for interdisciplinary collaboration, industry partnerships, and transformative applications of artificial intelligence. The proposed strategic shift includes facilitating multilaboratory collaboration, prioritizing operational efficiency, expanding public–private partnerships, optimizing investments, ensuring long-term contractual flexibility, supporting open science and secure data enclaves, and exploiting high-speed national networks. Owing to their extensive experience and best practices, the US Department of Energy national laboratories are uniquely positioned to lead this initiative. We recommend conducting a feasibility analysis to rapidly identify the optimal sites for this initiative, and the effort will likely involve private industry for design, construction, financing, and operational integration. We also propose establishing multiple geographically diverse sites to ensure energy resilience, high operational reliability, and a diverse user base, thereby effectively addressing the nation’s critical needs.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Smart Meter Data: A Gateway for Reducing Solar Soft Costs with Model-Free Hosting Capacity Maps

Public-facing solar hosting capacity (HC) maps, which show the maximum amount of solar energy that can be installed at a location without adverse effects, have proven to be a key driver of solar soft cost reductions through a variety of pathways (e.g., streamlining interconnection, siting, and customer acquisition processes). However, current methods for generating HC maps require detailed grid models and time-consuming simulations that limit both their accuracy and scalability—today, only a handful out of almost 2,000 utilities provide these maps. This project developed and validated data-driven algorithms for calculating solar HC using data from AMI without the need of detailed grid models or simulations. The algorithms were validated on utility datasets and incorporated as an application into NRECA’s Open Modeling Framework (OMF.coop) for the over 260 coops and vendors throughout the US to use. The OMF is free and open-source for everyone.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Low-Cost, Scalable Sorbents with Balanced Capacity-Kinetics-Thermodynamics for H2 Storage

The goal of this project is to utilize cutting-edge materials science, chemistry, and process engineering to demonstrate the feasibility of a new class of scalable sorbents with unprecedented balance of capacity-kinetics-thermodynamics for H 2 storage in fossil fuel power plants . The core fabrication leverages the unique exotic properties (e.g., high H 2 affinity, ultrahigh surface area, and exceptional thermal, mechanical and chemical stability) of the emerging 2D materials i.e. hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) followed by strategic coupling with alkali metals (Li, Na) dopants and optimal interlayer distance to deliver a stable, long-term energy storage for the grid. Figure 1 shows how this technology works.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

VIC-Global Parameter Dataset Sensitivity with the Variable Infiltration Capacity Model: Evaluating the importance of dynamic land surface parameters when using the VIC-Global parameter dataset

Accurate prediction of runoff is essential to water resources management, flood risk assessment, and ecosystem protection. However, many hydrological models still have relatively substantial limitations when representing the influence of land use and land cover (LULC) on runoff generation and routing. Changes in LULC, such as deforestation, urban expansion, agricultural intensification, and wetland loss, have been shown to alter the water balance at the land surface through fundamental hydrologic processes (e.g., interception, infiltration, evapotranspiration, and soil storage). However, it remains an open question what the exact magnitude and timing of these impacts are for the spatial and temporal scales commonly used in engineering applications. In this analysis we focus on one aspect of recent LULC change for assessing human impacts, which is urbanization. Specifically we seek to determine the impacts of urbanization on the magnitude and timing of surface runoff and baseflow in HUC-12 basins in Clark County, Nevada which has experienced rapid urbanization. We use the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrology model with a widely used off-the-shelf dataset of land surface parameters, VIC-Global, both of which have been commonly used in the past for water and energy balance modeling for large scale hydrologic studies. We examine two scenarios where the first scenario removes all urbanized land cover and parameterizes those areas of the basins as barren or open shrubland. The second scenario tests the opposite case where all areas of the basins are classified as urban regardless of their present classification. The results from the VIC model show there is a low sensitivity for daily surface runoff between scenarios. The daily baseflow values indicate similar low sensitivity to the classification change during specific periods, but then have substantial differences during other period when large precipitation events are occurring. This is likely due to the assumed parameter values for the urban land cover classification made by the VIC-Global dataset. Using a static land cover parameterization is reasonable for large domain hydrology models that are being used for near-term planning horizons (<30 years). However, longer planning horizons where feedbacks between the atmosphere and land surface are important, especially in transient climate situations, considerations for how to update land surface parameters should be incorporated.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

High-Capacity Hydrogen and Hydrogen Isotope Getters

Hydrogen can quietly build up inside sealed devices and industrial systems, shortening equipment life and creating safety risks. Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a new class of high-capacity hydrogen getters that permanently remove hydrogen before it causes damage. Compared with conventional getters, this technology stores more hydrogen, operates across a wider range of conditions, and can be manufactured in multiple forms for easy integration into commercial products.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Validating the Funnel, Filter Paper, and Drainage Method for Maximum Water Holding Capacity Over a Wide Range of Soil Textures

The data provided includes the results of maximum water holding capacity using the funnel, filter paper, and drainage (FFPD) method, as well as soil water retention curves generated from the water desorption method (via pressure cells) for a full range of soil textures. It will also include data from sensitivity trials to test readily available materials and varying conditions the FFPD method could be expanded to use for more accessibility to community scientists. The format will be in data tables.

Nelson, Jessica↗
DOE OSTI2022

Standard Operating Protocol for Ion-Exchange Capacity of Anion Exchange Membranes

Ion-exchange capacity (IEC) is the measure of a material’s capability to displace ions formerly incorporated within its structure. IEC is a key feature of anion-exchange membranes (AEM), as it determines the AEM’s ability to conduct the ions required to sustain the electrochemical reactions where they are utilized. As an intrinsic property, measuring the IEC accurately is essential to study AEMs and understand their performance within devices. In this method article, a facile and accurate standard operating procedure (SOP) to measure the IEC of AEMs is proposed. When compared to conventional acid-base back-titration or Mohr titration, the proposed method combines the fast reaction between silver and halide ions and the accuracy of the potentiometric titration, providing a convenient and precise protocol for researchers in the field.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Transboundary determinants of avian zoonotic infectious diseases: challenges for strengthening research capacity and connecting surveillance networks

As the climate changes, global systems have become increasingly unstable and unpredictable. This is particularly true for many disease systems, including subtypes of highly pathogenic avian influenzas (HPAIs) that are circulating the world. Ecological patterns once thought stable are changing, bringing new populations and organisms into contact with one another. Wild birds continue to be hosts and reservoirs for numerous zoonotic pathogens, and strains of HPAI and other pathogens have been introduced into new regions via migrating birds and transboundary trade of wild birds. With these expanding environmental changes, it is even more crucial that regions or counties that previously did not have surveillance programs develop the appropriate skills to sample wild birds and add to the understanding of pathogens in migratory and breeding birds through research. For example, little is known about wild bird infectious diseases and migration along the Mediterranean and Black Sea Flyway (MBSF), which connects Europe, Asia, and Africa. Focusing on avian influenza and the microbiome in migratory wild birds along the MBSF, this project seeks to understand the determinants of transboundary disease propagation and coinfection in regions that are connected by this flyway. Through the creation of a threat reduction network for avian diseases (Avian Zoonotic Disease Network, AZDN) in three countries along the MBSF (Georgia, Ukraine, and Jordan), this project is strengthening capacities for disease diagnostics; microbiomes; ecoimmunology; field biosafety; proper wildlife capture and handling; experimental design; statistical analysis; and vector sampling and biology. Here, we cover what is required to build a wild bird infectious disease research and surveillance program, which includes learning skills in proper bird capture and handling; biosafety and biosecurity; permits; next generation sequencing; leading-edge bioinformatics and statistical analyses; and vector and environmental sampling. Creating connected networks for avian influenzas and other pathogen surveillance will increase coordination and strengthen biosurveillance globally in wild birds.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Capacity Expansion Regional Feasibility (CERF) Model: High-Resolution Power Plant Siting

Abstract This presentation gives an overview of the geospatial power plant siting model CERF. CERF (Capacity Expansion Regional Feasibility) is an open source Python package developed under the Integrated Multisector Multiscale Modeling (IM3) Project at PNNL. This presentation covers an overview of how the CERF model works, walks through various power plant siting analyses, and discusses future research opportunities for the model. The CERF model can be accessed at https://github.com/IMMM-SFA/cerf. PNNL Information Release Number: PNNL-SA-207336 Acknowledgment IM3 is a multi-institutional effort led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science as part of research in MultiSector Dynamics, Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling Program.

Mongird, Kendall [Pacific Northwest National Labor↗
DOE OSTI2026

Africa Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Capacity Building Utility-Scale Storage: BESS Valuation, Tariffs, and Remuneration [Slides]

Utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are key to enhancing grid reliability, integrating renewable energy, and providing operational flexibility. Designing effective valuation, remuneration, and tariff frameworks is essential to ensure both system benefits and financial viability for developers. This presentation outlines a structured methodology for evaluating BESS projects, covering policy and legal considerations, cost and revenue analysis, benchmarking, financial sensitivity, and risk assessment, while ensuring alignment with public interest. It also explores valuation of multiple storage services - bulk energy, ancillary services, and infrastructure support - and monetization strategies through capacity payments, energy tariffs, tolling, arbitrage, and non-wires alternative payments. Technical factors, including round-trip efficiency, degradation, and storage duration, are integrated into financial and operational modeling to quantify both system-wide and project-level benefits. Through case studies and simulation-based approaches, this framework provides regulators, utilities, and developers with practical guidance for tariff design, payment structures, and investment decisions, maximizing the economic and societal value of BESS deployment.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

West Africa Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) Capacity Building - Discussion of BESS Tariffs: Payment Structures and Case Studies [Slides]

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are emerging as critical assets for enhancing grid reliability, integrating renewable energy, and enabling system flexibility. Yet, the regulatory and financial frameworks that determine how BESS projects are compensated vary widely across jurisdictions. This presentation explores international case studies - from Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil - to illustrate how tariff design and payment structures are evolving to support large-scale BESS deployment. The cases highlight a range of ownership and revenue models, including cost-of-service mechanisms, energy and capacity payments, and market-based arbitrage, as well as hybrid approaches under development. The discussion will examine key challenges such as defining remuneration for ancillary services, addressing double charging, and accounting for efficiency losses and degradation over time. By comparing experiences across markets, the presentation identifies emerging best practices for valuing BESS and designing tariffs that align technical performance with economic incentives, providing insights for regulators, utilities, and policymakers pursuing storage integration.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗