Results for “clean energy transition” — Page 5

DOE OSTI2025

Stable cycling of high-mass loaded MnO 2 electrodes for sodium-ion batteries

Achieving cost-effective, sustainable solutions for large-scale energy storage are critical for advancing the global clean energy transition. In view of the challenges posed by limited lithium reserves, low-cost sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as a promising direction, especially for grid-level energy storage. Among the various battery electrode materials, manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ) stands out as a favorable choice for such large-scale applications due to its earth abundance, cost-effectiveness, and non-toxic nature. Although MnO 2 is known as a pseudocapacitive material with superior cycling stability in aqueous electrolytes, its dissolution in non-aqueous electrolytes has restricted its use in long-lifetime batteries. In this study, we address two issues which have limited the use of MnO 2 electrodes in non-aqueous electrolytes. First, using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements in combination with other electrochemical methods, we demonstrate that diglyme (bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether) electrolyte can achieve stable cycling of electrodeposited ε-MnO 2 . These results enable us to tackle a second objective, that is increasing the mass loading of the MnO 2 electrode, since achieving high areal energy density is a significant factor in reducing manufacturing costs. Using 3D printed graphene aerogel (GA) as a scaffold, our studies show that the electrodeposited MnO 2 /GA electrodes possess scalable properties with mass loadings from 20 to 80 mg cm −2 . The resulting electrodes exhibit areal energy densities as high as 4.4 mA h cm −2 at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 . The high mass loaded MnO 2 electrodes were incorporated as a cathode in a SIB which used TiO 2 as the anode. The SIB device exhibited excellent performance with power densities in excess of 70 mW cm −2 . These studies highlight the promise of MnO 2 electrodes for use in a low-cost technology for large-scale energy storage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Can economic drivers enable an affordable, reliable, and resilient energy system in rural Alaska?

Price subsidies, such as the Alaska Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program, are intended to provide affordable energy. However, these economic drivers may be barriers to a clean energy transition and economic development, especially in rural Alaska. Reliable and affordable energy, a challenge in rural Alaska, is the foundation for individual and community security and economic development. Addressing the climate change crisis requires a sustainable transition to decarbonized energy systems that are more equitable, reliable, and affordable.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Magnesium- and intermetallic alloys-based hydrides for energy storage: modelling, synthesis and properties

Hydrides based on magnesium and intermetallic compounds provide a viable solution to the challenge of energy storage from renewable sources, thanks to their ability to absorb and desorb hydrogen in a reversible way with a proper tuning of pressure and temperature conditions. Therefore, they are expected to play an important role in the clean energy transition and in the deployment of hydrogen as an efficient energy vector. This review, by experts of Task 40 ‘Energy Storage and Conversion based on Hydrogen’ of the Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Programme of the International Energy Agency, reports on the latest activities of the working group ‘Magnesium- and Intermetallic alloys-based Hydrides for Energy Storage’. The following topics are covered by the review: multiscale modelling of hydrides and hydrogen sorption mechanisms; synthesis and processing techniques; catalysts for hydrogen sorption in Mg; Mg-based nanostructures and new compounds; hydrides based on intermetallic TiFe alloys, high entropy alloys, Laves phases, and Pd-containing alloys. Finally, an outlook is presented on current worldwide investments and future research directions for hydrogen-based energy storage.

Energy storage↗

DOE OSTI2022

Capacity Expansion Planning for LA Basin: the Role of Energy Storage

The paper evaluates the deployment of energy storage to support equitable energy outcomes and the clean energy transition in the Los Angeles Basin (LAB). The deployment of energy storage is considered in a 10 zone capacity expansion planning model from 2022-2045. The model is based on the California Public Utility Commission’s 7 zone RESOLVE model but has been modified to give greater spatial granularity in the LAB area by addig 3 new zones representing the Eastern Los Angeles, Western Los Angeles and the El Nido subzones. Three different scenarios are studied in this work; a base case with no natural gas retirements in the LAB, and two cases exploring extreme natural gas retirements, where the 8GW of natural gas belonging to the LAB are retired by 2045. Study results indicate that storage can play a significant role in helping the LAB meeting its energy requirements. However, when considering extreme retirement scenarios, either new generation (such as solar) or capacity (such as new import capacity via transmission lines) will likely be needed to serve projected system loads.

Maloney, Patrick R.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Optimal Power Management for Large-Scale Battery Energy Storage Systems via Bayesian Inference

Large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) have found ever-increasing use across industry and society to accelerate clean energy transition and improve energy supply reliability and resilience. However, their optimal power management poses significant challenges: the underlying high-dimensional nonlinear nonconvex optimization lacks computational tractability in real-world implementation, and the uncertainty of the exogenous power demand makes exact optimization difficult. This paper presents a new solution framework to address these bottlenecks. The solution pivots on introducing power-sharing ratios to specify each cell’s power quota from the output power demand. To find the optimal power-sharing ratios, we formulate a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) problem to achieve power-loss-minimizing BESS operation while complying with safety, cell balancing, and power supply-demand constraints. We then propose a parameterized control policy for the power-sharing ratios, which utilizes only three parameters, to reduce the computational demand in solving the NMPC problem. This policy parameterization allows us to translate the NMPC problem into a Bayesian inference problem for the sake of 1) computational tractability, and 2) overcoming the nonconvexity of the optimization problem. We leverage the ensemble Kalman inversion technique to solve the parameter estimation problem. Concurrently, a low-level control loop is developed to seamlessly integrate our proposed approach with the BESS to ensure practical implementation. This low-level controller receives the optimal power-sharing ratios, generates output power references for the cells, and maintains a balance between power supply and demand despite uncertainty in output power. We conduct extensive simulations and experiments on a 20-cell prototype to validate the proposed approach.

Battery energy storage systems (BESSs)↗

DOE OSTI2021

Building Blocks of Electric Vehicle Deployment: A Guide for Developing Countries

Countries can use electric transportation to help fulfill numerous goals, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, local air quality goals, mobility objectives, energy security, and transportation resiliency. Vehicle electrification is a promising pathway to achieving clean energy transitions in the transport sector at scale. As vehicles electrify, the traditionally siloed electricity and transport sectors increasingly converge to create technical, institutional, and economic opportunities and challenges. To navigate this transition effectively, we propose the following foundational pillars or “building blocks” that undergird effective electric vehicle (EV) deployment. Jurisdictions with experience and mature EV markets offer useful lessons learned that may enable developing countries to leapfrog over common roadblocks. Nonetheless, developing countries face distinct challenges collectively, and individually, from developed countries that require careful consideration. From our work around the world, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have witnessed interest growing in EVs for a variety of reasons. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), for example, looks toward EVs as a way to use their surplus of hydropower to displace expensive oil. Thailand and Pakistan seek economic development opportunities in EV manufacturing. Cities including Mexico City, Surat, India, and Kingston, Jamaica see the potential of bus electrification to improve local air quality and reduce traffic congestion. Many USAID partner countries in Southeast Asia are trying to understand how to reach ambitious EV deployment targets and implement EV and transportation plans. This pursuit is prompting questions about EV supply equipment (EVSE) standards, tariff design, and business models that affirm the importance of the building blocks outlined in this report.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2021

Energy Storage and Power Plant Decommissioning

The report examines three fossil-fuel power plant decommissioning strategies to assess the role of energy storage in enabling an equitable clean energy transition future. The analysis showed how storage could enable reduction of fossil-fuel sources from the grid while enabling increased renewable energy integration into the electric grid. The report offers recommendations for future work, including the need to further develop the non-energy benefit attributes of energy storage systems with a focus on the benefits accrued to local communities to understand past decisions and inform future decision-making tools that account for environmental, economic, and social impacts, particularly those on disadvantaged communities.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Carbon Capture, Transport, & Storage: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment (Final Report)

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report was completed by the Department of Energy (DOE) to examine carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture, transport, and storage technologies and associated supply chains that will be required to support the United States (U.S.) decarbonization goals by 2050. Specifically, the analysis sought to understand supply chain bottlenecks to achievingan upper-bound 2.0 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) per year in the United States. A literature review shows that in aggressive infrastructure deployment scenarios, the United States’ likely upper bound of CCS capacity is 1.7 Gigatons per annum (Gtpa) by 2050. This suggests the study design of 2.0 Gtpa capacity by 2050 is more aggressive yet and represents a conservative upper bound for supply chain analyses.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Electric Grid Supply Chain Review: Large Power Transformers and High Voltage Direct Current Systems

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. The need to modernize and increase the capacity of the U.S. power grid is increasing due to growing population, aging infrastructure, grid resilience requirements, operational flexibility needs, and a growing portfolio of renewable energy. As part of the Paris Climate Agreement the United States has committed to reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 and has set a goal of 100 percent carbon pollution free electricity by 2035 (The United States of America Nationally Determined Contribution, 2021). Meeting these targets will require a significant expansion of the power system to integrate a large amount of new renewable resources (United States Department of State & United States Executive Office of the President, 2021). However, many critical components supporting the power grid have limited to no domestic manufacturing capacity and face complex challenges in supporting a rapid expansion of the grid to meet multiple objectives, including decarbonization goals. This report focuses on two key grid components: large power transformers (LPTs) and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2022

Grid Energy Storage: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the Federal Government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the Federal Government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. To combat the climate crisis and avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, the U.S. is committed to achieving a 50 to 52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, and achieving net zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognizes that a secure, resilient supply chain will be critical in harnessing emissions outcomes and capturing the economic opportunity inherent in the energy sector transition. Potential vulnerabilities and risks to the energy sector industrial base must be addressed throughout every stage of this transition. The DOE energy supply chain strategy report summarizes the key elements of the energy supply chain as well as the strategies the U.S. Government is starting to employ to address them. Additionally, it describes recommendations for Congressional action. DOE has identified technologies and crosscutting topics for analysis in the one-year time frame set by the Executive Order. Along with the capstone policy report, DOE is releasing 11 deep dive assessment documents, including this one, covering the following technology sectors: carbon capture materials; electric grid including transformers and high voltage direct current (HVDC); energy storage; fuel cells and electrolyzers; hydropower including pumped storage hydropower (PSH); neodymium magnets; nuclear energy; platinum group metals and other catalysts; semiconductors; solar photovoltaics (PV); and wind. DOE is also releasing two deep dive assessments on the following crosscutting topics: Commercialization and competitiveness; and cybersecurity and digital components. More information can be found at www.energy.gov/policy/supplychains.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Water Electrolyzers and Fuel Cells Supply Chain: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report is one of a series that supports the analysis of the energy industrial base called for in Executive Order 14017 on America’s supply chains (Exec. Order No. 14017, 2021). Specifically, it provides a review of the supply chain for water electrolyzers and fuel cells with a focus on polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMEC), polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Water electrolysis and fuel cells are a nascent industry with little prior information related to supply chain needs and constraints. This report provides a preliminary assessment; further industry peer review and revisions are expected.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2022

Hydropower: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. Hydropower is a vital component of the U.S. Energy Sector Industrial Base. The United States has mature conventional hydropower and pumped storage hydropower (PSH) fleets with corresponding mature supply chains. Given the slow pace of new construction over the past few decades, the U.S. hydropower industry primarily supports the existing domestic fleets—the U.S. conventional hydropower fleet (80.3 GW) is the 4 th largest in the world and the U.S. PSH fleet (21.8 GW) is the third largest in the world. Additionally, U.S. hydropower manufacturing facilities export part of their output. This report examines the hydropower supply chain to identify potential bottlenecks, challenges, and opportunities, particularly if the U.S. demand for hydropower components grows significantly to meet decarbonization targets.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear Energy: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report responds to Executive Order 14017 by describing the current and potential future roles for nuclear energy in the United States and abroad, the various segments of the nuclear energy supply chain, and the main risks facing the sector. Some issues, such as uranium imports, relate both to existing nuclear reactors and advanced reactors under development, while other issues, such as production of high-assay low-enriched uranium, relate primarily to plans for advanced reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Platinum Group Metal Catalysts: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. This report focuses on the supply chain for catalysts, specifically platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, used for decarbonizing energy technologies. Catalysts are substances that increase the rate, conversion, and selectivity of chemical reactions and are used in a variety of applications such as chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and catalytic converters. Catalysts containing PGMs (“PGM catalysts”) are particularly useful in widespread industrial applications, including the production of high-volume chemicals such as ammonia, acetic acid, nitric acid, and the refining of crude oil into petroleum products. The PGM metals possess extraordinary properties such as being active oxidation and hydrogenation catalysts; excellent electrical conductors and electrodes; and outstanding adsorbers of oxygen and hydrogen. Within the energy industrial base, PGM catalysts improve the energy and materials efficiency of petroleum refining and chemical industry processes and reduce energy consumption in manufacturing. In addition to their use in catalytic converters, PGM catalysts are important to maximizing the efficiency of emerging decarbonization technologies, specifically in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers for green hydrogen production from water and PEM fuel cells for transportation and stationary energy storage. Green hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in decarbonization scenarios.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Wind Energy: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. To inform the DOE team’s supply chain review, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted research and analyses that characterize supply chain strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the wind industry, including both land-based and offshore wind. The team also conducted interviews with industry stakeholders and subject matter experts. This report documents these findings and provides a foundation for addressing the observed vulnerabilities and enhancing U.S. wind supply chain competitiveness.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Cybersecurity and Digital Components: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

The report “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” lays out the challenges and opportunities faced by the United States in the energy supply chain as well as the federal government plans to address these challenges and opportunities. It is accompanied by several issue-specific deep dive assessments, including this one, in response to Executive Order 14017 “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs the Secretary of Energy to submit a report on supply chains for the energy sector industrial base. The Executive Order is helping the federal government to build more secure and diverse U.S. supply chains, including energy supply chains. As the energy sector has become more globalized and increasingly complex, digitized, and even virtualized, its supply chain risk for digital components – the software, virtual platforms and services, and data – in energy systems has evolved and expanded. All digital components in U.S. energy sector systems are vulnerable and may be subject to cyber supply cha in risks stemming from a variety of threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts. This includes digital components in all systems within the ESIB, namely those systems operated by asset owners across different energy subsectors (e.g., electricity, oil and natural gas, and renewables) and the systems operated by a worldwide industrial complex with capabilities to perform research and development and design, produce, operate, and maintain energy sector systems, subsystems, components, or parts to meet U.S. energy requirements. Supply chain risks for digital components including software, virtual platforms and services, and data have grown in recent years as increasingly sophisticated cyber adversaries have targeted exploiting vulnerabilities in these digital assets. Supply chain risks for digital components in energy sector systems will continue to evolve and likely increase as these systems are increasingly interconnected, digitized, and remotely operated.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Repurposing Fossil-Fueled Assets For Energy Storage

The annual retirement of U.S. coal-fired electricity generation units (CF-EGU) is at an all-time high and is expected to continue. This loss of reliable baseload generation, combined with predicted growth of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation, is expected to stress grid reliability as the number of load-following resources drops below the experienced load variability. Many regions are already experiencing challenges, and fossil retirement-related warnings by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. are becoming more dire. All CF-EGU retirements pose significant challenges to asset owners, local workforces, and their communities. Repurposing a retiring CF-EGU as a long-duration energy storage plant can address these challenges and offer a suite of additional benefits to asset owners, the grid, and society. This project performed a techno-economic evaluation and assessment of repurposing a Duke Energy fossil-fueled asset (in particular, a coal plant) into an energy storage system by integrating the retiring asset with a Malta long duration Pumped Heat Energy Storage (PHES) system. The project validated the technoeconomic benefits of repurposing retiring coal plants into long-duration energy storage using Malta’s PHES. Key findings for this project are summarized below: (1) Technical: (a) Retiring coal plants (and other steam turbine fossil generation) can be repurposed to enable the clean energy transition using Malta’s technology. (b) For older retiring coal plants, repurposing the site and electrical interconnection for a standalone PHES plant is the most economically favorable option. (c) For newer coal plants where there is also a local peaking capacity need, repowering the steam cycle into a hybrid integration with PHES is attractive. (d) A process was developed to assist fossil generation owners in choosing the best path for each plant’s circumstances. (2) Economic (a) Communities facing economic challenges caused by the retirement of fossil generation would benefit from repurposing the plant as long-duration energy storage using Malta’s PHES. (b) On a $/MW basis, repowering retiring coal units into Malta PHES plants can maintain the same number and types of jobs and economic activity. (c) For a 70% carbon reduction scenario, a 10-hour Malta PHES plant is more economic for the asset owner than similar-power 4-hour batteries. This project showed that repurposing a retiring coal unit into thermal energy storage, by integrating it with a Malta PHES system, makes techno-economic sense. At least two integration options are available, with the optimal solution depending on the coal plant and its location. Repurposing retiring coal plant into energy storage results in economic benefits for the plant owner and local communities.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Appalachian Hydrogen Infrastructure Analysis

As large-scale efforts to decarbonize the global economy ramp up in earnest, hydrogen is being positioned as a critical solution for numerous sectors. Hydrogen produced from fossil energy resources with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is viewed as a bridge in the clean energy transition, enabling the development of midstream infrastructure and downstream demand. This report highlights the potential for the Appalachian region to develop a hydrogen economy with fossil-derived hydrogen with CCS production (hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and storage). Specifically, the report provides hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure pathways in support of a broader hydrogen economy. These pathways are consistent with existing and potential technologies and regulations and provide valuable guidance for the investment and research and development potential for transportation and storage of hydrogen in Appalachia.

08 HYDROGEN↗