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Energy and economic impacts of U.S. federal energy and water conservation standards adopted from 1987 through 2024

This paper presents estimates of the key impacts of U.S. national energy and water conservation standards adopted from 1987 through 2024. The standards for consumer products, commercial and industrial equipment, lighting products, and plumbing products include those set by legislation as well as standards adopted by the Department of Energy (DOE) through rulemaking. In 2024 alone, these standards are estimated to have saved an estimated 6.0 quads of primary energy, which is equivalent to 6.5% of total U.S. energy consumption, and 1.7 trillion gallons of water, which is equivalent to approximately 12% of the annual water withdrawals for public supply in the U.S in 2015. The estimated reduction in CO 2 emissions associated with the standards in 2024 was 270 million metric tons, which is equivalent to 5.6% of total annual U.S. CO 2 emissions from energy consumption. The annual savings in operating costs for households and businesses totaled $\$$105 billion, and the average household saved $\$$576 in operating costs as a result of standards on residential appliances and plumbing products. The estimated cumulative past and future energy and water savings from these standards amount to 307 quads of energy and almost 53 trillion gallons of water. The estimated cumulative CO 2 emissions reduction from the standards come to 10.3 billion metric tons. Accounting for the increased upfront costs of more-efficient products and the energy and water cost savings over the products’ lifetime, the standards have a cumulative net present value of benefit of $\$$3.2 trillion using 3 percent discount rate and $\$$3.5 trillion using 7 percent discount rate when discounting past and future benefits to 2024.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Renewable Energy for Industrial Environmental Management

Costs for renewable energy technologies have declined rapidly in the past decade and their use for residential, commercial, and utility scale electricity has grown exponentially as they become cost competitive. Simultaneously, industrial and manufacturing processes have been increasingly seeking ways to reduce emissions and operational costs in highly competitive sectors. With these combined drivers of lower cost and reduced environmental impact, renewable energy may become a viable energy provider for industrial processes such as oil and gas, mining, chemical refining, food production, and manufacturing. Renewable energy technologies may also partner with other reduced emission energy sources, such as small modular nuclear reactors and carbon capture and utilization, to create cleaner and circular industrial systems for reduced resource use. The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), which is a partnership of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and five universities and others, has been studying to potential for application of clean energy technologies to the heterogenous energy demands in industry. Dr. Jill Engel-Cox will present an overview of NREL and JISEA, the status and potential future of renewable energy technologies, and collaborations with the oil and gas industry and other industrial sectors to improve their environmental performance and reduce operational costs.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Analysis of RF high power sources for 1MW – range, 10 MeV CW industrial accelerator.

Cobalt-60 is the dominant source of ionizing radiation for sterilizing products in the $200B/year medical device industry. Security and accessibility concerns around this radioactive material - sourced from countries including Russia and China - present national security and economic risks. There is a continued national urgency to replace such high-risk sources with low-risk alternatives such as electron or x-ray beams driven by accelerators. While e-beam sources have been in use for many years, they still represent a small portion of the market. X-ray sources are becoming economical alternatives. Meeting the processing capacity required to replace Co-60 requires a step-change in the capability, efficiency, and overall operating cost of electron accelerators to make adoption feasible. The radiofrequency (RF) power that drives accelerating cavities represents significant capital and operating costs for these accelerators. For accelerator-based systems to be a viable alternative for these applications, RF systems must be economical to manufacture, deploy, and operate.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Turboexpander for Direct Cooling in Hydrogen Vehicle Fueling Infrastructure

Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) have been identified as one of a few options for zero carbon emissions transportation. A major advantage of FCEVs is that they can fuel quickly and follow a familiar fueling behavior to hydrocarbon-fueled vehicles. Whether light duty or heavy duty, the goal for a hydrogen dispenser is to fuel a vehicle in the same amount of time as the fossil fuel equivalent. When hydrogen is dispensed into the vehicle storage system, however, the temperature rises due to the Joule-Thomson effect and the heat of compression. Typically, vehicles store the compressed hydrogen in composite overwrapped pressure vessels that have a polymer liner with an operational temperature limit of 85°C. This temperature limit can be exceeded during fast fueling if hydrogen is not precooled. Precooling allows for a dispenser to fuel a vehicle at a faster flow rate by preventing the storage tank on the vehicle from overheating. Fueling protocols and requirements are presented in SAE J2601 Fueling Protocols for Light Duty Gaseous Hydrogen Surface Vehicles [1]. A heavy-duty equivalent is under development with similar requirements for precooling. Currently, conventional precooling for light-duty vehicle refueling uses a heat exchanger and chiller to cool the hydrogen gas to -40°C before entering the vehicle. The precooling system represents a significant part of the station capital and operating costs, so if the cost of the precooling system can be reduced by improving its efficiency, the overall station capital and operating cost can be reduced. In this project, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) researchers teamed up to investigate the turboexpander precooling application. A turboexpander is a device that places a turbine in a flow path where a pressure differential can be attained. This expansion device will extract work and lower the temperature of the fluid as the pressure reduces. While initial calculations based on established principles showed potential for a turboexpander to generate cooled gas, much work needs to be done to prove the concept. Turboexpanders typically work best under steady state conditions, while the dispenser is a very dynamic flow system. Dynamic turboexpander systems have been proven, such as a turbocharger on a gasoline vehicle. The inlet pressure at a dispenser is also much higher than any other known turboexpander system but should behave similarly to higher density fluids at lower pressures. Having both performed initial calculations, NREL and SNL researchers teamed up to investigate the turboexpander precooling application further. A project was soon built around the idea with SNL performing system modeling using previously proven capabilities and NREL performing hardware characterization with established station capabilities. Creare LLC was contracted as the turbomachinery expert to design and build the concept device. Part way through the project, however, contracting issues with the funding partner caused the project to terminate early before building and characterizing the concept device. While the project could not continue, many key findings were already learned. This paper is a summary of those findings.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Plasma Ignition and Combustion Stabilization Technology to Improve Flexible Operation, Reliability and Economics of an Existing Coal-Fired Boiler

GE Steam Power, Inc. (GE) proposed to improve reliability, flexibility, and economics of an existing coal-fired power plant by applying a new advanced technology developed by GE, a plasma-assisted pulverized fuel firing system. The objective of this program is to demonstrate the achievement of lower load by improved flame stabilization and therefore lower operating costs in a full-scale field installation at coal-fired electric utility. GE’s Plasma Ignition and Combustion Stabilization System is designed to operate continuously to support low load operation. With the plasma on, the flame will be attached and stable, removing the firing system as a limitation to low load operation. In addition, GE’s exclusively from ABENZ company licensed AC based technology has a 90+% system efficiency compared to all other systems at which are DC and operate with ~75% efficiency. Plant operating costs are lowered by eliminating use of expensive support fuel as well as the ability to operate at lower loads. The utilities’ ability to better match the demand curve will result in significant savings. Maintenance is lower for an AC system than a DC system as it operates at lower current. This eliminates the need for a demineralized cooling water system and provides longer electrode life which translates into both material and labor savings. It is the objective of GE to not only demonstrate the additional low load achievable with a plasma system after best achievable tuning, sensor and software approach has been exhausted, but also the increased stability of the flame at all loads with plasma assistance as well as cost savings at all low loads using plasma instead of oil. Upon successful completion of this project, GE will have sufficient field experience to rapidly deploy the Plasma Technology. The project objectives were achieved through the implementation of plasma ignitor technology at PacifiCorp Hunter Station Unit 3. A plasma ignitor system was retrofitted on ten wall-fired burners, Mill 3-4 combustion system. The Plasma Ignitors installed at Hunter proved that this GE technology is a direct and complete replacement for the original oil ignitors. The Hunter Unit 3 burner management system allows the plasma system to be used in all applications that originally required oil to be burned. This includes any time the Mill 3-4 is started or stopped for any reason including boiler starts, load changes, and low load support.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Characterizing particle-based thermal storage performance using optical methods for use in next generation concentrating solar power plants

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) generation is an attractive option for low-emission power generation; however, the high costs of thermal storage associated with concentrating solar create a large barrier for their use and adaptation into modern life. Lowering their operation costs, while maintaining high thermal storage and transfer performance is essential. Solid particle-based heat exchange systems can reduce CSP cost but are often less efficient. Efforts to increase their performance have led to use of binary size particle mixes. Presented is an optical-based thermal analysis technique used to measure near-wall thermal conductivity of particle beds essential in determining their heat exchanger efficiency. Modulated Photothermal Radiometry is used to make dynamic temperature measurements, allowing for the extraction of the most relevant thermal properties like thermal conductivity, specific heat, and effusivity. The system uses a modulated laser source causing a damped periodic heat flux, resulting in a frequency and thermal property dependent surface temperature, of which is measured using radiometry. Lock-In techniques are used to extrapolate the amplitude of the signal. Plotting the amplitude against the root angular frequency allows for effusivity measurement by ratio to a known sample. Using specific heat measurements from literature and density measurements, the thermal conductivity of the particle mixes can be calculated. The simplicity of MPTR to probe through the depth of the bed is ideal for use in CSP for dynamic thermal performance monitoring.

Corona, Javier↗

Evaluation of smart charging for electric vehicle-to-building integration: A case study

Higher electric vehicle (EV) adoption will stress the importance of demand flexibility to achieve more economic, efficient, and reliable grid operation. Charging technologies will be paramount in shifting temporally to better fit the variable generation of wind and solar. As such, analysis is warranted on the benefits of EV charge scheduling with respect to installation cost, operation cost, difficulty of implementation, and grid flexibility. We tackle this by analyzing the cost savings of implementing an EV charge scheduling infrastructure to reduce demand charges and installation costs. In this paper, we analyze a case study for operation of 16 level 2 chargers and 1 fast charger for two different building types. We then evaluate various test phases for controlling building and charging loads using an adaptive charging network (ACN) algorithm to characterize the ACN’s potential to reduce overall project cost.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

Generation Plant Cost of Operations and Cycling Optimization Model (Final Technical Report)

Modern coal plants are a masterpiece of engineering, having been refined and improved over more than a century. As they evolved, they have grown more efficient and cleaner. At the same time, they have grown much larger and increasingly designed to operate on very specific fuels at or near the maximum capacity, providing baseload power. In recent decades, however, they have been called on to operate at reduced capacity (cycled) at a loss of efficiency and possibly accelerated wear and tear. The purpose of this project was to develop a model to accurately estimate the cost of cycling large coal plants so that they can be operated efficiently as part of a comprehensive strategy for generation planning and dispatch. The final goal is a model which is commercial-ready that can be “tuned” to different plants for widespread use.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Thermoeconomic cost optimization of superconducting magnets for proton therapy gantries

A compact gantry delivering 70-220 MeV protons with fixed field in the superconducting magnets could reduce the cost and improve the adoption of proton therapy. While a number of magnet and cryogenics designs have been proposed, the combined capital and operating costs of state-of-the-art superconducting materials have not been analyzed. In response, we develop a thermoeconomic model of a multi-stage, conduction cooled gantry lattice and analyze the cryocooler operating cost, cryocooler capital cost and conductor capital cost for Nb-Ti, Nb 3 Sn, REBCO and Bi-2223 over a continuous range of magnet temperatures, and a differential evolution algorithm is used to identify the optimal combination of thermal intercept temperatures. Although Nb3Sn yields the lowest Net Present Value (NPV) of $111.7k at a magnet temperature of 9.4 K, the optimized Bi-2223 design at 12.8 K approaches the realm of commercial feasibility by offering improved thermal stability and forgoing the need for costly conductor heat treatment and magnet quench training. Furthermore, it was found that Nb3Sn was more cost effective than Nb-Ti and that REBCO was not economically viable for the parameters of this investigation. Overall, the thermoeconomic model developed herein can optimize conductor choices, magnet temperatures and thermal staging which has value for any conduction-cooled superconducting magnet.

BSCCO↗

Flexibility Requirements for Energy Systems with Renewable Generation under Forecast Uncertainties

Energy systems with high fractions of renewable energy-based resources require adequate assets providing flexibility in electricity usage to maximize the benefits of renewable energy. In this paper, we provide an analytical approach to estimate the flexibility requirements of such energy systems, with forecast uncertainties in both demand and generation. Our analytical results show that even with forecast errors, the expected system operating cost decreases with an increase in the amount of flexibility capacity -- however, there is an inflection point, beyond which addition of further flexibility capacity does not reduce expected system cost any further. Additionally, an enumeration-based approach is presented to estimate the maximum flexibility capacity needed to optimize the operating cost. Numerical experiments conducted on a network-abstracted modified IEEE 30-bus system are used for empirical validation and gaining additional insights on the effect of prosumers' willingness to offer flexibility on the dispatch performance.

Bhattacharya, Saptarshi↗

A Simplified Method to Evaluate Energy Life Cycle Cost Effectiveness for Electron Ion Collider Infrastructure Design

The new DOE Order 436.1A approved on April 25 th provides instructions to incorporate principles of sustainability early in the project planning and design process. Integral to the principles of sustainability is life cycle cost effectiveness Life Cycle Cost (LCC) Analysis is vital to the sustainable energy efficient design and construction of the Electron Ion Collider (EIC). Reducing energy consumption has a direct impact on reducing life cycle operating costs with benefits to the environment. The early stages of the project are the most influential where design decisions and so life-cycle considerations during this stage can result in significant impacts to the energy footprint of the design. For example, when comparing between various options, it is necessary to compare the energy savings in $\frac{US$}{kWh}$ to the capital cost in US$. And although uncertain by nature, it is important to factor in the expected inflation and discount of future spendings to compare with the cost of immediate capital investment. This tech note presents a tool that engineers can readily use to analyze energy operating costs using an incremental life cycle cost method when comparing different design alternative.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Economic Benefits of Alternative Fuels in Rural Alabama

This fact sheet provides an overview of potential alternative fuel vehicle operational cost savings, opportunities to generate revenue for the state and income for individuals, and several examples of alternative fuels supporting jobs in Alabama. Alternative transportation fuels could potentially provide economic benefits to rural Alabama by lowering operating costs for vehicle owners and creating new revenue streams and job opportunities for fuel providers, technicians, and dealerships. The use of electricity, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or propane) could result in reduced fuel costs and maintenance expenses for both public and private fleets, as well as individual consumers. Fleet operators often invest in private fueling infrastructure, while publicly accessible stations could attract traffic and commerce to local businesses and communities. Technicians capable of retrofitting alternative fuels and maintaining the vehicles and fueling infrastructure could develop business opportunities as well, but they require special training and often certifications. These cost savings and increased revenues may be recirculated through the economy and impact more than just the beneficiaries listed above.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Development of a Technical, Economic, and Risk Assessment Tool for the Evaluation of Work Reduction Opportunities

Efficient and cost-effective operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP) is essential to ensuring long-term economical and safe operation. Multiple cost saving opportunities exist, referred to here as work reduction opportunities (WRO). These WROs reduce plant operating costs by employing various cost-effective strategies (e.g., implementation of modern technologies). Identifying and objectively screening WROs is an essential task to help reduce overall costs. However, there is no comprehensive framework for assessing WROs in the nuclear industry and evaluating their impact on plant operations. This report presents a novel framework for systematically evaluating WROs from a technical, economic, and risk perspective. As NPPs continue to add new technology and implement modernization strategies into their current processes, potential WROs are commonly identified. Although most WROs have the potential to reduce costs, not all opportunities will result in significant cost savings due to unforeseen risks, large implementation costs, or benefits that fall short of expectations. Examples of this can be the result of a technology that is not fully developed, uncertainty in the amount of cost reduction, or difficulties introducing a new process into an organization. These uncertainties can manifest several ways and can result in a WRO with limited cost savings or even a loss of investment. The framework developed emphasizes the importance of effectively screening the WROs from a holistic perspective to objectively identify inefficiencies and ensure a positive impact to the organization. This report presents the Technical, Economic, and Risk Assessment (TERA) as a key methodology for the screening and evaluation of potential WROs. The TERA framework begins with a screening phase where the process is examined through a hybrid combination of Lean Six Sigma and Integrated Operations for Nuclear (ION) guiding principles. This framework examines the current processes using the Lean Six Sigma SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Consumers) methodology but retains the ION key elements of People, Technology, Process, and Governance as important factors to the nuclear decision-making process. By combining the principles of Lean Six Sigma and ION, the developed screening process is specific to the nuclear industry in that it systematically evaluates WROs in order to implement new technology that is comprehensively evaluated. The TERA begins by mapping current processes as they relate to WROs and examining the inefficiencies. Furthermore, the created process map can be used to identify and evaluate potential solutions. Using key performance indicators (KPIs), the TERA evaluates each area—technology, economics, and risk—for uncertainties and to perform cost-benefit analysis. The results of the TERA are important KPIs that allow for an evaluation of different processes and technology implementations. This assessment enables decision-makers to compare various WROs based on metrics and then make informed decisions for which opportunity to implement first. This research includes not only the creation of the TERA framework, but also the evaluation of its performance. A case study for screening potential WROs at Southern Nuclear Company is presented that utilizes the TERA methodology. Through the use of TERA, various WROs were screened, and the solutions evaluated for cost-benefit expectations. The report concludes by summarizing the overall effort and implications for utility modernization. The performance of the screening and TERA are discussed as well as the impact on the nuclear industry. The TERA process enables utilities to evaluate and inform investment decisions for WROs and mitigate any potential risks. Through this research, we provide utilities with a valuable framework to optimize operations, reduce costs, and drive continuous process improvement.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DEM and MELT: A Modular and Compact In-Can Melting Technology Dedicated to D and D and Remediation Waste - 20033

The DEM and MELT In-Can vitrification process is designed to process intermediate and high level waste coming for D and D and remediation operations. It is developed to treat liquid and solid waste, to produce a small amount of secondary waste and to minimize investment and operating costs. This In-Can vitrification process is also developed with a compact and modular design and can be adapted regarding nuclear operators' needs and requirements. Furthermore, this robust and simple process is flexible enough to accommodate most uncertainties on waste composition. The DEM and MELT process is developed through the French consortium coordinated by CEA which gathers Orano, ECM technologies and Andra. In the frame of this project, Orano has designed a compact and modular layout of the process allowing an efficient in situ implementation, close to the waste to be treated. This paper presents the compact and modular design of the DEM and MELT process and the way it can be used for a short duration, as a decommissioning tool aimed to be dismantled just after the treatment operation. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

A hybrid surrogate modeling framework for the Digital Twin of a Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR)

While nuclear energy is a non-greenhouse-gas emitting energy source, expensive operational costs due to the high-level of safety requirements decreases their competitiveness in the sustainable energy market. Advanced reactor concepts paired with Digital Twins aim to increase the commercialization gains of nuclear energy by reducing operational costs, increasing reactor reliability and enhancing power generation. To support Digital Twin tasks such as real-time autonomous control, proactive maintenance monitoring or optimizing power demand operations, a fast and accurate virtual representation of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is required. The computational cost of high-fidelity, physics-based models are unsuitable for real-time analysis or scalability. Here, in this work, a hybrid surrogate modeling framework is developed fora Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR) that leverages physics-inspired models for key reactor components and uses data-driven methods for rapid system state space prediction. The Xenon reactivity feedback model is integrated to inform the surrogate model about the reactor core and the homologous pump theory model is the basis for representing pump degradation. Using a detailed, two dimensional thermal hydraulics model to generate data on the FHR, we train a network of Vectorized Autoregressive Moving-Average with eXogenous input (VARMAX) models to predict the remaining state values. The result is a surrogate model that provides a detailed reactor state representation of 41 system states and a pump degradation analysis. The framework is applied to Load Follows profiles, yielding high accuracy and a speedup that is more than 4000x faster compared to the higher- fidelity thermal hydraulics model, enabling real-time operational intelligence and applications in long horizon predictions. While the surrogate model framework is demonstrated for the particular case of FHR, the hybrid physical/data-driven modeling approach including the network of surrogates and the underlying modularity has the potential to be applied to other physical asset systems.

Digital Twins↗

Flexible Ramping Product Procurement in Day-Ahead Markets

Flexible ramping products (FRPs) emerge as a promising instrument for addressing steep and uncertain ramping needs through market mechanisms. Initial implementations of FRPs in North American electricity markets, however, revealed several shortcomings in existing FRP designs. Here, in many instances, FRP prices failed to signal the true value of ramping capacity, most notably evident in zero FRP prices observed in a myriad of periods during which the system was in acute need for rampable capacity. These periods were marked by scheduled but undeliverable FRPs, often calling for operator out-of-market actions. On top of that, the methods used for procuring FRPs have been primarily rule-based, lacking explicit economic underpinnings. In this paper, we put forth an alternative framework for FRP procurement, which seeks to set FRP requirements and schedule FRP awards such that the expected system operation cost is minimized. Using real-world data from U.S. ISOs, we showcase the relative merits of the framework in (i) reducing the total system operation cost, (ii) improving price formation, (iii) enhancing the the deliverability of FRP awards, and (iv) reducing the need for out-of-market actions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Uncertainty Quantification for Capacity Expansion Planning

This report quantifies the uncertainty in output decisions from a Capacity Expansion Planning (CEP) model. The need to understand how uncertainties within CEP models and modeling assumptions affect Quantities of Interest (QoIs) such as expansion and operating costs, as well as expansion decisions remains an ongoing challenge in scientific research and industrial operations. This area of research is particularly important for models which seek to capture how large networks will evolve and operate under increased sources of variable generation, i.e., higher penetration of renewable technologies such as solar and wind generators. Uncertainty quantification (UQ) of CEP models which estimate expansion costs and decisions, and production cost models which estimate operating costs and dispatch decisions, is a key focus of research at NREL. The Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) represents a state-of-the-art CEP model and considers a range of possible grid evolutions in an attempt to identify key drivers, ramifications, and decisions which contribute to better informed investment and policy decisions. However, research to quantify how uncertainties and model assumptions, such as unit commitment (UC), within ReEDS may be affecting its outputs remains challenging due to to size and complexity of the model

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Security by Design Economics Analysis for Advanced Reactors and Small Modular Reactors Project Interim Report for FY2021

Advanced Reactor and Small Modular Reactor (AR/SMR) designs have the potential to provide clean, reliable baseload energy. Ensuring the capability to deploy these reactors in an economically viable fashion is of interest to industry. A large portion of the expected operating costs of AR/SMRs involves the security of the plant. Security by Design (SeBD) is the practice of including features in the design and construction of the site, with the intent to decrease the operating costs related to security. Quantifying the increase or decrease in the overall lifetime cost to the plant as a result of SeBD is of paramount importance in understanding the disadvantages and benefits of such activities. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Security (INS) is funding the development of a methodology whereby the capital expenses and operating expenses, as well as the physical security effectiveness, of SeBD can be quantified for AR/SMRs. This report is an interim report on the progress of the work performed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Idaho National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). It is the second annual report on this work.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗