Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Energy Systems”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Large Ensemble Exploration of Global Energy Transitions Under National Emissions Pledges

Global climate goals require a transition to a deeply decarbonized energy system. Meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement through countries' nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies represents a complex problem with consequences across multiple systems shrouded by deep uncertainty. Robust, large-ensemble methods and analyses mapping a wide range of possible future states of the world are needed to help policymakers design effective strategies to meet emissions reduction goals. This study contributes a scenario discovery analysis applied to a large ensemble of 5,760 model realizations generated using the Global Change Analysis Model. Eleven energy-related uncertainties are systematically varied, representing national mitigation pledges, institutional factors, and techno-economic parameters, among others. The resulting ensemble maps how uncertainties impact common energy system metrics used to characterize national and global pathways toward deep decarbonization. Results show globally consistent but regionally variable energy transitions as measured by multiple metrics, including electricity costs and stranded assets. Larger economies and developing regions experience more severe economic outcomes across a broad sampling of uncertainty. The scale of CO 2 removal globally determines how much the energy system can continue to emit, but the relative role of different CO 2 removal options in meeting decarbonization goals varies across regions. Previous studies characterizing uncertainty have typically focused on a few scenarios, and other large-ensemble work has not (to our knowledge) combined this framework with national emissions pledges or institutional factors. Our results underscore the value of large-ensemble scenario discovery for decision support as countries begin to design strategies to meet their goals.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Experimental characterization and analysis of phase change material-based thermal energy storage system for refrigerated display case

Refrigerated display cases that are used to store and exhibit food products in supermarkets and retail spaces consume a significant portion of the buildings’ total electricity. Importantly, the refrigeration-related energy cost and demand charges are greatly affected by the time-of-use electricity pricing and demand rates, which are at their maximum during peak hours, typically when refrigeration energy consumption is also high. Using energy storage to shift the refrigeration load from peak to off-peak hours can greatly reduce the operational costs in the supermarket. This study demonstrates a phase change material-based thermal energy storage (TES) system, specifically designed in stackable units, that can be integrated with an open vertical refrigerated display case. We perform numerical and experimental characterization that includes finite-difference modeling for the TES, prototype fabrication, and laboratory evaluation, followed by a preliminary system-level analysis to predict the impact of TES on the refrigerated case performance, energy use, and energy cost. The results show that the dedicated latent TES for refrigerated cases can provide a specific energy of 50.4 Wh/kg and a specific power of 15.5 W/kg. The TES can be charged during 12 h of the off-peak period and discharged at various rates during 4 to 6 h of the peak period, thereby shifting the refrigeration load from the peak to the off-peak period. Consequently, annual cost savings up to 19% can be achieved, depending on the thermal load, the summer/winter peak electricity pricing, and the transition temperature of the phase change material used.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Intentional and Responsible Energy Transitions: Integrating Design Choices in the Pursuit of Carbon-Neutral Futures

The transitions of energy systems to carbon neutrality are among is one of the most ambitious, complex, uncertain, significant, and transformative projects in human history. They will therefore demand extraordinarily thoughtful, informed, and careful leadership. In recent years, this project has reached an important turning point, with widespread agreement to decarbonize energy systems by 2050. We argue that the next step is to engage leaders in doing the work necessary to achieve that goal. Specifically, we argue that regional leaders, across sectors, should build collaborative initiatives to intentionally and responsibly design and advance regional energy transitions. These transitions will entail navigating uncertain and unknown terrain, requiring diverse organizations and communities to work together to chart and construct potential pathways, assess their implications, and collectively work to make progress. To address these challenges, we recommend adopting region-first, anticipatory, justice-oriented approaches. In such approachesthis process, regions can collaboratively identify, deliberate, design, and navigate toward endpoints along complex and shifting pathways that recognize that design will matter. Efuture energy systems will deeply shape and be shaped by the futures of both societies and economies. Transitions will therefore need to be inclusive, to provide broad public input into both how to proceed with transitions and the goals that guide their design.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Designing robust energy policy packages under deep uncertainty: A multi-metric decision support framework

The complexity of transitioning to sustainable energy systems requires policy frameworks capable of balancing multiple objectives while addressing deep uncertainty. However, existing approaches often lack systematic methods to identify combinations of policy levers that remain effective across a wide range of uncertain futures. This paper presents a novel decision support framework that guides the selection of robust policy packages based on their performance across multiple objectives under uncertainty. Our method leverages a large ensemble of scenarios and applies scenario discovery techniques to identify influential policy levers. Here, we introduce new indicators to assess the robustness of policies by evaluating their ability to mitigate adverse outcomes across metrics. These indicators support an iterative process to build a robust policy package. Finally, we map the technological and energy pathways associated with the robust policy package by leveraging an energy system optimization model. We illustrate the application of this framework to the Spanish energy system, providing insights into how specific combinations of policy levers shape decarbonization pathways under uncertainty.

Decision-support method↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating How Climate Adaptation Measures Affect the Interconnected Water‐Energy Resource Systems of the Western United States

Abstract The Western US faces increasing water stress from the impacts of climate change, making it difficult to meet water demands for the region's cities, agriculture, and hydropower generators. Existing literature suggests that climate adaptation measures such as water conservation, cropland retirement, wastewater recycling, and managed aquifer recharge can alleviate some of these challenges. Few analyses, however, compare the relative efficacy and system‐wide effects of these adaptations under different climate projections across the entire Western United States. Here we use a Western US‐wide water systems model to evaluate, by sector and sub‐region, how the widespread implementation of these adaptive measures impacts water demands, water deliveries, and electricity use related to the water system for three different climate projections. We find that wastewater recycling has greater potential to lower unmet indoor water demands than urban indoor water conservation measures. However, when implemented at scale, indoor water conservation reduces electricity use by an average of 683 Terawatt hours while wastewater recycling increases energy use by an average of 721 Terawatt hours, cumulatively from 2020 to 2070. Cropland retirement and aquifer recharge adaptations increase the ability to meet agricultural water demand, increase groundwater storage, and reduce summertime electricity use. While most of these findings are consistent across different climate projections, the benefits of aquifer recharge are sensitive to spatial variation of precipitation. Given the limitations and tradeoffs of each individually, the results suggest that a portfolio of adaptation measures will be needed for a climate‐resilient water and energy future in the Western US. Plain Language Summary The Western US faces increased water stress from the impacts of climate change, making it difficult to meet demands for cities, agriculture, and hydropower facilities. Adaptation measures like water conservation, retiring agricultural lands, recycling wastewater, and storing water underground can address these challenges. However, there is little modeling to understand the impact of these adaptations if they were implemented across the entire Western US while also considering climate change. We use a Western US‐wide water systems model to evaluate how implementing adaptation measures impacts groundwater levels, the ability to meet water demands, and electricity use related to water in three different possible climate futures. We find that recycling wastewater to drinking water standards does a better job of meeting urban water demands than water conservation measures. However, indoor water conservation reduces energy use for water while recycling wastewater increases energy use for water. Retiring agricultural lands and storing water underground both increase the ability to meet agricultural water demands, increase underground water storage, and reduce summertime energy use. No adaptation measures provides benefits across every metric we track. Therefore, multiple adaptation measures will likely be needed to achieve a climate‐resilient future for energy and water in the Western US. Key Points Water‐related climate change adaptations have different benefits and tradeoffs for interconnected water‐energy systems in the Western U.S. Wastewater recycling most increases urban water coverage, but has a significant tradeoff in the form of greater electricity use Cropland retirement and aquifer recharge benefit water and electricity systems most in the summer when those systems are most stressed

Singhal, A↗
DOE OSTI2020

Implications of climate change mitigation strategies on international bioenergy trade

Most climate change mitigation scenarios rely on increased use of bioenergy to decarbonize the energy system. Here we use results from the 33rd Energy Modeling Forum study (EMF-33) to investigate projected international bioenergy trade for different integrated assessment models across several climate change mitigation scenarios. Results show that in scenarios with no climate policy, international bioenergy trade is likely to increase over time, and becomes even more important when climate targets are set. More stringent climate targets, however, do not necessarily imply greater bioenergy trade compared to weaker targets, as final energy demand may be reduced. However, the scaling up of bioenergy trade happens sooner and at a faster rate with increasing climate target stringency. Across models, for a scenario likely to achieve a 2 °C target, 10–45 EJ/year out of a total global bioenergy consumption of 72–214 EJ/year are expected to be traded across nine world regions by 2050. While this projection is greater than the present trade volumes of coal or natural gas, it remains below the present trade of crude oil. This growth in bioenergy trade largely replaces the trade in fossil fuels (especially oil) which is projected to decrease significantly over the twenty-first century. As climate change mitigation scenarios often show diversified energy systems, in which numerous world regions can act as bioenergy suppliers, the projections do not necessarily lead to energy security concerns. Nonetheless, rapid growth in the trade of bioenergy is projected in strict climate mitigation scenarios, raising questions about infrastructure, logistics, financing options, and global standards for bioenergy production and trade.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Comparing net zero pathways across the Atlantic A model inter-comparison exercise between the Energy Modeling Forum 37 and the European Climate and Energy Modeling Forum

Europe and North America account for 32 % of current carbon emissions. Due to distinct legacy systems, energy infrastructure, socioeconomic development, and energy resource endowment, both regions have different policy and technological pathways to reach net zero by the mid-century. Against this background, our paper examines the results from the net zero emission scenarios for Europe and North America that emerged from the collaboration of the European and American Energy Modeling Forums. Here, in our analysis, we perform an inter-comparison of various integrated assessments and bottom-up energy system models. A clear qualitative consensus emerges on five main points. First, Europe and the United States reach net zero targets with electrification, demand-side reductions, and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Second, the use of carbon capture and sequestration is more predominant in the United States due to a steeper decarbonization schedule. Third, the buildings sector is the easiest to electrify in both regions. Fourth, the industrial sector is the hardest to electrify in the United States and transportation in Europe. Fifth, in both regions, the transition in the energy mix is driven by the substitution of coal and natural gas with solar and wind, but to a different extent.

100 % renewables↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Compact, Single Stage, >1 kV Medium-Voltage Line Impedance Stabilization Network

This paper presents the design of a single-phase, single-stage line impedance stabilization network (LISN) for medium-voltage (MV) applications. More than 1 kV rated widebandgap (WBG) power semiconductor switches are increasingly utilized in new, emerging power electronics energy systems to improve power density and efficiency. However, due to inherently fast-switching speeds, WBG switch modules emit considerable electromagnetic interference (EMI) (e.g., common mode (CM) or differential mode (DM)). State-of-the-art offers standardized LISN solutions to validate and certify the new energy system for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). However, most are for low voltage applications (i.e., < 1 kV). MV LISNs (i.e., > 1 kV) are rare until recently and literature does not provide sufficient guidelines for designing and characterizing such devices. It has been a critical challenge for many scientists and engineers to reliably certify the emerging MV energy systems (e.g., electric ships and aircraft). This paper addresses such a technology gap. Specifically, a CISPR 16-1-2 compliant 50Ω/50μH LISN with 1.5kV, 75A and 30MHz measurement capability has been proposed. Detailed performance study versus non-linear parasitic parameters variations in MV inductors and capacitors have been done. Based on new understandings, novel techniques to intuitively mitigate unwanted parasitic have been proposed to develop the proposed LISN successfully. Thorough characterization of important LISN parameters are presented and factors influencing them are analyzed. A rigorous analysis, experimental tests, and in-depth comparisons over state-of-the-art have been made to validate the effectiveness. This is done through the state-of-the-art 300kVA MV EMI testbed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Net Zero World Initiative’s Preliminary Analysis of Decarbonization Pathways for Five Countries

Under the Net Zero World Initiative, the United States is mobilizing the capabilities of nine U.S. government agencies, led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to partner with philanthropies and multiple countries to cocreate and implement tailored technical and investment pathways to accelerate the decarbonization of global energy systems. In addition, 10 of the DOE national laboratories have built a consortium housed in the Net Zero World Action Center to implement this vision by providing the deep analysis and modeling required to carry out the vision. As a whole-of-government program, the Net Zero World Initiative partners with countries committed to raising their climate ambitions by creating and implementing highly tailored, actionable technical and investment strategies that put a net-zero world within reach. The initiative enables country partners to harness the convening power and technical expertise of U.S. agencies and laboratories, international industry, and technical institutions while providing the United States an opportunity to learn from and deepen U.S. technical cooperation with key countries. This report is the first of a series, with future Phase II work being informed by ongoing consultations with the partner countries to address country pathway analysis priorities. This future work will likely include evaluating detailed technological, policy, and investment options for key sectors and for energy systems holistically. This analysis may examine in greater detail the economic and social benefits of net-zero energy transitions, including quality jobs and health outcomes, the impacts of price and supply volatility on energy investments and decisions, the risk of stranded assets, and related issues.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hybrid Distributed Wind and Battery Energy Storage Systems

This document is a literature review of battery coupled distributed wind applications, including but not limited to fully DC-based power systems, the conceptual value of co-located wind and storage assets, and black start capabilities. This report will serves as a baseline reference document for MIRACL hybrids system research and to identify opportunities for future research in this space.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Catalyzing deep decarbonization with federated battery diagnosis and prognosis for better data management in energy storage systems

Industrial data analytics methods play a central role in improving energy storage performance and efficiency, impacting the future of electrified transportation and renewable electricity generation. However, significant challenges hinder the large-scale deployment of batteries. Conventional methods rely on centralized collection and processing of fleet-level data, leading to database size issues and privacy concerns due to potential data breaches. To enable scalable deployment of battery management systems, this article proposes a federated battery diagnosis and prognosis model, which distributes the processing of battery standard current-voltage-time-usage data in a privacy-preserving manner. Instead of transferring the raw data, this approach communicates only the locally processed parameters, thus reducing communication load and preserving data confidentiality. The federated model offers a paradigm shift in battery health management through privacy-preserving distributed methods for battery data processing and lifetime prediction, ensuring the reliable and sustainable deployment of lithium-ion batteries in a rapidly evolving world.

asset health management↗
DOE OSTI2021

U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System and Energy Storage Cost Benchmark (Q1 2020)

This report benchmarks U.S. solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed costs as of the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020). We use a bottom-up method, accounting for all system and project-development costs incurred during the installation to model the costs for residential (with and without storage), commercial (with and without storage), and utility-scale systems (with and without storage). We also incorporate other system characteristics and performance factors, as well as ongoing costs, to benchmark LCOE for PV-standalone systems, and LCOSS for solar+storage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Transient Simulations with a Large Penetration of Converter-Interfaced Generation: Scientific Computing Challenges and Opportunities

Current trends in energy systems point to renewable energy sources (RESs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) becoming prevalent in power system operations. As of writing this article, the United States has more than 37 GW of utility-scale solar capacity and an additional 112 GW under development. With the rapidly declining capital costs of many of these technologies, we can expect significant deployments in the coming years.

analytical models↗
DOE OSTI2021

Economic Analysis of an Electric Thermal Energy Storage System Using Solid Particles for Grid Electricity Storage

As renewable power generation becomes the mainstream new-built energy source, energy storage will become an indispensable need to complement the uncertainty of renewable resources to firm the power supply. When phasing out fossil-fuel power plants to meet the carbon neutral utility target in the midcentury around the world, large capacity of energy storage will be needed to provide reliable grid power. The renewable power integration with storage can support future carbon-free utility and has several significant impacts including increasing the value of renewable generation to the grid, improving the peak-load response, and balancing the electricity supply and demand. Long-duration energy storage (10–100 hours duration) can potentially complement the reduction of fossil-fuel baseload generation that otherwise would risk grid security when a large portion of grid power comes from variable renewable sources. Current energy storage methods based on pumped storage hydropower or batteries have many limitations. Thermal energy storage (TES) has unique advantages in scale and siting flexibility to provide grid-scale storage capacity. A particle-based TES system has promising cost and performance for the future growing energy storage needs. This paper introduces the system and components required for the particle TES to be technically and economically competitive. A technoeconomic analysis based on preliminary component designs and performance shows that the particle TES integrated with an efficient air-Brayton combined cycle power system can provide power for several days by low-cost, high-performance storage cycles. It addresses grid storage needs by enabling large-scale grid integration of intermittent renewables like wind and solar, thereby increasing their grid value. The design specifications and cost estimations of major components in a commercial scale system are presented in this paper. The cost model provides insights for further development and cost comparison with competing technologies.

27 ARPA - Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy↗
DOE OSTI2021

Building Envelope Characteristics in Cold Climates

Prescriptive guidelines for thermal insulation in the design of buildings in cold climates have traditionally been derived by a holistic consideration of climatic factors, energy policy, environmental policy, and economics. The differences in thermal barrier requirements in buildings across the arctic and subarctic regions of the world are influenced as much by the differing priorities of the governing bodies that set these requirements as by actual physical demands and conditions. Usually, national requirements for building envelope characteristics such as thermal insulation values, building envelope airtightness, vapor permeability, building mass, and detailing are based on economics, durability, and environmental considerations. Consideration of thermal energy system resilience provides a new paradigm through which to view the optimization of these parameters. The paper describes specifics of construction in cold climates; summarizes best practice requirements for the building envelope characteristics for buildings located in cold and arctic climate of the United States, Canada, and Scandinavian countries; provides some details illustrating how to implement these requirements; and compares the effects of different levels of building envelope efficiency and building mass on indoor air temperature decay when heat supply is interrupted. The paper also presents results from experts' discussions during the consultation forum "Thermal Energy Systems Resilience in Cold/Arctic Climates" (ERDC 2020) and research conducted under the IEA EBC Annex 73, the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) Project "Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low-Energy Military Installations," and U.S. Army Program project 633734T1500 under Military Engineering Technology Demonstration. The paper complements the Cold-Climate Design Guide (ASHRAE 2015) with a focus on the resilience of thermal energy systems.

Arctic↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cherenkov Gamma Ray Detectors on High-Energy-Density Systems

Cherenkov gamma ray detectors are a valuable diagnostic technique for HED systems. Inertial confinement fusion is working towards high gain ignition. Gamma rays from ICF systems can help inform the degradation mechanisms preventing ignition: Carbon ablator is not being degraded, unlike the DT fuel; carbon γ timing can estimate shell energy during bangtime and may suggest hot spot cooling rate; and Cherenkov detectors are also used for high spatial and temporal resolution ICF mix studies on OMEGA. Cherenkov systems also inform energy spectrum of radiographic sources: ARC laser and Mercury pulsed power machine.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗