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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Adaptive management of large-scale ecosystem restoration: increasing certainty of habitat outcomes in the Columbia River Estuary, U.S.A.

Ecological restoration programs in dynamic coastal environments can benefit from adaptive management, including an iterative process for identifying and addressing critical uncertainties. We highlight key developments under the three pillars that have increased the rate of restoration by the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program (CEERP) over 20 years: science, coordination, and management. We show how such programs can be institutionalized to ensure that estuary ecosystems are better understood, conserved, and restored. The principal conservation effort under CEERP is to reconnect historical floodplain wetlands to the mainstem. The program also supports other restoration actions that demonstrate a high potential to benefit ecosystem function and endangered salmon populations, however, there is greater uncertainty regarding these less-utilized techniques. Through adaptive management, we address both technical uncertainty regarding benefits to the environmental resource and programmatic uncertainty pertaining to decision-making. Here, we examine three periods of CEERP growth to establish how complementary research and restoration actions have improved program outcomes over time. We highlight the tools and processes that were developed and integrated into the program to refine program strategy, improve project design, and maximize ecological benefits. CEERP supported 77 restoration projects and reconnected over 7,000 acres of floodplain habitat to the lower Columbia River between 2004 and 2021. Building on these successes, we outline current plans to better engage landowners and local communities, solicit new project types, and maintain enough flexibility within the program to adapt to new priorities.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Enabling Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) Deployment: Review of Barriers to FPV Deployment in Southeast Asia

The purpose of this report is to improve understanding of the policy landscape for FPV systems and identify potential pathways to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment FPV systems in Southeast Asia. In this literature review, we discuss the case for FPVs in Southeast Asia by presenting the energy context and state of the grid in select Southeast Asia countries and conduct a literature review of existing and potential non-technical barriers to FPV deployment, concluding with potential policy pathways to address some of the barriers identified. Given the lack of extensive literature on the policy and regulatory environment for FPVs and the similarity with other RE technologies, this review adapts lessons from other RE technologies to the FPV context.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Model Guidance to Address Barriers to Combined Heat and Power and Waste Heat to Power

Congress directed that the US Department of Energy (DOE) initiate a review of interconnection rules to identify barriers to interconnection and ways to better integrate combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat to power (WHP) in the electric grid. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) supports DOE by providing technical assistance for CHP. DOE tasked ORNL with the interconnection review and development of model guidance to enable developers and CHP owners to interconnect more CHP. This report summarizes the work that DOE initiated in response to the congressional request.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deer Isle and Stonington Energy Reliability Opportunities

The towns of Deer Isle and Stonington, located on the island of Deer Isle in Maine, partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP) to examine options to enhance energy resilience, reduce dependence on imported fuels, and mitigate high energy costs. With technical support from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and regional partner the Island Institute, the project focused on evaluation of the local electricity distribution infrastructure, examination of ongoing activities to reduce the frequency of outages, review of the applicable policy and regulatory environment, and identification of potential on-site energy solutions. Key findings revealed the island's reliance on a single distribution line, and limited hosting capacity for additional distributed energy resources. Solar photovoltaics (PV) technology, with and without battery storage, was found to be the most viable technology given economic, technical, and social considerations. While also technically feasible, wind energy faces more difficult siting and less public acceptance compared to PV. Marine energy technologies were determined to be infeasible due to technology immaturity and lengthy permitting timelines. Modeling of potential building-scale PV plus storage systems resulted in successful grant applications for installations at two local facilities. Analysis of community scale energy generation and storage options resulted the local utility, Versant, submitting a grant application for a proposed community-scale battery storage system to increase grid resilience and hosting capacity. This initiative has strengthened the communities' energy planning capabilities and laid the groundwork for future clean energy development.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy 101: Microgrids [Slides]

The Energy 101: Microgrids presentation, developed for the Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project (ETIPP), provides an overview of microgrids. It covers fundamental definitions, technologies, economic and technical considerations, case studies, and additional resources.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design Guidelines for Deployable Wind Turbines for Military Operational Energy Applications

This document aims to provide guidance on the design and operation of deployable wind systems that provide maximum value to missions in defense and disaster relief. Common characteristics of these missions are shorter planning and execution time horizons and a global scope of potential locations. Compared to conventional wind turbine applications, defense and disaster response applications place a premium on rapid shipping and installation, short-duration operation (days to months), and quick teardown upon mission completion. Furthermore, defense and disaster response applications are less concerned with cost of energy than conventional wind turbine applications. These factors impart design drivers that depart from the features found in conventional distributed wind turbines, thus necessitating unique design guidance. The supporting information for this guidance comes from available relevant references, technical analyses, and input from industry and military stakeholders. This document is not intended to be a comprehensive, prescriptive design specification. This document is intended to serve as a written record of an ongoing discussion of stakeholders about the best currently available design guidance for deployable wind turbines to help facilitate the effective development and acquisition of technology solutions to support mission success. The document is generally organized to provide high-level, focused guidance in the main body, with more extensive supporting details available in the referenced appendices. Section 2 begins with a brief qualitative description of the design guidelines being considered for the deployable wind turbines. Section 3 provides an overview of the characteristics of the mobile power systems commonly used in U.S. military missions. Section 4 covers current military and industry standards and specifications that are relevant to a deployable wind turbine design. Section 5 presents the deployable turbine design guidelines for the application cases.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fatigue Test Result for High Burnup Pressurized Water Reactor Rods

The High Burnup Spent Fuel Data Project, sponsored by DOE-NE, is focused on understanding the effects of long-term storage and transportation on high burnup (HBU) (>45 gigawatt days per metric ton uranium) light water reactor fuel. The experiment includes 32 HBU spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies that will be stored in a typical Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) and 25 sister rods - nine SNF rods that were removed from the fuel assemblies prior to insertion to the ISFSI and 16 SNF rods removed from similar HBU assemblies. The sister rods provide a baseline of the condition of the HBU rods prior to loading, drying, and long-term dry storage. Destructive examinations of the sister rods are focused on understanding overall SNF rod strength and durability. Both composite fuel and empty cladding will be tested to derive material properties. While the data generated can be used for multiple purposes, a primary goal of the sister rod PIE data and associated measured mechanical properties is to support existing fuel storage licensing and relicensing activities by addressing identified knowledge gaps, and enhance the technical basis for post-storage transportation, handling, and consolidation activities. Fatigue tests of HBU M5-clad, ZIRLO-clad, Zircaloy-4, and low tin Zircaloy-4 segments have been completed using ORNL’s Cyclic Integral Reversible Fatigue Tester (CIRFT). This is the first time ZIRLO-clad rods have been tested. Some of the segments were heat-treated to understand the effects of thermal transients such as those encountered during dry storage vacuum drying on the fatigue lifetime. This paper presents results of the fatigue tests obtained to date and discusses planned future tests.

Montgomery, Rose↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hydropower Flexibility and Environmental Tradeoffs Analysis

The importance of hydropower increases as the power grid evolves with the higher variable renewable contribution. As conventional thermal power plants are retired, the importance of hydropower contribution increases to balance the variability of solar and wind generation. However, reservoir water resources are constrained by multiple constraints, and variability of water inflow to the reservoirs creates limitations to dam water releases for power grid needs. Coordinating multiple tools, including water resources, ecological, and technical and economic power grid modeling, informs dam water releases. The case study, the Columbia River Basin multipurpose reservoir project, is operated for hydropower production and many other purposes considering the aquatic habitat of the river basin. Specifically, the river basin fish population is a vital element for the tribal community of the river basin. We integrated a production cost model, a water resource model, and decades of tribal knowledge to analyze the fish-friendly way of operating Columbia hydropower scheduling and grid impacts. We measure power grid impacts for various water resources planning scenarios in terms of total system operating cost, system reliability indicators, changes in wind and solar generation and curtailments, local marginal prices, and revenue for hydropower producers. The study results inform reservoir operating rules decisions from hydropower power producers, system operators, other water users, tribes, environmentalists, and other stakeholders.

Columbia River↗
DOE OSTI2020

Assessment of the Dominican Republic’s Commercial and Industrial Scale Energy Efficiency Sector

In this paper the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) explores the commercial and industrial (C&I) energy efficiency market in the Dominican Republic, including the market’s current status. During NREL’s engagement with its Dominican counterparts, NREL noted market gaps, identified by both public and private sector market actors, that became the focus of this report. The intent is two-fold. First, to assist potential customers, project financing institutions, and various government agencies understand where the energy efficiency sector stands, in August 2020. Second to help them recognize the scope, scale, and opportunity for energy savings from untapped potential large reductions in energy expenditures. This research identified how savings could be captured through improvements to the enabling environment, technical capacity, and level of activity in the sector. Moreover, it determined that through taking action to catalyze energy efficiency investment, the government could make significant progress towards its self-declared NDC goals, and result in tens of millions of dollars in savings across the Dominican economy for both the private and public sectors.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Phase 1 Engagement Summary: Rural Alabama

An Alabama community coalition received technical assistance through the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) to expand awareness of alternative transportation fuels through stakeholder engagement efforts. Phase 1 of the project centered on outreach, relationship-building, and the identification of community priorities. Through two workshops held in October and December 2024, the coalition engaged over 120 stakeholders - including county commissioners, school district representatives, and public and private fleet operators. These sessions included presentations from technical experts and industry partners, as well as a vehicle showcase and structured discussions to assess stakeholder needs and concerns. This report summarizes these efforts and identifies three key priority areas for Phase 2 of the project.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy to Communities (E2C)

The Energy to Communities (E2C) program provides innovative, cross-cutting technical analysis to support community-level efforts to secure abundant, reliable, and affordable energy systems. E2C provides three pathways for assistance: in-depth partnerships, peer-learning cohorts, and expert match. E2C is managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with support from Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stakeholder Analysis Technical Report for CarbonSAFE Illinois -- Macon County (Task 3)

Stakeholder engagement is considered a critical component for successful deployment of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). Engagement builds awareness and understanding of the implications, both local and global, that deploying this technology entails. The CarbonSAFE Illinois – Macon County project presents unique challenges for engaging stakeholders as they have various and diverse options and perspectives that vary in influence and personal importance.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Valuing Residential Energy Efficiency: Analysis for a Prototypical Southeastern Utility [Slides]

The increasing amount of variable renewable energy resources and shifts towards more end-use and vehicle electrification suggests profound changes to power system planning and operation. Specifically, renewable energy is expected to shift net peak demand from late afternoon to early evening and end-use electrification may significantly increase winter peak demand. Residential energy efficiency is likely to align well with these shifts as it tends to produce savings in the early evening (e.g., from lighting measures) and coincident with heating loads (e.g., from envelope and space conditioning measures). Despite the opportunity to decrease system costs and emissions, residential energy efficiency is often limited by static valuation methods and its economic potential is considerably less than its technical potential. Using hourly residential energy efficiency characterizations, utility program cost data, and a capacity expansion model, we estimate the benefits of residential energy efficiency for a prototypical, summer-peaking utility in the Southeastern region. We first establish the cost-effective residential energy efficiency portfolio through “competition” with supply-side resources in a forward-looking capacity expansion model. Importantly, we then evaluate several scenarios intended to drive an increasing amount of cost-effective residential energy efficiency through measure cost reductions, increased customer adoption, policy goals (e.g., carbon price), and delivery of an integrated package of measures. The results quantify total system cost and emissions reductions, fossil-fuel plant retirements, and peak demand reductions. Results suggest the design and prioritization of policies and programs to access the untapped amount of cost-effective residential energy efficiency.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Current status and grand challenges for small wind turbine technology

While modern wind turbines have become by far the largest rotating machines on Earth with further upscaling planned for the future, a renewed interest in small wind turbines (SWTs) is fostering energy transition and smart grid development. Small machines have traditionally not received the same level of aerodynamic refinement as their larger counterparts, resulting in lower efficiency, lower capacity factors, and therefore a higher cost of energy. In an effort to reduce this gap, research programs are developing worldwide. With this background, the scope of the present study is 2-fold. In the first part of this paper, an overview of the current status of the technology is presented in terms of technical maturity, diffusion, and cost. The second part of the study proposes five grand challenges that are thought to be key to fostering the development of small wind turbine technology in the near future, i.e. (1) improving energy conversion of modern SWTs through better design and control, especially in the case of turbulent wind; (2) better predicting long-term turbine performance with limited resource measurements and proving reliability; (3) improving the economic viability of small wind energy; (4) facilitating the contribution of SWTs to the energy demand and electrical system integration; (5) fostering engagement, social acceptance, and deployment for global distributed wind markets. To tackle these challenges, a series of unknowns and gaps are first identified and discussed. Based on them, improvement areas are suggested, for which 10 key enabling actions are finally proposed.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Grand Challenges for Small Wind: Results of the European Academy Study

While modern wind turbines have become by far the largest rotating machines on Earth with further upscaling planned for the future, a renewed interest in small wind turbines (SWTs) is fostering energy transition and smart grid development. Small machines have traditionally not received the same level of aerodynamic refinement as their larger counterparts, resulting in lower efficiency, lower capacity factors, and therefore a higher cost of energy. In an effort to reduce this gap, research programs are developing worldwide. With this background, the scope of the present study is 2-fold. In the first part of this paper, an overview of the current status of the technology is presented in terms of technical maturity, diffusion, and cost. The second part of the study proposes five grand challenges that are thought to be key to fostering the development of small wind turbine technology in the near future, i.e. (1) improving energy conversion of modern SWTs through better design and control, especially in the case of turbulent wind; (2) better predicting long-term turbine performance with limited resource measurements and proving reliability; (3) improving the economic viability of small wind energy; (4) facilitating the contribution of SWTs to the energy demand and electrical system integration; (5) fostering engagement, social acceptance, and deployment for global distributed wind markets. To tackle these challenges, a series of unknowns and gaps are first identified and discussed. Based on them, improvement areas are suggested, for which 10 key enabling actions are finally proposed.

ENGINEERING,WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

LCOE reduction through proactively optimized monitoring of PV Systems (Final Technical Report)

The project demonstrates the value proposition for a high-resolution monitoring system (HRMS) with diagnostic-prognostic capability and determine its impact on LCOE. The HRMS differs from conventional monitoring systems in a number of ways. First it will include the capability to automatically measure IV curves at the string and module levels. This provides a much richer view into the DC performance of the PV system and allows classification of many typical failure and degradation modes. Second, it will incorporate software capable of quantifying power and energy losses in the field as well as define the location and mechanism of the power and energy loss. Moreover, we aimed to deliver a prognostic system that is capable of predicting certain failures before they occur and giving system operators the opportunity to more efficiently plan operations and maintenance (O&M) activity in order to lower costs and increase yield over the life of the system. The research identifies cost targets required for different monitoring stages, including at the string combiner, at the individual string, and at the module level, to lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Finally, a comprehensive guide determines the value PV monitoring brings to PV field operations. The guide assists plant operators in maximizing value from existing plants and identify the trade-offs of different monitoring solutions for future plants depending on the size, location, and expected system lifetime.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Stacked Carbon Dioxide Storage: Technical and Geomechanical Considerations

Conference paper presented at 16th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies (GHGT-16), Lyon, France, October 23–27, 2022. When two or more carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage targets are present in the subsurface at the same geographic location, a CO 2 storage project may pursue a stacked storage approach. This investigation was predominantly focused on dedicated storage in stacked saline formations to assess technical and geomechanical considerations. Along with a best practice stacked storage review, a geomechanical assessment was performed to test a 20-year CO 2 injection scenario.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2022

Research and Development Studies for Reactor Neutrino Experiments in Turkey (RNET)

The program of the Reactor Neutrino Experiments of Turkey includes a small portable Water-based liquid scintillator detector to detect neutrinos from the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, planned to begin operating in 2023. The small near-field detector will weigh about 2-3 tons and will be placed less than 100 meters from the reactor cores. The Reactor Neutrino Experiments of Turkey program also includes a medium-size 30-ton Water-based liquid scintillator detector, which will be placed 1-2 km away from the reactor cores and will be used as a far detector. Both detectors and their responses to neutrino interactions were simulated using a GEANT4-based RAT-PAC simulation package. Here, we will share the technical and physical details of both detectors, and discuss the ongoing R&D effort for neutrino studies in Turkey.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗