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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,045 records · Page 58
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Threat Hunt Guide for BESS Environments

The rapid digitalization of the electric grid - driven by the integration of inverter-based resources (IBRs), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and advanced grid control platforms - has significantly enhanced grid efficiency, visibility, and flexibility. However, this evolution also introduces new cybersecurity risks, particularly through supply chain dependencies and operational blind spots at the grid edge. To address these challenges, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), through the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) Rapid Risk initiative, conducted a series of rapid risk assessment engagements with energy organizations across the United States. Drawing on lessons learned from these engagements, INL developed the following threat hunting guide for asset owners and operators (AOOs) to enhance their cybersecurity visibility within BESS and IBR systems. The guide demonstrates how to use passive network monitoring to baseline device behavior, detect adversarial activity, and investigate anomalies without disrupting operations. By implementing these practices, energy sector stakeholders can improve coordination between cybersecurity and operations teams and strengthen the resilience of distributed energy resources (DERs) within the modern power grid. Prior to implementing any network monitoring, packet capture, or threat hunting activity described in this guide, AOOs are strongly advised to review applicable governance frameworks, legal requirements, and organizational policies. This guide is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It does not replace compliance with any federal, state, or local cybersecurity mandates or industry standards. Implementation of described configurations, technologies, or analytic workflows is performed at the discretion and responsibility of the asset owner and operator.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ground Effects of the 2024 Mother’s Day Superstorm: A Multi-source Observational Analysis

This report presents a brief review of the 2024 Mother’s Day superstorm and its impacts on the near-Earth space environment and the ground-level effects, with emphasis on the latter. Drawing upon observations from multiple sources. we qualitatively illustrate how intense space weather disturbances can generate strong geoelectric fields and drive pronounced geomagnetically induced currents, as reported at numerous locations, particularly within the New Zealand power grids.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Data Compilation and Analysis from the Sirius-1 Experiment at TREAT for Transient Simulation Validation

This report assembles comprehensive data from the Sirius-1 experiment conducted by Idaho National Laboratory in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The primary goal is to provide a robust data set that external users can utilize for the validation of computational methods for transient multiphysics simulations. By compiling all relevant data, including experiment design calculations, detailed engineering drawings for the experiment and data from reactor and fuel specimen measurement, this report is intended to serves as a reference for researchers and engineers working on the development and validation of computational models for transient nuclear behavior.

21 - SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLAN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Alabama Carbon Storage: Bringing Data to the People

The Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama has proven potential for geologic carbon storage and current interest in the area for large carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects is high. Extensive CCS relevant data exist in the records of the Geological Survey of Alabama and State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama, however, most of this data is not publicly available or is scattered in separate databases, file cabinets, and tables in publications. The “Alabama Carbon Storage: Data Sharing and Engagement” (ACS-DSE) project seeks to accelerate the responsible development of large CCS projects in the Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama and offshore in state waters through a publicly accessible database of geologic carbon storage models and data across the region. The ACS-DSE draws on the over 150 years of geologic research and over 20 years of experience in CCS research to place relevant geologic, geophysical, and infrastructure data on a single web platform. Datasets available will include formation depths and elevations, geologic structures, reservoir properties, digital well logs (LAS files), existing penetrations, and geologic models. In addition to downloadable datasets, links to CCS related regulatory agencies and other sources of information will be included (for example, Class VI UIC permitting regulations and pipeline regulations). By making these datasets and models available in commonly used formats on a public website, the project will increase transparency in decision making and decrease the data acquisition time for industry.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2026

VA Community Determinants of Health Data Curation Documentation FY26-Q2

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) places the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans as its top priority. VA is dedicated to offering timely access to high-quality, evidence-based mental health care that meets the needs of veterans and supports their reintegration into society. One of our core missions is to prevent suicide among veterans through innovative approaches and resources. With funding from the VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP), the Community Determinants of Health (EDH) Data project has developed innovative datasets associated with specific health outcomes, a methodology for transforming spatiotemporal data from one spatial reference (e.g., a 1 km grid) to another (e.g., U.S. Census Tracts), and capabilities for modeling health outcomes. These datasets represent an enhancement of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), addressing key gaps by introducing finer spatial resolution (Census Tract) and additional geographical covariates into existing data. The curation and standardization of these datasets is a complex task since they often originate from various sources and are measured at different spatial and temporal resolutions. For example, U.S. Census data products typically use census blocks, block groups, or counties, while data like weather data are available on 1 km grids. Some economic data may only be available at the ZIP code level. In this context, ‘standardized’ means that all datasets share the same spatial extent (e.g., U.S. Census Tract and/or County), and ‘curated’ implies a repeatable process with data provenance and the use of appropriate methodologies for covariate conversion. The Community Determinants of Health datasets draw from multiple sources, resulting in variables with varying degrees of availability, patterns of missing data, and methodological considerations across different sources, geographies, and years.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bridging the Gap for Powering Data Centers

The rapid expansion of data centers, primarily driven by artificial intelligence, is outpacing the adaptability of the U.S. electric grid. This report, developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) , presents a gap analysis of some of the infrastructure challenges associated with large-scale data center deployment. Drawing from a national workshop hosted by INL in October of 2025, the report synthesizes stakeholder insights, survey data, and technical discussions to identify critical barriers and research needs. Key findings highlight the growing preference for behind-the-meter generation, the perceived inadequacy of legacy interconnection processes, and the urgent need for improved coordination between utilities, regulators, and data center developers. Environmental concerns such as water use and noise pollution, as well as economic constraints like equipment lead times and cost allocation, are also explored. The report outlines national lab capabilities in modeling, simulation, and technical assistance, and proposes targeted R&D priorities to support resilient, scalable, and efficient integration of data centers into the grid.

22 - GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electric Utility Distribution Costs: Scoping Study on Trends, Drivers, and Possible Response Strategies [Slides]

This scoping study synthesizes information that will help stakeholders understand the scope, scale, and drivers of recent increases in investor-owned utility (IOU) expenditures on local distribution power grids, while providing regulators and other decision-makers with potential strategies to keep electricity bills down. The study includes five distinct components. Drawing first on data from FERC Form 1, it summarizes key trends in past and recent IOU distribution costs. Next, through a review of a sample of distribution-system plans, it characterizes material drivers of planned distribution expenditures. Ultimately, regulators must approve cost recovery for IOU expenditures, including those for the distribution system. The study therefore also: examines trends in utility requests and regulatory approvals related to changes in retail rates and return on equity; identifies areas where utility shareholder and customer incentives may be misaligned; and develops a menu of options that state regulators might consider to optimize distribution system expenditures. Some of the key findings include: - IOU distribution spending at a national level has grown by 6%/yr since 2014 in real dollar terms, 4x faster than in the prior 20 years and consisting mostly of capital (not operating) expenditure. - On a per-kWh basis, increases in IOU distribution costs since 2014 represent over 30% of the overall national-average increase in retail electricity rates. - Regional spending growth has ranged from 2-8%/yr, with larger estimated rate impacts in CAISO, then NYISO & ISO-NE, and then the Southeast, MISO & PJM (see figure). - Some utilities are planning for significantly increased distribution system spending. Planned spending on managing the existing system (asset replacement, safety & reliability, and resilience are all important drivers) exceeds that for capacity expansion. - IOU rate increase requests ($18 billion in 2025) and public utility commission (PUC) approval levels (average of 64% of requested amounts from 2021-2025) have recently hit multi-decadal highs. - PUCs in New England and the Southeast have recently approved a greater fraction of rate requests (>75%, on average) than in ther regions, while PUCs in California and the Southeast have generally authorized higher equity returns than in other regions. - Regulators have many tools to tackle potential misalignments between utility and customer interests and, more specifically, to optimize and reduce distribution costs. Shorter-term options include those related to return on equity, capital structure, depreciation, trackers, construction work in progress, and securitization. Longer-term options include performance-based regulation and a wide variety of planning-related requirements. All options embed important tradeoffs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Vulcan-Forge: Architecture and Design of a Multi-Modal Forensic Analysis Plugin for CALDERA

Forge and VULCAN together describe an open-architecture cybersecurity analysis ecosystem that unifies forensic artifact processing, detection engineering, and vulnerability intelligence within integrated platforms. Forge operates as a plugin for MITRE CALDERA, ingesting diverse evidence formats—including EVTX, PCAP/PCAPNG, CSV, JSON, YAML, XML, binaries, and archives—to construct a unified artifact graph enriched with severity scoring, TLP classification, and audit trails. It provides subsystems for artifact parsing, streaming structured-data visualization, NetworkMiner-based packet inspection, PE/.NET binary analysis, and LLM-assisted triage and rule generation, with outputs validated against CCCS-YARA and pySigma schemas. VULCAN complements this by serving as a cybersecurity analyst platform that integrates a Neo4j knowledge graph, Qdrant vector retrieval, SSVC-based triage, and a local LLM to deliver CVE intelligence and forensic analysis through a multi-source ingest pipeline drawing from NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS, MITRE ATT&CK, and CAPEC. Together, they bridge structured threat intelligence with automated forensic analysis and detection workflows.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

CalderaCast User Manual Version 1.0

CalderaCast is a user-friendly web-based tool for electrical-load forecast, providing stakeholders with a fully customizable decision-support framework that estimates the likely power draw from a possible future electric-vehicle (EV) charging station at a given location on a given day along an alternative fuel corridor (AFC). These EV charging profiles are accurately modeled in CalderaCast using the Caldera software framework developed by Idaho National Laboratories (INL), reflecting the realistic charging levels observed in actual charge events. This tool was developed as part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which is quickly generating substantial interest from would-be charging station operators (CSO), large and small electric utilities, and state transportation planners, some of whom had not seriously considered EV charging previously. All these entities—with or without background in EV infrastructure—must estimate the electricity load that a proposed charging station will generate. This load forecast is critically important for a utility to properly assess the capacity of their distribution network to support the proposed station or properly size grid upgrades for potential load growth due to future EV adoption, vehicle technology improvements, or station growth. This document describes each aspect of the CalderaCast tool and provides guidance to users who are interested in utilizing the tool for their work.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Carbondale Community Geothermal Coalition – Replicable Models for Decarbonizing Mixed-Use Rural Communities

The Carbondale Community Geothermal Coalition (CCGC) set out to prove that a fifth-generation geothermal district heating & cooling (5G GDHC) network can be technically feasible, cost-effective, and socially equitable for a small, mixed-use rural community. During Budget Period 1 (Planning & Design) the team: ● Completed a 449 ft thermal-response test confirming excellent ground conductivity (k = 1.69 Btu ft -1 hr -1 °F -1 ) and a benign 56.3 °F undisturbed temperature. Page 1 Final Technical Report for Award Number: DE-EE0010663 ● Built a fully calibrated digital twin (URBANopt → Modelica) for 240 k ft 2 of existing + future buildings. ● Designed a 75-borehole ambient-temperature loop (ATL) augmented by 75 solar-thermal panels, supplying 44 % of district heating and 100 % cooling in Stage-1. ● Produced retrofit bid-ready drawings for the Third Street Center and Second Street Townhomes. ● Reached > 200 community stakeholders and exceeded equity targets (46 % Hispanic/Latinx participation). ● Drafted a multi-tiered workforce plan aligned with Colorado Mountain College (Hispanic Serving Institution) and IGSHPA certifications.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Final report: Insights from ARM observations into aerosol processing and transport by extratropical cyclones and aerosol effects on cyclone clouds

This project advanced understanding of aerosol–cloud interactions in extratropical cyclones using observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) observatory and ACE-ENA field campaigns, along with satellite datasets and numerical modeling. We have quantified the susceptibility of frontal clouds to aerosols, showing that this susceptibility is similar to that in non-frontal clouds despite substantial (factor 2) differences in droplet concentrations between these cloud types, and also significant differences in cloud albedo. A key finding was that Aitken-mode (here, 60-100nm diameter) aerosols play a disproportionately important role in droplet activation in frontal clouds, and concentrations of these particles are frequently strongly biased in climate models. Activation of aerosols depends strongly on updraft speeds, and via collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory we contributed to quantifying these better with the ARM radar wind profiler at the ENA site. Our studies in the North Atlantic have analogs in the Southern Ocean, and to draw these out we examined data from the MARCUS and SOCRATES field campaigns. We identified new particle formation within extratropical cyclones as a potentially important source of cloud condensation nuclei in these pristine marine environments. By combining ARM observations with perturbed parameter ensemble simulations, we demonstrated that surface observations can effectively constrain aerosol–cloud adjustments and reduce uncertainty in simulated cloud liquid water path responses by approximately 15%, yielding stronger constraints on historical aerosol cooling effects. The work further established precipitation processes as a dominant control on aerosol–cloud interactions and Earth system predictability.

Gordon, Hamish [Department of Chemical Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hot Water Recirculation Systems: Designing for Success [Slides]

This presentation will focus on on-demand hot water recirculation systems and how they contribute to energy and water conservation in residential buildings. This work illustrates best practices for designing, installing, and operating these systems, drawing from research and field testing to provide practical recommendations. The ultimate goal is to reduce wait times for hot water, comply with current energy codes, and lower both energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, while improving user satisfaction. In the upcoming slides, we'll dive into case studies and explore the latest technological advancements that help achieve these objectives.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Xcel Energy’s electric carbon emissions reduction trajectories in the context of 1.5°C and 2°C warming pathways

In 2015 the Paris Agreement established the goals of limiting global average warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit warming to below 1.5°C. A large and growing number of scenarios have been developed by the climate research community that explore global energy and emissions pathways that would achieve those goals. We draw on the most recent database of such scenarios to update a previous analysis of Xcel Energy’s emissions reduction goals in light of evolving climate science. We assess the outlook for the role of the US electricity sector in current economy-wide and global emissions pathways and compare it to Xcel Energy’s near-term resource plans to 2030. We find that global scenarios that achieve the 1.5°C goal span a range of US/North America electricity sector emissions reductions by 2030 of about 65-85%. Xcel Energy’s emissions reductions to date have exceeded those of the US electricity sector as a whole, and its projected trajectory to 2030 under current approved resource plans falls within this range. Scenarios achieving the 2°C goal have a wider range of reductions (about 40-85%). In scenarios achieving either goal, electricity sector emissions fall faster than economy-wide emissions, a robust feature of mitigation scenarios, which typically rely on low carbon electricity to achieve climate targets.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimally sited microgrids for energy resilience in Mount Desert Island, ME

Mount Desert Island (MDI) (≈110 sq mi; ≈10,000 year‑round residents) is located on the eastern coast of Maine. Acadia National Park is located on the island, protecting 47,000+ acres of land which draws millions of visitors annually. The island is divided into four towns (Tremont, Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert, Bar Harbor). The island’s distribution system is supplied by a single 35‑kV mainland feeder and a mix of aging distribution components; outage exposure is not uniform across the island. Residents fear that outage events are starting to exceed resilience expectations. MDI community leaders asked Sandia National Laboratories to characterize energy system vulnerability and to develop conceptual microgrid solutions that improve community resilience while also producing co‑benefits for reliability, access, and sustainable development.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Speed to Power: Solutions for Accelerating Large Load Connections

Rapid growth in demand from data centers and other large loads is creating a range of new challenges for electricity planners, investors, system operators, and regulators, leading to bottlenecks that have slowed connection of large loads to the electric grid. In response, innovative solutions for accelerating large load connections are beginning to emerge across the U.S. Drawing on an extensive document and literature review, this report identifies more than 40 potential solutions for accelerating large load connections, organized into five functional areas: load forecasting, interconnection, resource planning and procurement, markets and operations, and cost allocation and ratemaking. The five functional areas provide a framework for organizing challenges and solutions to large load connection bottlenecks.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluation of a 5kW Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell Stack

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) are a developing technology for hydrogen production. They are promising due to their utilization of thermal energy to reduce their electricity consumption. The Department of Energy (DOE) has set goals to reduce the price per kilogram of hydrogen, and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is conducting research to develop and demonstrate advanced methods and technologies to achieve making hydrogen a more affordable, efficient, and sustainable energy source. In this project, INL is collaborating with a vendor to evaluate and validate the design of a 5kW SOEC stack. The test aims to demonstrate a safe startup, operation, and shutdown on INL’s 5kW test stand, providing third-party validation in a different environment. A successful 50-hour test with stable hydrogen production will pave the way for a subsequent 1000-hour test. This project emphasized learning about electrolysis and the various support systems, referred to as balance of plant (BOP) equipment. These systems required modification while swapping to the vendor 5kW SOEC stack, most prominently the furnace door design and the controls system. It also included gaining skills in creating computer-aided design (CAD) drawings for the new door while using available materials and ensuring it met high-temperature requirements. Upon completion of modifications to the test stand, the SOEC will be test-fitted with respective wiring and piping. Instrumentation and piping will be checked for leaks and quality. This must be completed before the vendor’s engineers arrive to observe the test plan, startup, and a collection of 50 hours of data. The vendor’s engineers will ensure their stack performed sufficiently in the 50-hour test to enable the progression to a 1000-hour test.

08 - HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

Data Driven Correlated Noise Simulation for the ICEBERG LArTPC

Accurate electronic-noise simulation is essential for low-energy physics in liquid-argon TPCs. More realistic noise modeling allows us to better tune reconstruction algorithms and more reliably assess and optimize signal-detection thresholds. We present a data-driven noise simulation framework developed for the ICEBERG test stand for DUNE that generates synthetic noise waveforms that reproduce both (i) the measured per-channel magnitude of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and (ii) frequency-dependent channel-to-channel correlations observed in ICEBERG noise data. Using a dedicated noise-only dataset, we build a compact noise model containing per-channel FFT-magnitude targets together with a small set of band-wise cross-wire color matrices. White noise is generated in the frequency domain by drawing circular-symmetric complex Gaussian coefficients with random phases and scaling them to match the measured FFT-magnitude targets, and cross-wire correlations are subsequently imposed using the stored color matrices. The model and algorithm were integrated into the LArSoft + Wire-Cell Toolkit simulation chain and validated by comparing waveform structure, frequency-domain spectra, and band-limited correlation matrices from simulated noise and ICEBERG data. This approach can be extended to other LArTPC operating conditions.

Ghosh, Avik [Iowa State U.]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Best Practices for Resilience Hub Development and Management

The Carbon League and its community partners in East St. Louis, Illinois, have identified five facilities to serve as resilience hubs. These hubs are intended to support the local community through a range of services and resources during blue-sky (everyday), gray-sky (pre-event), and black-sky (emergency) conditions. Transforming these facilities into fully functional resilience hubs requires a broad operational improvement and programmatic planning roadmap. This memo outlines best practices to guide the development of these resilience hubs in East St. Louis, including recommendations for infrastructure services; safety and physical protection; community services; operational protocols; and a phased implementation strategy aligned with realistic funding and capacity constraints. Infrastructure recommendations include strengthening electric power, communications, water, sanitation, and transportation/logistics capabilities, all of which are essential for hubs that may serve as cooling and warming centers, distribution points, and information hubs during emergencies. Safety recommendations focus on accessibility, emergency action planning, indoor air quality, and secure storage of critical equipment. A phased roadmap provides guidance from immediate, low-cost readiness actions to long-term optimization and community integration. Performance metrics and maintenance protocols ensure continuous improvement and operational readiness. This guidance draws on best practices that can be used to support the development of resilient, community-centered hubs capable of enhancing public safety, health, and well-being during everyday operations and emergencies alike.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗