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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 1,225 records · Page 68
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

High-power few-cycle Cr:ZnSe mid-infrared source for attosecond soft x-ray physics

The development of mid-infrared, high-energy pulses of extremely short pulse duration is of great importance to the strong-field physics community, as it enables extension of the high-harmonic cutoff towards the keV range of photon energies. Here we demonstrate a C r 2 + : Z n S e laser amplifier delivering 7 mJ, 100 fs pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate and 2.4 µm central wavelength with excellent energy stability and beam quality. These pulses are post-compressed to 39 fs, 6.2 mJ, and 115 GW peak power in a novel nonlinear compression scheme. The laser system was used to generate coherent soft x-ray radiation up to 0.6 keV covering the entire water window, which is of high importance for bio-relevant applications. The obtained results open a wide range of applications in nonlinear optics, attosecond and strong-field physics, and remote sensing.

Leshchenko, Vyacheslav E. (ORCID:0000000199708559)↗
DOE OSTI2024

C2C Expert Match Technical Assistance: City of Reading, Pennsylvania [Slides]

The City of Reading, located in southeastern Pennsylvania, is the main city in the Greater Reading Area and the county seat of Berks County, with a population of approximately 95,112 as of 2020. Historically a disinvested manufacturing community, it has a poverty rate of around 40%, a housing stock averaging 90 years old, and an owner-occupied housing rate below 40%. In 2019, Reading adopted a resolution to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050. The city aims to transition residential, small commercial, and small manufacturing sectors to renewable energy for electricity and heating, bypassing natural gas. This C2C Expert Match aimed to improve the energy efficiency and comfort of older rowhomes in Reading, which often rely on home heating oil and lack cooling systems. A representative energy model of a typical rowhome was developed to evaluate retrofit strategies focused on reducing overheating risk, as well as the potential impacts of heat pump installation. Additionally, resources such as case studies and best practices on energy efficiency, thermal resilience, and electrification retrofits were gathered to support the implementation of effective measures in the community.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Global impacts of vegetation clumping on regulating land surface heat fluxes

The clumping index (CI) quantifies the non-random distribution of vegetation across space, which regulates the canopy radiative transfer processes and land surface carbon, water, and energy cycles. However, its impact on global surface energy budget, particularly sensible heat fluxes and surface temperature, is not well understood. Additionally, while there have been studies showing significant seasonal variations in CI, the impacts of these variations on surface energy fluxes remain unclear. In this study, we incorporated satellite-derived spatially and temporally explicit CI data into the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5) to evaluate the effects of CI on global land energy fluxes. Our results showed that including CI increased the global mean sensible heat flux dissipated from ground by 3.9 W m -2 (~18%), while decreasing the global mean vegetation sensible heat flux by 4.9 W m -2 (~65%), resulting in a total sensible heat decrease of 1.0 W m -2 (~3%). In contrast, CI increased the global mean latent heat flux by 0.8 W m -2 (~2%), primarily due to increased evapotranspiration (up to 11 W m -2 ) in tropical regions. We also found considerable impacts of seasonal variations in CI, particularly on sensible heat fluxes from ground and vegetation in evergreen needleleaf forests and deciduous needleleaf forests. Using constant CI rather than considering seasonal variations resulted in significant overestimation and underestimation of the sensible heat fluxes from vegetation and ground, respectively, in boreal summer. In conclusion, these changes in surface energy fluxes caused by CI and its seasonal variations led to up to 1.7 and 0.5 K differences in simulated mean ground temperature. These findings highlight the importance of including CI and considering its seasonal variations in modeling land surface energy fluxes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Baltic Sea coastal sediment-bound eukaryotes have increased year-round activities under predicted climate change related warming

Climate change related warming is a serious environmental problem attributed to anthropogenic activities, causing ocean water temperatures to rise in the coastal marine ecosystem since the last century. This particularly affects benthic microbial communities, which are crucial for biogeochemical cycles. While bacterial communities have received considerable scientific attention, the benthic eukaryotic community response to climate change remains relatively overlooked. In this study, sediments were sampled from a heated (average 5°C increase over the whole year for over 50 years) and a control (contemporary conditions) Baltic Sea bay during four different seasons across a year. RNA transcript counts were then used to investigate eukaryotic community changes under long-term warming. The composition of active species in the heated and control bay sediment eukaryotic communities differed, which was mainly attributed to salinity and temperature. The family level RNA transcript alpha diversity in the heated bay was higher during May but lower in November, compared with the control bay, suggesting altered seasonal activity patterns and dynamics. In addition, structures of the active eukaryotic communities varied between the two bays during the same season. Hence, this study revealed that long-term warming can change seasonality in eukaryotic diversity patterns. Relative abundances and transcript expression comparisons between bays suggested that some taxa that now have lower mRNA transcripts numbers could be favored by future warming. Furthermore, long-term warming can lead to a more active metabolism in these communities throughout the year, such as higher transcript numbers associated with diatom energy production and protein synthesis in the heated bay during winter. In all, these data can help predict how future global warming will affect the ecology and metabolism of eukaryotic community in coastal sediments.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) Training [Slides]

This is a presentation developed by the NREL-Alaska team for the Nonprofit Retrofits for Health and Housing (NORTHH) Program. This presentation will be shared with nonprofits and community members in and around the Interior Alaska region to share information about Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM). ESPM is used to track the energy performance of buildings in the United States and was used on the NORTHH Project to understand the performance of nonprofit owned buildings in the program. This presentation will allow users to learn how to leverage the benefits of this tool.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Status of State Community Solar Program Caps

As of May 2022, at least 18 states and Washington, D.C., included caps on their community solar programs. Most of these program caps are capacity-based, meaning that they limit the program size by capacity (i.e., the number of megawatts of energy produced by participating projects). In general, these programs are at the state level and are developed based on legislative mandates. Community solar deployment has been concentrated in a limited number of states. Of the top 10 states with community solar deployment, 5 have program caps and 5 are uncapped. In states with program caps, installed community solar capacity ranges from 7% to 40% of the program cap.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP+) Resource List

NLR compiles and makes quarterly updates to this dataset of publications related to expanding access to solar through its support for the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP+). The purpose of the list is to help NCSP+ partners and others to find relevant resources on community solar, low- and moderate-income residential rooftop solar + storage, community-serving commercial solar projects, microgrids, and distributed solar + storage aggregations such as virtual power plants serving low-income communities. Resource types include journal articles, reports, fact sheets, presentations, videos, datasets, modeling tools, webinars, and other formats. A web-based version of the database is available on the NCSP+ Data Hub at: https://openei.org/wiki/NCSP_Hub/Resources .

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Establishment of an Intertribal Technical Energy Providers Network (Final Technical Report)

The Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association (MTERA) embarked on a 5-year (extended to 7-year) initiative aimed at advancing Tribal energy resilience and sustainability through intertribal collaboration. By bringing together Tribes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan (EPA Region 5 Tribes), the project's scope encompassed organizational growth, governance and management formalization and enhancement, and the planning and deployment of energy-related services to Member Tribes. MTERA strategically pursued four key objectives to fulfill its mission: 1. Clearinghouse Development: Creation of a centralized hub offering valuable information, education, and outreach for Tribal communities and their neighbors. 2. Policy Liaison: Serving as a vital link between federal and state agencies to contribute to the formulation of inclusive energy policies that ensure both Tribal and regional energy success. 3. Energy Planning and Research: Providing essential support for energy planning, researching financing opportunities, and exploring effective procurement strategies. 4. Training Support: Facilitating training and apprenticeship initiatives to empower the Tribal workforce and enhance community capabilities.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Survey of Utility-Scale Wind and Solar Developers Report [Slides]

In 2023, Berkeley Lab conducted the first of its kind survey of industry professionals with direct experience working in community engagement and permitting of land-based, utility-scale wind and solar energy facilities in the U.S. The survey solicited information about project timelines over the last five years, leading causes of project delays and cancelations, community opposition, experience with permitting authorities, community engagement, comparisons between wind and solar, and other related topics. A total of 123 individuals responded to the survey for a response rate of 19.2%. Respondents were employed at 62 unique companies, which together are responsible for approximately half of the wind and solar developed from 2016 to 2023.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

STARFIRE – Science and Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation and Reactor Engineering progress report

The STARFIRE hub leverages foundational science and technology (S&T) research and integrated plant modeling tools to advance Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). S&T breakthroughs achieved in each thrust are incorporated into an integrated modeling tool to assess and prioritize remaining gaps to bridge for IFE to become viable. Scientific highlights span high-gain target design, diode-pumped solid-state lasers, and innovative target manufacturing. Key highlights include the investigation of shock propagation through various foam structures among other limiting factors of compression of IFE target, exploration of novel 3D printing techniques such as light-sheet additive manufacturing for 2-photon polymerization foams, and diode-pumped solid-state laser architectures required for several IFE approaches. In addition, the STARFIRE team has established two public-private working groups to address laser diode supply chain issues and test advanced laser diode configurations. Finally, a lite version of the integrated modeling tool has been developed to facilitate outreach and engage with private companies. STARFIRE’s management structure has been designed to ensure agile resource allocation, robust performance assessment, and alignment with the broader fusion energy mission. STARFIRE’s breakthroughs are disseminated to the community via reports, presentations, and publications, while agreements with private companies are set in place to protect proprietary information.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Controller Requirements for Managing Community Microgrids

Microgrid control systems are central to the functioning of a microgrid. They are responsible for managing distributed energy resources (DER) in both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. Although microgrids are being developed and deployed by many utilities, several questions are being raised about the control system that manages them. This document provides the detailed list of requirements for a feeder-level microgrid controller to manage various islanded and grid-connected use cases. Functionally, the use cases include control scenarios that require the controller to maintain energy balance, prevent constraint violations, manage switching equipment, manage grid-forming (GFM) and grid-following (GFL) DER, manage critical/non-critical loads, and coordinate with peer systems to operate joined island areas. In addition to detailed requirements, the document includes interface and performance metrics for functional evaluation. These requirements can be applied to utility-managed microgrid controllers that exclusively manage utility-owned equipment; requirements also apply to third-party managed microgrid controllers that coordinate with the utility- and customer-owned equipment. The document can also be used by technology developers and project developers in industry to specify desired control strategies and performance characteristics for community microgrid controllers.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Analysis of Energy Justice and Equity Impacts from Replacing Peaker Plants with Energy Storage

Transitions to low-carbon energy systems are essential to mitigating and adapting to climate change. Energy storage systems are a key component in achieving a viable decarbonized electric grid. However, decarbonization alone does not guarantee a fairer, more inclusive, or socially just energy system. Energy equity and justice should be integrated in energy system transitions to ensure benefits and burdens are shared equitably. In this paper, we discuss the relationship between energy storage and social equity by assessing the use of energy storage to replace natural gas-fired (NG) peaker plants. Peaker plants are disproportionately located near disadvantaged communities and tend to be older and high emitters of health-affecting fine particulate matter and other pollutants. This paper investigates the equity implications of NG peaker plant replacements with battery energy storage in the context of Washington State’s peaker plants to highlight the human-centered values of retiring the plants. The study performed production cost simulations using the latest Western Electric Coordinating Council Anchor Dataset 2030 case and found that total generation cost, locational marginal price, and total annual emissions were reduced with the replacements. These reductions will have equity benefits on local communities including access to clean air, enhanced health outcomes, and energy burden reductions.

Tarekegne, Bethel W.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Fossil Energy Workshop on Quantum Information Science & Technology (Summary Report)

This report summarizes findings and discussion from the Fossil Energy Workshop on Quantum Information Science & Technology which took place on November 19-21, 2019. Quantum Information Science (QIS) is expected to profoundly change the practice of science and engineering in the coming decades. It is a rapidly progressing field, fueled by large investments from the private sector and governments. Its importance to the U.S. economy and national security is underscored by the National Quantum Initiative Act passed in December 2018. QIS includes quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum simulation experiments, and quantum computation. QIS technology exploits quantum phenomena for performing tasks that are impossible to do today, such as finding prime factors of large numbers or elucidating reaction mechanisms in complex chemical systems. The opportunities for applying QIS to problems encountered in fossil energy technology development are not known today. This workshop brought together, for the first time, experts in these fields to exchange information and explore potential research opportunities for QIS to advance fossil energy. The goal of the workshop was to develop a set of priority research opportunities that can inform future research efforts in QIS and build a community of next-generation researchers at the intersection of QIS and fossil energy.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Intelligent Manufacturing for Extreme Environments Conference Proceedings

The Intelligent Manufacturing for Extreme Environments (IMEE) workshop was held at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) in Idaho Falls, Idaho, May 2–3, 2023, in support of the United States (U.S.) National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities (EPSCoR-WO) program. This workshop featured keynote speakers, panels, and breakout sessions with 58 participants. Nuclear reactors need to operate under extreme service conditions, such as high temperatures, corrosive environments, and high-radiation doses. Hence, reactor components must be able to withstand those conditions. The participants envision a future where on demand manufacture of components for small modular reactors (SMRs), microreactors, and other advanced reactor designs are possible. In this future, regulatory bodies accept validated manufacturing processes and standardized feedstocks, thus eliminating the need for individual component testing. However, the necessary technologies and regulatory policies needed for this future do not exist today. Successful innovation would revolutionize the nuclear power sector, enable fast commercial development, create economic opportunities in the U.S., reduce the carbon footprint and associated risks, and promote a skilled and highly competitive workforce. The objective of the workshop was to convene world-class experts, researchers, educators, and students to identify gaps and envision solutions for five interrelated challenges for intelligent manufacturing in extreme environments. The key outcomes of the conference were: (1) to take the opportunity for researchers and educators to network and form collaborations; and (2) to produce a full report to inform policy-makers, industry, and the academic community of various challenges and opportunities in the nuclear energy sector.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluating Variable‐Resolution CESM Over China and Western United States for Use in Water‐Energy Nexus and Impacts Modeling

Abstract Climate models are critical tools to study earth system processes and are often further downscaled to provide refined‐resolution data sets for regional water‐energy impact analyses. In this study, the Variable‐Resolution Community Earth System Model (VR‐CESM), a new dynamical downscaling method, is employed to generate 1/8° simulations for China and the western United States over 1970–2006. Precipitation, temperature, snowpack, radiation, and wind speed are compared with two 1° global climate models, regional climate model ensemble, and reference data sets to evaluate their fidelity. Simulated precipitation skill is dependent upon the reference data sets used, a slight (<+10%) and spatially consistent wet bias in China during summer and the western United States during winter. Precipitation bias in VR‐CESM is the smallest among models and demonstrates the added value provided by resolution refinement. However, temperature biases are generally greater than precipitation due to more complicated interactions among processes. VR‐CESM simulates +2°C warm bias in the low‐elevation regions in China but −2°C cold bias in mountains. However, DJF cold bias (−2.23°C to−3.37°C) and JJA warm bias (+1.13°C to +1.87°C) exist in the western United States. The modeling skills of precipitation and temperature at various topographies are similar in the two evaluated regions. The cold bias was likely affected by downward shortwave radiation deficit (−15%) and slow bias of surface wind speeds (−16% to −29%). Despite the wet and cold bias, snow water equivalent and snow cover are underestimated in mountains. We conclude that VR‐CESM outperforms other models evaluated and provides the best estimation of downscaled climate model data for water‐energy studies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Biogeochemical Responses and Microbial Community Dynamics Responding to Experimental Hydrogen Storage Conditions

Hydrogen has been identified as a flexible energy carrier with zero or negative carbon emission across multiple energy sectors. There is tremendous capacity for deep geologic storage of H2 but many aspects of feasibility, reliability, safety and the potential for unintended consequences need to be examined. As part of a larger programmatic effort to address the knowledge gaps, we aim to gain a better understanding of reservoir microbial communities and their metabolic and biogeochemical responses to hydrogen storage conditions. In this study we collected and characterized reservoir brine from candidate hydrogen storage sites in the southwestern U.S. for use in a temporal reactor series under blended storage conditions (40% H2, 40% CH4, 20% CO2) at reservoir temperature (60°C).

hydrogen storage↗
DOE OSTI2022

Convincing Clients to Make Zero a Reality: Preprint

As buildings are the largest end-users of carbon-intensive energy in the United States, it is critical that design and construction professionals implement energy-efficient and sustainable building designs and systems. Building owners seeking building energy performance improvements, either with new construction or retrofit of existing facilities, usually need the expertise of design and construction professionals to guide them through the process. These "trusted advisers" make the design decisions that ultimately result in the energy performance of the building. Members of the design and construction community have identified that clients' perception of cost associated with such designs and building upgrades have posed the most significant barrier to increased adoption. If solved, this would enable design and construction firms to better engage as trusted advisors along the lines of energy and carbon reduction of the built environment. NREL has developed a resource that helps design and construction professionals and their clients match their projects with financial incentives. A newly developed cohort of design and construction professionals, as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Initiative, has brought real-world project experiences to the development process, contributing meaningful insights that have been critical to evaluating the successes of and providing direction to this much needed financial guide.

Better Buildings↗
DOE OSTI2022

Equitable Demonstration and Deployment Roundtable Report

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) hosted the Equitable Demonstration and Deployment Roundtable on August 25, 2021. The roundtable brought together experts in climate and energy justice, demonstration projects, and renewable energy deployment to explore issues that will lead to greater understanding of the barriers to equity at scale and the role that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) can play to reduce and mitigate them. A large percentage of the participants included experts in energy equity issues from national and local organizations across multiple sectors, both public and private. These individuals engaged with DOE and national laboratory researchers to identify community-based challenges and propose opportunities for DOE to address those challenges to energy demonstration and deployment. The roundtable examined equity considerations for two phases of the energy development process: demonstration and deployment. These two pathways were selected for discussion during the same workshop because they are inextricably linked within the energy ecosystem. Ensuring the deployment of safe, affordable, and reliable energy deployment is DOE's primary goal and energy demonstration projects are a key driver moving technologies from the laboratory to market to achieve this result.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗