Why is this Facility Different? Measuring Energy Culture to Achieve Continual Improvement in Energy Efficiency
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Wising, Ulrika↗
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Today's Leaders for a Sustainable Tomorrow
Today's Leaders for a Sustainable Tomorrow is a collaboration of five residential environmental learning centers (Audubon Center of the North Woods, Deep Portage Learning Center, Laurentian Environmental Center, Long Lake Conservation Center and Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center) that together increased energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable energy technologies through a number of different means appropriate for each unique center. For energy efficiency upgrades the centers installed envelope improvements to seal air barriers through better insulation in walls, ceilings, windows, doors as well as the installation of more energy efficient windows, doors, lighting and air ventilation systems. Through energy sub-meter monitoring the centers are able to accurately chart the usage of energy at each of their campuses and eliminate unnecessary energy usage. Facilities reduced their dependence on fossil fuel energy sources through the installation of renewable energy technologies including wood gasification, solar domestic hot water, solar photovoltaic, solar air heat, geothermal heating and wind power. Centers also installed energy education displays on the specific renewable energy technologies used at the center.
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
Nurseries Best Practices Guide for Energy and Water Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Resilience
This guide is a compilation of energy and water efficiency, renewable energy, and resilience best practices at United States Forest Service (USFS) nurseries and seed extractory facilities. The Forest Service Nursery System supports the agency’s mission to restore and retain ecosystem health throughout its 193-million acres and ensures the future of biological diversity on federal lands. This guide was developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and is based on pilot analyses at two western nurseries.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Decomposing Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Standards in the Energy Conversion Efficiency and Tractive Energy Domain
The three foundational elements that determine mobile source energy use and tailpipe carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the tractive energy requirements of the vehicle, the on-cycle energy conversion efficiency of the propulsion system, and the energy source. The tractive energy requirements are determined by the vehicle's mass, aerodynamic drag, tire rolling resistance, and parasitic drag. Oncycle energy conversion of the propulsion system is dictated by the tractive efficiency, non-tractive energy use, kinetic energy recovery, and parasitic losses. The energy source determines the mobile source CO2 emissions. For current vehicles, tractive energy requirements and overall energy conversion efficiency are readily available from the decomposition of test data. For future applications, plausible levels of mass reduction, aerodynamic drag improvements, and tire rolling resistance can be transposed into the tractive energy domain. Similarly, by combining thermodynamic, mechanical efficiency, and kinetic energy recovery fundamentals with logical proxies, achievable levels of energy conversion efficiency can be established to allow for the evaluation of future powertrain requirements. Combining the plausible levels of tractive energy and on-cycle efficiency provides a means to compute sustainable vehicle and propulsion system scenarios that can achieve future regulations. Using these principles, the regulations established in the United States (U.S.) for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are evaluated. Fleet-level scenarios are generated and compared to the technology deployment assumptions made during rule-making. When compared to the rule-making assumptions, the results indicate that a greater level of advanced vehicle and propulsion system technology deployment will be required to achieve the model year 2025 U.S. standards for fuel economy and CO2 emissions.
CAFE↗
The role of ionic blockades in controlling the efficiency of energy recovery in forward bias bipolar membranes
Limited understanding exists about the operation of bipolar membranes (BPMs) in forward bias to convert protonic gradients into electrical work, despite their emerging role in many electrochemical devices. In these device contexts, the BPM is typically exposed to complex electrolyte mixtures, but their impact on polarization remains poorly understood. Here, for this work, we develop a mechanistic model explaining the forward bias polarization behaviour of BPMs in mixed electrolytes with different acidities/basicities. This model invokes that weak acids/bases accumulate in the BPM and impose an ionic blockade that inhibits the recombination of stronger acids/bases, resulting in a substantial neutralization overpotential. We demonstrate the utility of our model for fuel cells and redox flow batteries and introduce two materials design strategies for mitigating this inhibition. Lastly, we apply our findings to enhance the energy efficiency of carbonate management in CO 2 electrolysers. This work highlights how non-equilibrium local environments at membrane–membrane interfaces can define the efficiency of protonic-to-electrical energy conversion.
25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
Strategic Energy Management Plan for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
This plan outlines the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ comprehensive energy management strategy including an assessment of current practices, a commitment to improving energy performance and reducing overall energy use, and recommended actions to achieve these goals. Vision Statement: The primary objective of the Strategic Energy Management Plan is to implement energy efficiency, energy security, conservation, education, and renewable energy projects that align with the economic goals and cultural values of the community to improve the health and welfare of the tribe. The intended outcomes of implementing the energy plan include job creation, capacity building, and reduced energy costs for tribal community members, and tribal operations. By encouraging energy independence and local power production the plan will promote self-sufficiency. Mission & Objectives: The Strategic Energy Plan will provide information and suggestions to guide tribal decision-making and provide a foundation for effective management of energy resources within the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (SYBCI) community. The objectives of developing this plan include; Assess current energy demand and costs of all tribal enterprises, offices, and facilities; Provide a baseline assessment of the SYBCI’s energy resources so that future progress can be clearly and consistently measured, and current usage better understood; Project future energy demand; Establish a system for centralized, ongoing tracking and analysis of tribal energy data that is applicable across sectors, facilities, and activities; Develop a unifying vision that is consistent with the tribe’s long-term cultural, social, environmental, and economic goals; Identify and evaluate the potential of opportunities for development of long-term, cost effective energy sources, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, and other feasible supply- and demand-side options; and Build the SYBCI’s capacity for understanding, managing, and developing energy resources by identifying training, distribution of information materials, and community meeting needs and opportunities
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Development of a smart DC grid model
Smart grid and distributed generation should be the solution of the global climate change and the crisis energy of the main source of electrical power generation which is fossil fuel. In order to meet the rising electrical power demand and increasing service quality demands, as well as reduce pollution, the existing power grid infrastructure should be developed into a smart grid and distributed power generation which provide a great opportunity to address issues related to energy efficiency, energy security, power quality and aging infrastructure systems. The conventional of the existing distributed generation system is an AC grid while for a renewable resources requires a DC grid system. This paper explores the model of smart DC grid by introducing a model of smart DC grid with the stable power generation give a minimal and compressed circuitry that can be implemented very cost-effectively with simple components. The PC based application software for controlling was developed to show the condition of the grid and to control the grid become ‘smart’. The model is then subjected to a severe system perturbation, such as incremental change in loads to test the performance of the system again stability. It is concluded that the system able to detect and controlled the voltage stability which indicating the ability of power system to maintain steady voltage within permissible rangers in normal condition.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Generation of laser plasma bunches with a high efficiency of energy concentration for laboratory simulation of collisionless shock waves in magnetised cosmic plasma
We present the results of first experiments on the formation of collisionless shock waves (CSWs) in background plasma by injecting laser plasma bunches transverse to the magnetic field (as a piston) with a maximum energy up to 100 J per unit of solid angle and with a high enough degree of ion magnetisation. With this aim in view, on a unique KI-1 facility at the Institute of Laser Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ILP), a plastic (polyethylene) target irradiated by a CO{sub 2} laser in the most energy-efficient regime (near the plasma formation threshold) and a highly ionised hydrogen plasma with a high concentration in a large volume (not less than 1 m{sup 3}) have been employed. As a result of model experiments performed on the basis of a model of collisionless interaction of plasma flows, developed at the VNIIEF and being adequate to the problem under consideration, not only an intensive, background-induced, deceleration of a super-Alfven laser plasma flow, but also the formation in that flow of a strong perturbation having the properties of a subcritical CSW and propagating transverse to the magnetic field, have been first registered in the laboratory conditions. (extreme laser radiation: physics and fundamental applications)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Rebound Effects in the Context of Developing Country Efficiency
Energy efficiency-related “rebound effects” usually refer to the tendency of most consumers to increase their use of energy services in response to efficiency measures that have reduced their energy costs. This phenomenon is one reason why energy efficiency policies often result in lower energy savings than engineering-based estimates predict. Rebound effects have been the subject of intense debate in the field of energy efficiency policy for many years.1 In the past, the focus of this debate has been on the perceived loss of the expected energy savings and related benefits resulting from the rebound effects. However, more recently, there has been a growing recognition that policymakers need to consider the health, economic and other non-energy benefits that often result from the increase in energy services represented by user “rebound effects”. This is especially true in developing countries where basic energy service demands—such as lighting, heating, cooling, and refrigeration of food—are often not being met. As economic conditions improve and household incomes increase, demand for increased energy services (such as space conditioning and appliances) tends to rise rapidly. Improving energy efficiency reduces the amount of energy needed to produce one unit of energy service output (for example an hour of cooling at 21°C delivered for X vs Y kWh). Greater efficiency therefore often enables more rapid increased in energy services (and sometimes access), expanding the amount of services that can be provided by a fixed amount (or cost) of energy.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative Industrial Efficiency and Energy Productivity
Industrial efficiency and low-cost energy resources are key components to increasing U.S. energy productivity and makes the U.S. manufacturing sector more competitive. Companies find a competitive advantage in implementing efficiency technologies and practices, and technologies developed and manufactured in the U.S. enable greater competitiveness economy-wide.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Magnify: A Final Technical Report of the American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership
The energy landscape has undergone profound transformation, with dramatic shifts having an impact on U.S. productivity, global investment, manufacturing operations, and job creation. The sense of urgency for a tighter linkage between clean technologies, energy and advanced manufacturing has only grown. Prior to 2009, the tone of the nation’s energy conversation was centered on how to deal with long-standing energy security challenges and scarcity. Today, the tone is focused on seizing emerging energy growth opportunities to transform America’s industrial base and job creation outlook—centering on energy abundance and strength. In this context, the Council on Competitiveness and the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) teamed in the American Energy & Manufacturing Competitiveness (AEMC) Partnership to tackle two major goals via a multi-year partnership. The AEMC Partnership identified means to: • Increase U.S. competitiveness in the production of clean energy products • Increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness across the board by increasing energy productivity The AEMC Partnership has engaged hundreds of leaders from industry, academia, labor and government in a series of 9 regional, progressive dialogues; original research; and 4 national summits. The AEMC dialogues and summits spanned the United States—taking place in our nation’s greatest manufacturing, research, technology and innovation hotspots. The goals of the AEMC Partnership have been straightforward: • State and define key barriers, challenges, and problems in U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing of clean energy products, energy efficiency products, and advanced manufacturing products. • Dive deeply into these problems and generate policies, solutions, concepts and models where the U.S. public and private sectors can work together to solve these problems. • Catalyze policy solutions—including models for public-private partnership (PPP) pilots—to increase competitive manufacturing of clean energy and energy efficiency products in the USA. • Elevate and increase awareness of the importance and benefits of competitive clean energy manufacturing. • Understand how energy game-changers, like breakthrough technologies, impact U.S. clean energy and energy efficient manufacturing. The Council on Competitiveness worked with its stakeholder network to generate potential PPP concepts and proposals to advance the goals of the AEMC Partnership. Magnify outlines 2 PPP concepts—honed by dialogues, conversations, interviews and research—that could be carried out by EERE and/or the Council to increase the competitive production of clean energy products, energy efficient products, and advanced manufacturing in the USA. Magnify’s 2 PPP concepts aim to bridge very specific gaps in the nation’s innovation ecosystem: • Clean Energy Materials Accelerator: This PPP concept focuses on reducing the risks associated with deploying newly developed materials in commercial products and processes by creating a platform to identify and address common challenges; increasing access to existing materials qualification and characterization tools; and creating standards for advanced materials with leaders in industry, academic, government, and other organizations. Why accelerate materials production? As the AEMC Partnership Dialogue and supporting research from the public and private sectors have documented, countries that lead in making next-generation materials will gain significant competitive advantage by unleashing a new wave of manufacturing innovation. • Manufacturing and Energy Technology Accelerator: This PPP concept is a new, physical and virtual collaborative resource platform designed to connect the nation’s world-class innovation institutions—SMEs, large multinational companies, universities, national laboratories, etc.—to facilitate the transition of cutting-edge clean energy technologies into products, processes, or services that are manufactured in the United States. Why should public and private sector leaders in innovation partner to co-create a scale-up platform? The United States is already a mecca for the world’s greatest minds in science and technology—drawn to our shores by world-class universities and opportunities to work with global leaders in innovation. Unfortunately, when it comes time to bring their ideas to market, technologists and entrepreneurs often choose, or are forced, to locate manufacturing overseas. The United States must regain its position in the world as a national scale-up platform for next-generation technologies. A thorough explanation of these PPP concepts and the rationale behind these recommendations is provided in Part 3 of Magnify. Magnify is an important step on the critical journey to define barriers, challenges and problems in the manufacturing of clean energy products and energy efficient products—and further honing concepts for scalable, public-private partnerships—to increase the competitive manufacturing of clean energy and energy efficient products, and the energy productivity throughout the U.S. manufactur¬ing sector. The rest of the world is waking up to the opportunities associated with a strategic focus on manufacturing and energy competitiveness. Global competition is on the rise, and the stakes are high for the United States to act now, to act decisively, and to leverage inherent strengths to ensure a more prosperous, competitive future for decades to come.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Optically thin light-absorbers for increasing photochemical energy-conversion efficiencies
Photochemical energy conversion is more efficient when a single light-absorbing unit is split into multiple light-absorbing units (N) that are each 1/N as thick as the single light-absorbing unit and thus use the same amount of material as the single light-absorbing unit. For electrocatalytic parameters relevant to water electrolysis, the maximum efficiency for solar-to-fuel conversion from a 1.75 eV bandgap material increases from approximately 1% for a single light-absorbing unit to greater than 20% for 128 identical stacked light-absorbing units. Alterations in utilization of photons results in a better match of the light-absorber power output to the load of the chemical transformation and in the case of high-quality light-absorbers there is an added benefit from radiative coupling between the light-absorbing units via photon recycling.
Ardo, Shane↗
Biochar from Biomass and its Potential Agronomic and Environmental Use in Washington: A Promising Alternative to Drawdown Carbon from the Atmosphere and Develop a New Industry
Climate change is one of the most serious issues facing the world today. Increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and other long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere continue to warm the planet and destabilize the climate. It has been estimated that the impact from this warming could cost the state 10 billion per year by 2020, and 16 billion per year by 2040. Long-term solutions to the climate problem likely will require that large quantities of CO 2 be removed from the atmosphere. In fact, massive CO 2 drawdowns from the atmosphere have occurred in earth’s recent past from events occurring in our hemisphere. Studies of those analogs provide insight into the potential magnitude for specific actions to drawdown significant CO 2 from the atmosphere. One of these potential actions is the large-scale production of biochar from abundant woody biomass waste and its storage in soils, where it remains stable for hundreds to thousands of years. Moreover, for the carbon emission intensity of Washington’s fuel mix, biochar production from biomass is twice as effective in offsetting GHG emissions as complete biomass combustion of the same biomass. Washington State has large quantities of wood waste biomass that could be purposed for production of combined heat/power/biochar (CHPB) through existing biomass boilers. We propose to 1) evaluate the quantities of Washington wood waste biomass, 2) inventory existing boiler capacity and assess the technical merits and challenges to repurpose the boilers to CHPB, and 3) apply literature values and analog biochar examples to better quantify the extent of CO 2 drawdown that could be achieved in Washington State over the next century using engineered biochar. This white paper explores the potential to replicate the historical drawdowns of atmospheric CO 2 , a topic the authors think should be part of current climate-change mitigation discussions. This document is a companion to a white paper titled Biochar from Wood Biomass and Agricultural Residues and its Potential Agronomic Use in Washington: A Tool to Improve Irrigation Water Use Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Sequester Carbon (Amonette, et al., 2016, in preparation).
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
Improving durability and performance of solid oxide electrolyzers by controlling surface composition on oxygen electrodes
Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) is a promising technology for high-efficiency energy conversion, enabling the production of hydrogen, syngas, synthetic fuels, and various commodity chemicals. Unlike traditional thermochemical processes, SOECs operate at elevated temperatures (600-850°C), benefiting from favorable thermodynamics and reaction kinetics. This makes them highly energy efficient compared to alkaline or polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis technologies. However, despite these advantages, SOECs face significant challenges related to performance degradation over time. A primary issue is the degradation of the oxygen electrode due to strontium (Sr) segregation and impurity poisoning from chromium (Cr) and sulfur (S). This is because the pathway to deposition of Cr and S include the reaction of Cr and S with the segregated SrO at the surface. Sr segregation leads to the formation of insulating compounds such as SrCrO4 and SrSO4, which block active sites, reduce oxygen exchange rates, and compromise the electrode's electrochemical stability. The degradation mechanisms involve complex interactions between the electrode material's surface chemistry, microstructure, and the operating environment. Sr segregation is particularly problematic because it facilitates the deposition of Cr and S impurities, exacerbating performance losses. Addressing these issues is critical to enhancing the durability and economic viability of SOEC technology. The primary goal of this project is to improve the durability and performance of SOECs by controlling the surface composition of the oxygen electrode. This is achieved by suppressing Sr segregation, thereby mitigating impurity poisoning pathways. The project aims to enhance the oxygen exchange rate, improve cell stability, and extend the operational lifespan of SOECs without necessitating major changes to electrode chemistry or stack components.
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
The global policy landscape of ISO 50001 energy management systems
While many options exist to improve industrial demand-side energy efficiency, energy management systems (EnMSs)—particularly those aligned with ISO 50001—are proven to drive continuous and meaningful energy performance improvements. Governments leverage these EnMSs in their policies to advance national objectives including enhancing industrial competitiveness and achieving environmental goals. Existing research has focused on the impact of EnMSs at the company level, while comprehensive work on EnMSs in a global policy context is lacking. We seek to close this gap by investigating the extent to which current national policies incorporate the utilization of EnMSs, particularly the ISO 50001 standard. Our paper employs a hybrid approach, combining a literature review and expert interviews across 28 governments representing > 86% of global primary energy consumption. We dissect policy mechanisms, governance levels, underlying motivations, and trends in present EnMS policies. We find that > 96% of the investigated countries include EnMSs within their policy scope; 90% of policies including EnMSs utilize the ISO 50001 standard in some capacity. Primary policy motivations include decarbonization, energy savings for industrial competitiveness, and energy system resilience. We highlight that in the EnMS context, policy mixes—combining economic incentives, regulatory instruments, and information-based approaches—are more effective than standalone measures. Our work provides a novel global overview of governmental EnMS policies, moving beyond whether EnMS should be adopted to focus on how they can be implemented most effectively.
Moreno, Francisco Luis↗
The Reactivity and Structural Dynamics of Supported Metal Nanoclusters Using Electron Microscopy, in-situ X-Ray Spectroscopy, Electronic Structure Theories, and Molecular Dynamics Simulations
This research will provide new methods to determine the structures and compositions of heterogeneous catalysts as they exist in reaction conditions. The new tools will make it possible to understand how extremely small material structures—ones in a size range spanning from single atoms to larger polyatomic clusters—make it possible to carry out highly selective chemical transformations required to synthesize useful materials as well as for efficient energy production and utilization. The tools will make it possible to see how the atomic structures of catalytic materials evolve over time under the conditions of their use, and in this way provide understandings to guide the design of new energy-efficient catalysts. The work will make it possible to answer long standing questions that include the following. How does catalyst structure help guide molecules along specific reaction pathways? What are the important intermediates involved in these transformations? How do the structures and reactivity of catalytic materials, as well as the chemistry of their interfaces, vary with reaction conditions? Is it possible to develop new catalytic materials using new knowledge of the active structures and reaction mechanisms? The work will provide heretofore unavailable experimental tools that can be applied in advanced programs of research addressing such questions.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Utilization of Existing Pipelines in Hydrogen Transport: Literature Review Report
This report critically reviews the flow behavior of hydrogen-natural gas (H 2 -NG) mixtures in pipelines and examines the critical factors of hydrogen integration into existing natural gas infrastructure. It addresses the choking behavior characterized by velocity increase and pressure drop, as well as the effects of flow restrictions and pressure losses during hydrogen transport. Computational and analytical models are used to investigate these effects, and their effects on thermodynamic properties and system performance are evaluated. The study also reviews the energy efficiency and flow dynamics of hydrogen and methane-hydrogen mixtures and optimizes the hydrogen flow rate. In addition, the effects of these mixtures on the flow characteristics are discussed in detail, with special emphasis on the compressibility factor (z factor) and fluid properties based on equations of state for hydrogen-natural gas mixtures. The study also analyzes the mixture ratios and highlights the thermophysical properties, flow dynamics, and hydrogen-blended natural gas application potential. These investigations assess flow stability, material interactions, and operational feasibility of transporting hydrogen mixtures through natural gas pipelines, which contribute to developing sustainable and efficient energy systems.
08 HYDROGEN↗
ARPA-E Impacts: A Sample of Project Outcomes, Volume III
As the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) enters its ninth year of funding transformative R&D in energy technology, we are proud to present the third compilation booklet of project impact sheets. This booklet provides a glimpse into the diverse and sophisticated research portfolio of advanced energy technologies that will enable the United States to tackle our most pressing energy challenges. The projects in this booklet illustrate a wide range of impacts—from scientific breakthroughs to products in the marketplace. Statistical measures help demonstrate the achievements of ARPA-E funded projects at different stages of innovation. Since 2009, ARPA-E has provided approximately $1.8 billion in R&D funding for more than 660 potentially transformational energy technology projects. As of February 2018, ARPA-E project teams have published 1,724 peer-reviewed journal articles that have been cited 42,535 times, and have been awarded 245 patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Moreover, 71 ARPA-E project teams have formed new companies, 127 have partnered with another government agency to continue their technology development, and 149 teams have together raised more than $2.9 billion in reported funding from the private sector to bring their technologies to market. Another way to understand the Agency’s success is through the specific scientific and engineering challenges that ARPA-E project teams have overcome. To provide greater insight into ARPA-E’s project successes, this booklet documents the opportunities and challenges project teams have faced in technologies related to energy efficiency, energy storage, and transportation. The booklet also includes a review of ARPA-E’s power electronics portfolio. We expect that ARPA-E’s project teams will continue to demonstrate impact, and that, as a result, we will continue to publish their successes. Please share this report with your colleagues—we hope to encourage innovative scientists and engineers to continue to engage us with their ideas and consider joining our team.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗