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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 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Analysis of Rotary Steerable Systems versus Conventional Mud Motors for Vertical and Horizontal Wells in the Caney Formation, Southwest Oklahoma

Rotary steerable systems (RSS) have transformed directional drilling over the years and are becoming widely accepted throughout the world. RSS technology has been proven to provide the required strength and agility in challenging and abrasive environments as well as provide a higher rate of penetration (ROP) by allowing more weight transfer to the bit. Due to the higher price of RSS, some companies have stayed loyal to the conventional bent housing (CBH) with a performance drilling motor, regardless of the RSS benefits. This paper examines the performance and cost benefits of standalone RSS (SA-RSS), motor driven RSS (MD-RSS), and CBH systems. Three wells drilled in the Caney formation in Southwestern Oklahoma were selected for the analysis. Results showed that using RSS in the 12.25” intermediate vertical section and the 8.75”/8.5” lateral section was more cost effective than a CBH system. The cost per foot for the CBH was 1.6 to 2.3 times higher than RSS in the vertical section and 1.7 times higher in the lateral section. The RSS ROP was 2.3 to 4.8 times faster than CBH in the vertical section and 1.6 times faster in the lateral section.

Hayes, John↗
DOE OSTI2025

Beyond Price-Taker: Multiscale Optimization of Wind and Battery Integrated Energy Systems

Integrating renewable energy into the electric grid is challenging due to the intermittency and variability of wind and other non-dispatchable resources. Integrated energy systems (IESs) combine multiple energy technologies (e.g., fossil, nuclear, renewables, storage) to reduce costs and improve flexibility and reliability. However, standard techno-economic analysis (TEA) methods often overestimate the benefits of IESs because they fail to account for energy market adjustments. This paper systematically studies the limitations of the prevailing price-taker assumption for TEA and optimization of hybrid energy systems. As an illustrative case study, we retrofit an existing wind farm in the RTS-GMLC test system (which loosely mimics the Southwest U.S.) with battery energy storage to form an IES. We show that the standard price-taker model overestimates the electricity revenue and the net present value (NPV) of the IES up to 178% and 30.4%, respectively, compared to our more rigorous multiscale optimization. These differences arise because introducing storage creates a more flexible resource that impacts the larger wholesale electricity market. Moreover, this work highlights the impact of the IES has on the market via various strategic bidding, and underscores the importance of moving beyond price-taker for optimal storage sizing and TEA of IESs. We conclude by discussing opportunities to generalize the proposed framework to other IESs, and highlight emerging research questions regarding the complex interactions between IESs and markets.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2022

DSO+T: Valuation Methodology and Economic Metrics (DSO+T Study: Volume 4)

This report summarizes a rigorous valuation analysis methodology used by the Distribution System Operator with Transactive (DSO+T) study to estimate the financial benefits and costs of adopting Transactive Energy coordination of distributed energy resources for key stakeholders (for example distribution system operators and customers). This was achieved by modeling the value exchanges between stakeholders and determining the annualized costs and revenues experienced by stakeholders, enabling the evaluation of overall impact on stakeholder’s annualized cash flow. Extensive work was conducted developing methods to estimate the operating costs of distribution system operators at a level of granularity that would allow the financial impact of implementing a transactive energy approach to be estimated. This work included developing parametric models for labor and software costs, distribution system capital and maintenance costs, growth rates, and factors to determine annualized costs of capital investments. Simulation results were used to calculate wholesale energy costs and revenues from retail sales. Valuation analysis methods were also developed for other stakeholders including customers, the transmission system operator, independent system operator, and generators. The resulting capability allows a complete mapping of the flow of financial value between stakeholders that can be directly integrated with the results of demand flexibility simulations. Example results are provided for a business-as-usual case and compared to a transactive energy case as well as to actual cost data.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

An OpenStreetMaps based tool to study the energy demand and emissions impact of electrification of medium and heavy-duty freight trucks

In this paper, we present the mathematical formulation of an OpenStreetMaps (OSM) based tool that compares the costs and emissions of long-haul medium and heavy-duty (M&HD) electric and diesel freight trucks, and determines the spatial distribution of added energy demand due to M&HD EVs. The optimization utilizes a combination of information on routes from OSM, utility rate design data across the United States, and freight volume data, to determine these values. In order to deal with the computational complexity of this problem, we formulate the problem as a convex optimization problem that is scalable to a large geographic area. In our analysis, we further evaluate various scenarios of utility rate design (energy charges) and EV penetration rate across different geographic regions and their impact on the operating cost and emissions of the freight trucks. Our approach determines the net emissions reduction benefits of freight electrification by considering the primary energy source in different regions. Such analysis will provide insights to policy makers in designing utility rates for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) operators depending upon the specific geographic region and to electric utilities in deciding infrastructure upgrades based on the spatial distribution of the added energy demand of M&HD EVs. To showcase the results, a case study for the U.S. state of Texas is conducted.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantifying Energy Storage Density Utilization Trends in Redox Flow Battery Chemistries

The transition to new energy resources is driving the need for efficient energy storage. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are a promising solution due to their flexible design and safer materials, particularly for long-duration storage applications. Despite these advantages, RFB technologies still have considerable room for growth in terms of utilizing all of their available energy storage density. Herein, we assess RFB energy storage density utilization trends for multiple chemistries by accounting for their unique thermodynamic limits, energy efficiencies, and charge capacity constraints. Of the RFBs chemistries analyzed, most still use less than 60% of their theoretical energy storage capacity. The conventional all-vanadium RFB was the closest to its thermodynamic limit available. Moreover, the volumetric footprint and electrolyte cost analyses demonstrate the real-world implications of these inefficiencies. This analysis further indicates that future studies would benefit from clearer reporting of two key quantities: discharge efficiency, which is more directly tied to practically recoverable energy density than round-trip energy efficiency, and state-of-charge or capacity-utilization limits, which govern access to theoretical storage capacity. More consistent reporting of these factors would improve the accuracy and comparability of energy storage utilization analyses across RFB chemistries.

battery energy storage↗
DOE OSTI2020

Risk-Informed ATF and FLEX Analysis for an Enhanced Resilient BWR Under Design-Basis and Beyond-Design-Basis Accidents

This report documents the activities performed by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during fiscal year (FY) 2020 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk-Informed System Analysis (RISA) Pathway, Enhanced Resilient Plant (ERP) Systems research. The purpose of the RISA Pathway research and development is to support plant owner-operator decisions with the aim to improve the economics, reliability, and maintain the high levels of safety of current nuclear power plants over periods of extended plant operations. The concept of ERP refers to the combinations of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF), optimal use of diverse and flexible coping strategy (FLEX), enhancements to plant components and systems, and the incorporation of augmented or new passive cooling systems, as well as improved fuel cycle efficiency. The objective of the ERP research effort is to use the RISA methods and toolkit in industry applications, including methods development and early demonstration of technologies, in order to enhance existing reactors’ safety features (both active and passive) and to substantially reduce operating costs through risk-informed approaches to plant design modifications to the plant and their characterization. One main focus of the FY 2020 efforts documented in this report was to extend the analyses conducted in FYs 2018 and 2019 for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to a boiling water reactor (BWR). The same analysis process, risk analysis approaches, and analysis tools as in the previous work for PWR were used for a generic BWR with near-term ATF cladding (i.e., Iron-Chromium-Aluminum [FeCrAl] cladding and Chromium [Cr]-coated cladding) designs under the postulated station blackout (SBO) and medium loss-of-coolant (MLOCA) accident scenarios. In addition, a FLEX model was developed and incorporated into a generic BWR probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model using the INL-developed software tool, Systems Analysis Programs for Hands-on Integrated Reliability Evaluations (SAPHIRE), to assess the risk impact from FLEX. The other main focus of the FY 2020 efforts was to advance analysis methods, including developing dynamic approach for FLEX human reliability analysis (HRA) using the INL-developed software tool, Event Modeling Risk Assessment using Linked Diagrams (EMRALD), as well as developing a multicriterion benefit evaluation (MCBE) method for evaluating costs and benefits of safety enhancements in nuclear power plants (NPPs). As a case study, the MCBE method was applied to evaluate the costs and benefits brought by FLEX implementation.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Potential benefits and optimization of cool-coated office buildings: A case study in Chongqing, China

Increasing envelope facet albedos considerably reduces solar heat gain, thus yielding building cooling energy savings. Few studies have explored the potential benefits of utilizing cool coatings on building envelopes (“cool-coated buildings”) based on life-cycle cost analysis. A holistic approach integrating the field testing, building energy simulation, and a 20-year life-cycle-based optimization was developed to explore cool-coated building performance and the maximum net savings of optimal building envelope retrofit and design. Experimental results showed that applying cool coatings to a west wall of an office building in Chongqing, China reduced its exterior surface temperature by up to 9.3 °C in summer. Additionally, simulation results showed that in Chongqing, making the roof and walls cool could reduce annual HVAC electricity use by up to 11.9% in old buildings (with poorly insulated envelopes) and up to 5.9% in new buildings. Retrofitting old buildings with a cool roof provided the net savings per modified area with present values up to 42.8 CNY/m2; retrofitting a new building with a cool roof or cool walls was not cost-effective. Optimizing both envelope insulation and envelope albedo can achieve 5.6 times the net savings of optimizing the insulation only, and 1.6 times that of optimizing albedo only.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assisted migration in a warmer and drier climate: less climate buffering capacity, less facilitation and more fires at temperate latitudes?

Assisted tree migration has been proposed as a conceptual solution to mitigate lags in biotic responses to anthropogenic climate change. The rationale behind this concept is that tree species currently growing under warmer and drier climates will be more resistant and resilient to the new climatic conditions than tree species naturally growing in currently wetter and colder climates. However, we hypothesize that, by being more stress‐tolerant to warmer and drier conditions, translocated species should exhibit different functional attributes, which could induce important ecological and societal costs and overcome the desired benefits of maintaining wood production and other ecosystem services. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to analyze variation in seven traits of 106 tree and tall shrub species from contrasting latitudinal distributions in western North America and Europe to predict the potential functional changes of forest ecosystems due to the translocation of tree species from low to high latitudes. We show that species from both continents differed primarily by their position on the leaf economy spectrum (LES) and their size traits. Even though, in Europe, differences in LES were significantly correlated to species southern latitudinal positions, in both continents differences in size traits were significantly correlated to latitude. These results suggest that assisted migration by translocating more conservative species of shorter stature in currently cooler climates should decrease the buffering capacity of forest canopies, decrease facilitation for understory species, and increase wildfire risks, whose effects have the potential to accelerate climate warming through negative atmospheric feedback processes. As an alternative solution to assisted migration that may accelerate rather than mitigate climate change, we recommend that foresters gradually diversify the vertical structure and layering of the existing forest canopy to maintain a sustainable water cycle and energy balance between the soil, the tree and the atmosphere without increasing the wildfire risk.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2022

Techno-Economic Analysis of Dynamic Building Envelopes Comprising Phase Change Materials and Switchable Insulations

Integrating phase change materials (PCMs) in building envelopes is a recognized technique to reduce the space heating/cooling loads and provide load shedding and shifting capacity. However, PCM benefits have been found to reduce dramatically with increase in the insulation requirements. Dynamic building envelopes that can alter their thermal resistance based on the indoor and outdoor conditions can effectively harness free ambient heating/cooling, thereby greatly enhancing the benefits of the PCM-integrated envelope in managing thermal loads. In this study, we examine various combinations of PCMs and switchable insulations and compare their combined impact on heat flow through the building envelope. Using numerical analysis, we investigate the PCM- and switchable insulation-integrated building walls, calculate the potential energy saving benefits compared to the conventional static walls, and finally perform techno-economic analysis to estimate the acceptable cost of the technology under various payback period scenarios.

dynamic building envelopes↗
DOE OSTI2026

Benefits of Energy Storage for Washington, D.C.: Analysis for the Department of Energy and Environment

This report analyzes the potential for using energy storage to create energy savings for residents of Washington, D.C. in light of recent increases in energy market prices. It describes the role of energy storage in avoiding market costs, quantifies the specific benefits that could be achieved with energy storage deployments in Washington, D.C., and then presents case studies of how utilities and other states have created programs to achieve cost savings with energy storage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Techno-Economic Analysis of Greenfield Geothermal Hybrid Power Plants using a Solar or Natural Gas Steam Topping Cycle

The relatively low generation costs associated with wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and natural-gas power plants make it challenging for geothermal power plants to produce and sell the power that has the reliability and sustainability characteristics that are greatly needed in U.S. power markets. This is especially true for geothermal resources with low-to-medium temperatures, which results in relatively low-thermal efficiency and generation costs that are higher than those for wind, solar PV, and natural gas. This analysis evaluates solar thermal- and natural-gas combustion waste heat recovery-based topping cycle hybridization of geothermal binary power plants. This approach provides several benefits that may allow geothermal power plants to generate power at more competitive costs. First, the addition of solar thermal energy or natural-gas combustion waste heat input to a geothermal power plant provides additional heat input that can be converted to electrical power. Second, the temperature level of the heat obtained from concentrating solar collectors or natural-gas combustion exhaust is higher than that of geothermal heat, which provides opportunities for improving the efficiency of the conversion of thermal energy to electrical power. Third, the ease with which solar thermal systems integrate with energy storage and the flexibility of natural gas means power generation can occur during peak demand periods. The hybrid cycles are compared to equivalently sized, co-located, independent geothermal, concentrating solar, and/or natural-gas power plants. The hybrid cycle tends to produce slightly more power than the standalone plants combined. However, the hybrid plant Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) is slightly higher than the LCOE of the combined standalone power plants for each of the case study locations investigated. Using the steam-topping cycle, organic Rankine cycle (ORC)-bottoming cycle hybrid plant design to combine a solar thermal resource and low- temperature geothermal resource (<120 degrees C) leads to a hybrid plant with a lower LCOE than a standalone geothermal-only system. Thus, hybrid plants may enable the economic development of geothermal resources in locations with low geothermal resource temperatures. However, in areas with higher geothermal resource temperatures (>120 degrees C), the geothermal-only plant has a lower LCOE than the hybrid cycle and thus could be developed without the need for solar heat addition. iv A geothermal-natural-gas reciprocating engine hybrid plant was evaluated for an Elk Hills, California case study location. The Elk Hills case study analysis indicates that when the natural-gas engine operates for more than 12 hours per day the hybrid plant can produce power at an LCOE lower than a standalone geothermal plant, and comparable to that of the standalone natural-gas reciprocating engine, while also reducing the carbon intensity of the power generated relative to the standalone natural-gas engine. This may represent a scenario in which the hybrid plant provides an opportunity for the deployment of a low-temperature geothermal resource that otherwise may have an LCOE too high to develop and operate as a standalone resource, while also reducing the carbon intensity of natural-gas generation sources. A "triple-hybrid" plant that combines natural gas, solar thermal, thermal energy storage, and geothermal was also investigated. A natural-gas combustion turbine (NGCT) is added to the geothermal-solar hybrid such that the hot exhaust gas from the gas turbine provides an alternative source of heat to the steam turbine of the hybrid cycle. Analysis results suggest that the triple-hybrid plant has a significantly higher energy generation and revenue than a standalone NGCT or the original geothermal-solar hybrid. The triple-hybrid design benefits most from using a smaller solar field so that the solar energy can be dispatched at the most valuable times available. The triple-hybrid plant also has a lower LCOE than the standalone NGCT. The triple-hybrid plant was evaluated making simple assumptions about the dispatch profile of the gas cycle, and more nuanced and realistic dispatching schedules should be analyzed in future work.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Feasibility Analysis of Converter-Interfaced Combined Heat and Power System

As a promising new design concept, the converter-interfaced combined heat and power (CHP) system is coupled to the bulk grid through a rectifier and a grid-ready tied inverter. Compared to the traditional directly-coupled CHP system, it removes the requirement for oversizing the CHP generator, limits the short-circuit contribution of the generator and simplifies the grid integration process of CHP system. This paper evaluates the economic benefits of this concept by calculating the annualized Return-on-Investment (ROI) and comparing it to the directly-coupled system. The economic analysis includes timeseries simulations to compute energy transactions with the bulk grid as well as sizing the equipment to calculate the capital and operational costs. Obtained results indicate that in majority of user cases evaluated, the converter-interfaced CHP systems can provide better ROI than directly-coupled systems. Given the additional technical benefits provided by inverter-based distributed energy resources (DERs), the proposed concept is proved to be technically viable and economically feasible.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Decarbonization of the Electric Power Sector and Implications for Low-Cost Hydrogen Production from Water Electrolysis

Increasing development of wind and solar generation in the power sector can create economic opportunities for the deployment of water electrolyzers that produce hydrogen. Temporal variation in the marginal cost of energy in future decarbonized grids can make it favorable for electrolyzers to dispatchably ramp hydrogen production up and down in response to low- and high-cost times. Using this strategy, low-cost hydrogen production is enabled by electrolyzers that are low-capital cost and tolerant to frequent on/off cycling. Ramping down hydrogen production to a designated turndown ratio can avoid performance degradation caused by on/off cycling by not shutting the electrolyzer completely off. This comes with a slight cost penalty which can be minimized if the turndown ratio is low (i.e., the system ramps down hydrogen production to close to zero). These results suggest that electrolyzers integrated into future power systems are likely to benefit from the ability to ramp operation up and down quickly and operate in a standby mode. This analysis forms a basis for comparative tradeoffs between electrolyzer capital cost, operating strategy, and system durability and demonstrates the importance of considering all three factors in technoeconomic analysis.

capital cost↗
DOE OSTI2025

More buck-per-shot: Why learning trumps mitigation in noisy quantum sensing

Quantum sensing is one of the most promising applications for quantum technologies. However, reaching the ultimate sensitivities enabled by the laws of quantum mechanics can be a challenging task in realistic scenarios where noise is present. While several strategies have been proposed to deal with the detrimental effects of noise, these come at the cost of an extra shot budget. Given that shots are a precious resource for sensing – as infinite measurements could lead to infinite precision – care must be taken to truly guarantee that any shot not being used for sensing is actually leading to some metrological improvement. In this work, we study whether investing shots in error-mitigation, inference techniques, or combinations thereof, can improve the sensitivity of a noisy quantum sensor on a (shot) budget. We present a detailed bias–variance error analysis for various sensing protocols. Our results show that the costs of zero-noise extrapolation techniques outweigh their benefits. We also find that pre-characterizing a quantum sensor via inference techniques leads to the best performance, under the assumption that the sensor is sufficiently stable.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Primer on the Cost of Marine Fuels Compliant with IMO 2020 Rule

This report aims to provide information for owners and operators of U.S. ocean-going marine cargo vessels on the cost of different approaches to compliance with the IMO mandate to reduce the sulfur content of marine fuels (outside emission control areas) to no more than 0.5%. The IMO 2020 rule came into effect on January 1, 2020. The report discusses a suite of options for compliance including low-sulfur petroleum-based fuels and alternative fuels. Since fuel prices are a primary factor in determining the cost of the various alternatives, the document also includes a discussion of the main drivers of marine fuel prices. The cost analysis compares the average annual costs (capital and fuel) out to 2050 of each compliance approach under alternative scenarios regarding fuel prices, policy, and technology innovation. The cost calculations focus on representative U.S. fleet vessels for containership and tanker types. Even though the analysis focuses on average cost of approaches to comply with IMO 2020, the comparison of approaches also acknowledges other benefits or risks including fuel price risk and the contribution of the approach to achieving other potential environmental performance objectives or regulations.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2020

Panel Session 98B: Treatment of Low-Activity Tank Waste at Hanford: Considering the Alternatives

This panel focused on alternative treatment of the Hanford Low-Activity Tank Waste. Currently, Tank Waste at the Hanford Site is to be separated into low-activity (LAW) and high-level waste (HLW) fractions, and then vitrified to produce immobilized LAW glass for onsite disposal, and HLW glass for ultimate geologic disposal. This panel discussed several commissioned studies by the National Laboratories, National Academies, and General Accountability Office to evaluate the risks, costs, and benefits associated with considering options for immobilizing portions of the Hanford LAW waste forms. Panelists with presentations: Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches for Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation Overview and Conclusions (Michael Stone); Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches for Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Disposal Performance Evaluation (Tom Brouns); National Academies Review of the Study on Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (Charles Ferguson); GAO Observations on Immobilizing Low-Activity Waste at DoE's Hanford Site (David Trimble)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Commercial, industrial, and institutional discount rate estimation for efficiency standards analysis: Sector-level data 1998–2021

Underlying each of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) federal appliance and equipment energy conservation standards are a set of complex analyses of the projected costs and benefits of regulation. Any new or amended standard must be designed to achieve significant additional energy conservation, provided that it is technologically feasible and economically justified (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)). DOE determines economic justification based on whether the benefits exceed the burdens, considering a variety of factors, including the economic impact of the standard on consumers of the product and the savings in lifetime operating cost compared to any increase in price or maintenance expenses (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)). As part of this determination, DOE conducts a Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis, which models the combined impact of appliance first cost and operating cost changes on a representative commercial building sample in order to identify the fraction of customers achieving LCC savings or incurring net cost at the considered efficiency levels. Thus, the commercial discount rate value(s) used to calculate the present value of energy cost savings within the LCC model implicitly plays a role in estimating the economic impact of potential standard levels. This report provides an in-depth discussion of the commercial discount rate estimation process. It is an update to previous reports on estimating commercial discount rates from firm-level financial data (Fujita, 2016). Major topics covered in this report include: Discount rate estimation methods and rationale; -Data sources used and data limitations; -Discount rate distributions for use in standards analysis; -Discount rate estimation methods and distributions specific to the small business subgroup analysis. Going forward, this report will be updated as data allow and analyses necessitate.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Commercial, industrial, and institutional discount rate estimation for efficiency standards analysis: Sector-level data 1998–2022

Underlying each of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) federal appliance and equipment energy conservation standards are a set of complex analyses of the projected costs and benefits of regulation. Any new or amended standard must be designed to achieve significant additional energy conservation, provided that it is technologically feasible and economically justified (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(A)). DOE determines economic justification based on whether the benefits exceed the burdens, considering a variety of factors, including the economic impact of the standard on consumers of the product and the savings in lifetime operating cost compared to any increase in price or maintenance expenses (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)(B)). As part of this determination, DOE conducts a life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis, which models the combined impact of appliance first cost and operating cost changes on a representative commercial building sample to identify the fraction of customers achieving LCC savings or incurring net cost at the considered efficiency levels. Thus, the commercial discount rate value(s) used to calculate the present value of energy cost savings within the LCC model implicitly plays a role in estimating the economic impact of potential standard levels. This report provides an in-depth discussion of the commercial discount rate estimation process. It is an update to previous reports on estimating commercial discount rates from firm-level and sector-level financial data (e.g., Fujita, 2021, 2016). Major topics covered in this report include the following: -Discount rate estimation methods and rationale -Data sources used and data limitations -Discount rate distributions for use in standards analysis -Discount rate estimation methods and distributions specific to the small business subgroup analysis A version of this analysis was most recently released in 2022. Going forward, this report will be updated as data allow and analyses necessitate.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗