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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

DOE EV Data Collection - Facility Data

Facility data includes information on electricity consumption by larger-scale infrastructure, including buildings, solar arrays, and energy storage systems. Parameter definitions can be found in the data dictionary. If a connection between specific vehicle information and facility data exists, it will be available in the vehicle attributes table. Vehicle ID can be used as a key between vehicle data and vehicle attribute tables. Data is being uploaded quarterly through 2023 and subject to change until the conclusion of the project.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1996

Flying Cars

Flying cars have nearly mythical appeal to nonpilots, a group that includes almost the whole human race. The appeal resides in the perceived utility of flying cars, vehicles that offer portal-to-portal transportation, yet break the bonds of road and traffic and travel freely through the sky at the drivers will. Part of the appeal is an assumption that flying cars can be as easy to fly as to drive. Flying cars have been part of the dream of aviation since the dawn of powered flight. Glenn Curtiss built, displayed, and maybe even flew a flying car in 1917, the Curtiss Autoplane. Many roadable airplanes were built in the 1930's, like the Waterman Arrowbile and the Fulton Airphibian. Two flying cars came close to production in the early 1950's. Ted Hall built a series of flying cars culminating in the Convaircar, sponsored by Consolidated Vultee, General Motors, and Hertz. Molt Taylor built and certified his Aerocar, and Ford came close to producing them. Three Aerocars are still flyable, two in museums in Seattle and Oshkosh, and the third owned and flown by Ed Sweeny. Flying cars do have problems, which so far have prevented commercial success. An obvious problem is complexity of the vehicle, the infrastructure, or both. Another is the difficulty of matching low power for normal driving with high power in flight. An automobile uses only about 20 hp at traffic speeds, while a personal airplane needs about 160 hp at speeds typical of flight. Many automobile engines can deliver 160 hp, but not for very long. A more subtle issue involves the drag of automobiles and airplanes. A good personal airplane can fly 30 miles per gallon of fuel at 200 mph. A good sports car would need 660 hp at the same speed and would travel only 3 miles per gallon. The difference is drag area, about 4.5 sq ft for the automobile and 1.4 sq ft for the airplane. A flying car better have the drag area of the airplane, not the car!

Crow, Steven↗
DOE OSTI2025

Algae Asphalt to Enhance Pavement Sustainability and Performance at Subzero Temperatures

This paper evaluates the potential of algae-derived biobinders as sustainable alternatives for pavement construction. It specifically examines the physicochemical and rheological properties of biomodified binders and their potential to offset carbon emissions when used as partial replacements for conventional petroleum-based asphalt binders. Biosequestration of CO 2 using microalgal cell factories is a promising way of recycling CO 2 into biomass via photosynthesis. Our study demonstrates that incorporating algae-derived binders into asphalt can significantly reduce carbon emissions. Each 1% increase in algae-based biobinder leads to an approximate 4.5% decrease in net carbon emissions. This indicates that a blend containing about 22% biobinder has the potential to achieve carbon neutrality. Blends with higher proportions may even result in net-negative emissions, highlighting a promising strategy for environmentally responsible road construction. In terms of performance, the study shows that certain algae-derived biobinders significantly enhance the cracking resistance of asphalt, particularly under subzero temperatures, by improving its stress-relief capacity. A key contribution of this work is the introduction of polarizability as a novel molecular-level parameter for assessing the compatibility of algae-derived bio-oils with asphalt. By capturing the electronic responsiveness of bio-oil molecules, polarizability serves as a predictive indicator of their interaction potential with asphalt components, providing a new dimension for evaluating the binder performance at the molecular scale. Among the tested materials, the biobinder derived from Haematococcus pluvialis demonstrated particularly strong improvements in resistance to permanent deformation under repeated loading conditions analogous to traffic-induced stress, as well as enhanced resistance to moisture-induced damage. In conclusion, these findings advance the chemistry-driven design of biomass-based binders and highlight a promising pathway toward the development of low-carbon, high-performance, and sustainable infrastructure materials.

Algae↗
NASA NTRS2019

Exploration of Near-Term Potential Routes and Procedures for Urban Air Mobility

Urban air mobility is gaining interest as the need for On Demand Mobility in today's congested traffic is becoming high in metropolitan areas. Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is envisioned as a concept to transport passengers and cargo safely and efficiently using innovative aircraft in the urban areas. It is expected to improve mobility for the general public, decongest road traffic, reduce transport time and reduce the strain on existing public transport networks. There exist several challenges to Urban Air Mobility (UAM) such as integration of procedures with airspace and the airport, noise levels that are acceptable to the general public, public safety, public acceptance, vehicle certification, and more. Most of the research in the United States and European skies (DLR - German Aerospace Center) related to urban areas has focused on small UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) flights (NASA's UTM (UAS Traffic Management) research) and their integration with the airspace and building safe operations in densely populated areas. Previous studies on UAM have focused on fast time simulations of the routes that are separated via a separation service and network of routes. Similarly, research in Europe has focused on the approach profile for these innovative aircraft, vertiports and battery life among others. UAM as a part of the On-Demand Mobility effort has provided some guidelines for operations as shown below: Does not require additional ATC (Air Traffic Control) infrastructure; Does not impose additional workload on ATC; Does not restrict operations of traditional airspace users; Will meet appropriate safety thresholds and requirements; Will prioritize operational scalability; Will allow flexibility where possible and structure where necessary. This paper explores potential routes and procedures in a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) experiment that could be applied in the near-term to allow integration of UAM flights into the airspace as well as a large airport. The airspace that was explored was Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airspace managed by the DFW East Tower in South Flow only. In addition, Dallas Love Field (DAL) and Addison (ADS) airspace were also part of the testbed. The initial set of routes investigated in this study were published helicopter routes in the DFW area. Figure 1 shows class B airspace in DFW area and the origin/destination city pairs where UAM flights flew along with helicopter routes shown in blue. The research focused on exploring procedures for integrating UAM flights into Class Bravo and Class Delta airspace. Three different communication procedures, evaluated with three different levels of UAM traffic, are shown in Table 1. The current day routes were evaluated with current day communication procedures were explored as the first condition. The current day routes were also evaluated in the second condition with reduced communications, which was assumed due to the presence of a Letter Of Agreement (LOA). The purpose of the LOA was to reduce the verbiage associated with pilots getting clearance to Class B airspace from the controllers, pre-assigning beacons codes to the UAM flights, separate routes by assigning altitudes and speeds to flights going in any one direction. Flights were expected to automatically change frequency when exiting Class B airspace, thus transition points for entry and exit points were also specified in the LOA.

Urban Air Mobility↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Establishing an Urban Heat Exposure Severity Index for Infrastructure Prioritization in Tempe, Arizona, Using NASA Earth Observations and LiDAR

Located on the banks of the Salt River in the Sonoran Desert, Tempe, Arizona, features a semi-arid climate with summer daily maximum temperatures regularly exceeding 37.8°C. Tempe is also subject to the southwestern monsoon season from July-September and the humidity exacerbates the high temperatures. Furthermore, the rapid urbanization experienced in Tempe has resulted in an intensification of the urban heat island. The summer of 2020 shattered the previous record of days exceeding 43.4°C, leading to higher energy and water costs, lower comfort, and increased risk of heat stroke for residents. Recognizing the impacts of extreme heat, the City of Tempe partnered with the Healthy Urban Environments initiative and NASA DEVELOP to identify census tracts that experience a higher mean land surface temperature than the city average. The NASA DEVELOP team used remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), normalized difference water index (NDWI), and albedo data calculated from Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instruments from 2015 to 2020 to create heat hazard and exposure maps. LiDAR point cloud data, provided by the United States Geological Survey through Arizona State University’s Map and Geospatial Hub, were used to derive 3D buildings, building footprints, and tree point data for a shading analysis of walking paths, roads, and buildings at the census tract level. In situ meteorological measurements including air temperature and humidity were used to compare the macro-scale temperature measurements. The team worked with the City of Tempe to develop a methodology to process available data and identify areas of highest concern for urban heat effects within the city. With these insights, Tempe, Arizona can better address these issues with data-driven information to make decisions regarding heat mitigation and adaptation efforts.

John Dialesandro↗
DOE OSTI2024

Real World Use Case Evaluation of Radar Retro-reflectors for Autonomous Vehicle Lane Detection Applications

Lane detection plays a critical role in autonomous vehicles for safe and reliable navigation. Lane detection is traditionally accomplished using a camera sensor and computer vision processing. The downside of this traditional technique is that it can be computationally intensive when high quality images at a fast frame rate are used and has reliability issues from occlusion such as, glare, shadows, active road construction, and more. This study addresses these issues by exploring alternative methods for lane detection in specific scenarios caused from road construction-induced lane shift and sun glare. Specifically, a U-Net, a convolutional network used for image segmentation, camera-based lane detection method is compared with a radar-based approach using a new type of sensor previously unused in the autonomous vehicle space: radar retro-reflectors. This evaluation is performed using ground truth data, obtained by measuring the lane positions and transforming them into pixel coordinates. The performance of each method is assessed using the statistical R2 score, indicating the correlation between the detected lane lines and the ground truth. The results show that the U-Net camera-based method exhibits limitations in accurately detecting and aligning the lane lines, particularly in challenging scenarios. However, the radar-based lane detection method demonstrates a strong correlation with the ground truth which implies that the use of this sensor may improve current reliability issues from conventional camera lane detection approach. Furthermore, the study highlights the limitations of the U-Net model for camera lane detection, especially in scenarios with sun glare. This study shows that infrastructure-based radar retro-reflectors can improve autonomous vehicle lane detection reliability. The integration of different sensor modalities and the development of advanced computer vision algorithms are crucial for improving the accuracy, reliability, and energy efficiency of lane detection systems. Addressing these challenges contributes to the advancement of autonomous vehicles and the realization of safer and more efficient transportation systems.

Brown, Nicolas E.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Corridor Design and Analysis for UAM Operations

The Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept is a part of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), a joint initiative between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NASA, and industry to develop an air transportation system that uses new electric (i.e., green) air vehicles in geographical areas previously underserved by traditional aviation. Market forecast studies predict that there will be demand for alternate modes of air transportation using electric Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft. UAM expands transportation networks by introducing short flights to move people and goods around metropolitan areas​. UAM is expected to improve mobility for the public, decongest road traffic, reduce trip time, and decrease strain on existing public transportation networks. Various challenges exist to make the introduction of UAM operations successful in the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). These include but are not limited to integration with existing airports and airspace, provision of air traffic services (e.g., separation), vehicle design and certification, and community acceptance. The focus of this paper is on integration of UAM operations into the NAS via introduction of new airspace structures. UAM will operate within a regulatory, operational, and technical environment that is incorporated into the NAS​. As per the UAM Concept of Operations (ConOps), the FAA retains regulatory authority and is responsible for establishing operational parameters and maintaining oversight. The FAA’s UAM ConOps describes flights at low altitudes (below 5,000 ft) with minimal disruption to established conventional aircraft traffic and limited voice interactions with the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Early stages of UAM may use existing procedures to safely integrate UAM with conventional flights. This would involve flying under Part 91 Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and using voice for communications. The initial UAM ecosystem will utilize the current infrastructure such as routes, helipads, and ATC services, where practicable. ​A NASA study explored the use of existing helicopter routes in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) airspace for initial UAM operations with a Letter of Agreement (LOA) that included procedures to request a Class B (controlled airspace) clearance. The research showed that the chosen approach was feasible for near-term, low-demand UAM traffic, but was not scalable. The growth of operations in today’s aviation system has resulted in airspace reorganization and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency as traffic rates increase. One proposed operating innovation that can help with the scalability of UAM is establishing routes and corridors. This may look similar to the Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures used today to streamline operations into busy airports. However, instead of FAA automation systems and ATC managing the flow of traffic, some UAM concepts envision a third-party service provider performing this role as part of the Provider of Services for UAM (PSU) network. The FAA’s UAM ConOps posits that new airspace structures such as UAM corridors include the following design criteria: 1) Minimal impact on existing NAS operations, 2) no or minimal additional ATC services, 3) public interest considerations such as noise, safety, and security, and 4) customer needs. The airspace available in urban environments is limited by the height of buildings, the effect of weather including wind gusts, privacy needs, and a clearance envelope. The new airspace structure would need to be designed around large airports and urban areas where the initial market demand is likely to exist. NASA has started evaluating airspace in the Dallas Fort Worth area to design new airspace structures, keeping the first two design criteria in mind. It is assumed that there will be an on-board pilot-in-command, and the flights will operate under VFR in Visual Meteorological Conditions. Corridors will be required in controlled airspace, whereas UAM operations can fly in uncontrolled Class G and E airspace using current day rules. Keeler et. al identified factors and heuristics for development of routes for UAM operations for integration with airspace close to large airports such as Dallas Fort Worth and Dallas Love Field. This paper describes the heuristics applied to define the corridors, analyzes them with respect to legacy traffic and presents key results.

Urban Air Mobility↗
DOE OSTI2023

Energy-Efficient Maneuvering of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) with Situational Awareness at Intersections (Final Progress Report)

The increased development of Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) systems, currently used for safety and driver convenience, presents new opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of vehicles. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) achieved a 20% energy consumption reduction in a 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid by using connectivity (V2V, V2I, V2X) as part of the Next Generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated on-Road Vehicles (NEXTCAR) program. The energy consumption gains were achieved by a combination of vehicle dynamics and powertrain control algorithms with a focus on SAE L1 and L2 automated vehicles where a human is still responsible for safe operation. SwRI is now involved in NEXTCAR-II, focusing on energy-efficient control tech for SAE Level 4/5 automated vehicles, aiming for a 30% energy reduction compared to stock hybrids. The rise of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is driving investments in L4 and L5 automated vehicles. A study by the University of Michigan shows these vehicles might increase energy use and emissions by 3-20%. Technology similar to NEXTCAR can enhance energy efficiency in highly automated vehicles, leveraging improved sensing and actuation capabilities. While the NEXTCAR programs targeted energy efficiency improvements for a single vehicle, this program adopts a more expansive approach. It places its focus on understanding and testing the cumulative effects within a region or corridor, aiming to assess how a subset of vehicles equipped with NEXTCAR-style technologies influence the overall energy consumption of all vehicles traveling within that area. Additionally, the program explores infrastructure-based mobility solutions to optimize efficiency, and seeks to understand and quantify public perception and likelihood of technology adoption.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2017

CARACaS multi-agent maritime autonomy for unmanned surface vehicles in the Swarm II harbor patrol demonstration

This paper describes new autonomy technology that enabled a team of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to execute cooperative behaviors in the USV Swarm II harbor patrol demonstration and provides a description of autonomy performance in the event. The new developments extend the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s CARACaS (Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing) autonomy architecture, which pro- vides foundational software infrastructure, core executive functions, and several default robotic technology mod- ules. In Swarm II, CARACaS demonstrated higher levels of autonomy and more complex cooperation than previous on-water exercises, using full-sized vehicles and real-world sensing and communication. The core au- tonomous behaviors to support the harbor patrol scenario included Patrol, Track, Inspect, and Trail, providing the capability of finding all vessels entering the patrol area, keeping track of them, inspecting them to infer intent, and trailing suspect vessels. Significantly, CARACaS assumed responsibility for not only executing tasks safely and efficiently but also recognizing what tasks needed to be accomplished, given the current state of the world. Since the heterogeneous USV teams shared world model that evolved, such as due to (dis)appearance of vessels in the area or a change in health or availability of a USV, CARACaS replanned to generate and reallocate the new task list. Thus, human intervention was never required in the loop to task USVs during mission execution, though a supervisory role was supported in the autonomy system for mission monitoring and exception handling. Finally, CARACaS also ensured the USVs avoided hazards and obeyed the applicable rules of the road, using its local motion planning modules.

Sandoval, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2023

Policy Framework to Improve Mobility Efficiency and Electrify Transportation in Tonga

The Kingdom of Tonga, like many small island developing states, is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels to meet its current energy needs, especially for transportation. The Kingdom has requested a policy framework that benefits its land transportation sector by saving cost and time, increasing resilience, and reducing petroleum and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This framework was developed by building on past work, namely the Tonga Energy Efficiency Master Plan 2020-2030 (TEEMP), the Tonga Energy Road Map 2021-2035 (TERMPLUS), and the Regional Electric Mobility Policy for Pacific Island Countries and Territories developed by the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (PCREEE). The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to Tonga's land transportation system were identified at stakeholder working group meetings in Tonga in June 2023. A set of appropriate policies that have been effective in relevant jurisdictions were then discussed and refined by the working group. The resulting 27 policies are defined according to intended outcomes, relationship to other proposed policies, applications in other relevant jurisdictions, hurdles to implementation, resilience impact, equity impact, and government revenue impact. Some of the policies are also accompanied by implementation recommendations.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Automated Classification of Vehicle Movements at Signalized Intersections Using Vehicle Trajectories

Accurate vehicle movement classification through signalized intersections is of paramount importance to the analysis of intersection performance and the optimization of traffic control strategies. Conventional techniques for tracking vehicle turning movements depend on infrastructure-based strategies like human counts, loop detectors, and video analytics, all of which are costly, prone to errors, and spatially constrained. High-frequency trajectory data can be utilized to determine vehicle movement patterns in a scalable and infrastructure-independent method due to the adoption of connected vehicles (CVs). In recent years, several studies have utilized connected vehicle data to generate performance measures. Most of the trajectory-based performance measures approaches, however, require map matching-i.e., extracting geospatial references from maps to identify the movements that individual vehicles make at a signalized intersection. These approaches are often time-consuming and hinder scalability since geographic features need to be provided for an analysis to be conducted. Map matching methods are prone to errors as different map versions change these geographic features. This research presents a novel automatic classification pipeline that uses CV trajectory data to classify vehicle movements at signalized crossings, specifically pass-through left-turn and right-turn maneuvers. The process starts by filtering trips that cross a spatial bounding box that has been defined at the target intersection. Approach and departure headings for each trajectory crossing the boundary are computed and are clustered together to identify dominant movements. The proposed algorithm is used to classify the movement of vehicles at 10 intersections in the state of California, and the results indicate that the algorithm can classify movements at these intersections with varying traffic volumes and road network configurations, all in a map-less framework with no need for conflation of vehicle trajectories to a digital base map.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

c-HAND: near real-time coastal flood mapping

The Texas Gulf Coast region contains significant centers of population, infrastructure, and economy and is threatened by intensifying tropical storms. The flooding from these tropical storms often has multiple compounding drivers. This characteristic presents a complex numerical problem where a simulation must consider multiple hydrologic forcings. While several procedures exist for addressing this problem numerically, they tend to be resource-intensive and cannot be conducted in near real-time. We extend GeoFlood, a reduced physics approach for fluvial flood forecasting, to rapidly predict coastal and compound fluvial-coastal inundation. This method is validated against a numerical ocean circulation model (ADCIRC) simulation of Hurricane Ike, a major coastal flooding event that happened on the Texas Gulf Coast in 2008. We show that the inundation map generated by coastal HAND (c-HAND) has reasonable agreement with the ADCIRC simulation while taking about 1.7% of the time currently needed to run ADCIRC on a supercomputer. While our model correctly predicts 99% of ADCIRC-inundated DEM cells, it also overpredicts inundated area by a factor of approximately 27%. We combine c-HAND with the GeoFlood framework for fluvial flood forecasting to create a compound fluvial-coastal inundation mapping workflow that can be run in near real-time. c-HAND's fast wall-clock time and low CPU requirements can support decision making by first response personnel. The method provides timely and convenient access to crucial information, such as the locations of flooded roads and inundated coastal areas.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advancing Transportation Efficiency and Electric Vehicles in Tonga: A Review of Relevant Trends, Best Practices, and Future Work

Tonga is facing a transportation sector characterized by private passenger vehicles, poorly maintained roads and walkways, and an inadequate public transit system. By understanding detailed global and regional trends for transport energy efficiency and electric vehicles (EVs) within this context, the Government of Tonga can proactively plan its future transportation systems. In addition to global and regional trends, this presentation also briefly examines Tonga's own transportation policies and actions. Jurisdictions leading in EV adoption have implemented policies such as reducing taxes on EVs compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, providing subsidies and rebates for EV charger installation, instituting an age limit on imported ICE vehicles, and developing EV maintenance courses to expand the skill set of current automotive technicians. This presentation was developed for the Pacific Islands Workshop on Electric Mobility, held from November 28th to November 30th 2022 in Fiji. NREL presented virtually and the conference was sponsored by the Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (PCREEE).

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,POWER TRANSMISSION AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Economic feasibility of in-motion wireless power transfer in a high-density traffic corridor

Electricity is expected to become a dominant power source in the transportation sector, but under a stationary recharging model, electric powered vehicles still suffer some disadvantages relative to conventional vehicles. Recent developments in wireless power transfer (WPT) technology can enable an alternative vehicle recharging model wherein power is supplied to vehicles while they are moving, mitigating the need for charging stops and high-capacity on-board energy storage. One of the greatest concerns associated with dynamic WPT is that the required infrastructure costs would be prohibitively high; however, the life-cycle costs and benefits of such a system have been under-researched. Here in this work, we apply a systems-level assessment to a case study of a WPT charging system located on the densely trafficked I-710 corridor in Los Angeles, California. Detailed cost estimates for electronics and implementation, high-fidelity energy consumption modeling, and survey-derived adoption projections are applied to evaluate scenarios of economic feasibility and environmental impact. Results show that a “1st-of-a-kind” system can achieve a payback in 20 years while maintaining operating cost advantages relative to petroleum fueling. System economics are shown to improve substantially with “nth-of-a-kind” capital costs. Discussion focuses on the effect of uptake trajectory on economic viability and detailed economics outcomes for light duty and heavy duty vehicles.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pathways to Carbon Neutrality 2050 in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has recently set an ambitious target of achieving carbon neutrality as early as 2050. To accomplish this, the country will need to strategically reduce its emissions across all sectors. In 2020, Malaysia emitted approximately 368 MtCO2e, with the largest sources of emissions including electricity (36% of total emissions), transportation (17%), and industry (15%)1. We find that the greatest reductions in emissions can therefore come from decarbonizing power generation and electrifying end-use sectors. Digitalization, smart technologies, and improved energy efficiency will significantly reduce economy-wide energy consumption. By leveraging efficient technologies, both Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur can address the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and climate change. Digitalization is a broad category that includes a variety of measures; for example, the wide adoption of high-efficiency appliances and lighting or improved building energy codes in the buildings sector. Similarly, technological improvements can advance industrial energy efficiency, and for transportation, smart technologies cover a shift from private to public transportation and the greater use of electric vehicles. While renewable energy (RE) will play a crucial role in decarbonization, achieving carbon neutrality in certain sectors will be difficult without emerging technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) and innovative fuel sources such as hydrogen. In order for Malaysia to rely on CCS as a mitigation option, early investment and incentives to the private sector will be critical. This holds for the use of hydrogen as well: investing in the necessary technology, infrastructure, and human capital will allow Malaysia to position itself as an innovator in the region and leverage these advanced technologies as a key part of its climate strategy. Another possible carbon removal option other than CCS would be a land-use sink; however, given that Malaysia is still developing and may deforest in the near-term, this report does not focus on the mitigation potential of land-use change. With its innovative and bold climate plans, Kuala Lumpur is primed to be a leader in regional climate change efforts. Kuala Lumpur is also engaged in several international collaborations to ensure sustainable city development such as the C40 network and the ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership. As such, the city will play a critical role in contributing to Malaysia’s overall climate goals and as a policy trendsetter through ambitious, scalable plans. One key factor in these emissions reductions is that Kuala Lumpur has full control over its building guidelines, allowing for ambitious policies resulting in significant emissions reductions. However, in other sectors, Kuala Lumpur has less direct control over regulations; for example, power generation and integration of RE are largely in the hands of the Malaysian government. With limited and primarily light industry, Kuala Lumpur’s contributions to emissions reductions here are curbed. And, while Kuala Lumpur has control over local transportation policies like increasing access to and quality of public transportation, broad shifts in transportation will stem from national-level policies. As such, multi-level governance is an integral component of Malaysia’s climate strategy and coordination between local and national governments will be essential in reducing emissions and achieving other climate goals. This report addresses these and other key challenges and opportunities Malaysia faces on the road to carbon neutrality.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Estimating the Breakeven Cost of Delivered Electricity to Charge Class 8 Electric Tractors

As vehicle electrification expands from the light-duty sector to include larger commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, businesses need to decide if electrification is appropriate for their fleets. A key factor in this decision will be the total cost of ownership for on-road electric Class 8 tractors compared to their combustion counterparts. This report examines the breakeven price of electricity for electric Class 8 tractor charging to address its importance in the total cost of ownership for the operation of an electrified fleet and to account for the inherent differences of higher-power charging. To understand the likely cost of delivered energy--in this report the breakeven price--to charge electric tractors, this study followed an analysis framework that considers a wide range of factors to estimate the breakeven price to charge at various station types. This requires an estimation of electric vehicle adoption trajectories and analysis of real-world fleet data to assess energy needs of heavy-duty electric tractors and to determine expected charging station demand over time. Station demand informs the level of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) deployment that is necessary at each station type, as well as the site utilization and anticipated load profiles. Then, by accounting for a wide range of capital investments, operating costs, and other expenses, a breakeven price of energy is determined.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Advancing Transportation Efficiency and Electric Vehicles in Tonga: A Review of Relevant Trends and Best Practices

Tonga is facing a transportation sector characterized by private passenger vehicles, poorly maintained roads and walkways, and an inadequate public transit system. By understanding detailed global and regional trends for transport energy efficiency and electric vehicles (EVs) within this context, the Government of Tonga can proactively plan its future transportation systems. In addition to global and regional trends, this report also covers a variety of international case studies and examines Tonga's own transportation policies and actions through this lens. Jurisdictions leading in EV adoption have implemented policies such as reducing taxes on EVs compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, providing subsidies and rebates for EV charger installation, instituting an age limit on imported ICE vehicles, and developing EV maintenance courses to expand the skill set of current automotive technicians. Although there are key challenges and barriers to widespread EV adoption in Tonga, multiple studies have researched potential political, technical, financial, and educational interventions that can be adapted and applied in Tonga. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to synthesize the relevant trends and best practices in order to provide Tonga's Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communication (MEIDECC) with a wide range of information on electric vehicles (EVs) and transportation efficiency.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States

"A Supply Chain Road Map for Offshore Wind Energy in the United States" identifies pathways to developing a domestic offshore wind supply chain that can manufacture and deploy the major components needed to set the United States on a pathway to installing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. The report estimates that this supply chain could require an investment of at least $\$$22.7 billion this decade to meet an annual demand for components, ports, and vessels in 2030. Although this is a considerable investment, it could allow the industry to install around $\$$100 billion worth of offshore wind this decade by reducing risk of delays due to global supply chain bottlenecks and creating a robust network of assets that will continue to be effective well beyond 2030. The United States would need at least 34 manufacturing facilities employing 10,000 workers, 39,000 jobs in the supporting supply chain, 10 marshaling ports, 4-6 dedicated wind turbine installation vessels, 4-6 dedicated heavy-lift vessels, and 4-8 U.S.-flagged specialized feeder barges to come online this decade to support an average annual deployment of 4-6 gigawatts offshore wind capacity per year. This supply chain could be developed in 6-9 years, but would require near-term decision making and efficient permitting and planning to strategically develop these resources by 2030. Additional investment and expansion would be required in the 2030s as the sector expands into new regions (such as the Gulf of Mexico) and new technologies (such as larger wind turbines and floating wind energy projects). Furthermore, the planning process needs to meaningfully engage with communities that will be impacted by supply chain expansion to achieve just outcomes and maximize benefits to these stakeholders, which will result in a more equitable and sustainable supply chain. While U.S. offshore wind has made significant progress in recent years, remaining supply chain challenges include uncertainty surrounding deployment and procurement timelines; a lack of port and vessel infrastructure; and limitations in the available workforce, supporting supplier networks, and energy justice best practices. However, many of these problems can be addressed through improved communication between key stakeholder groups, support from federal and state governments, and forward-thinking designs of supply chain assets to accommodate future technology changes for fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind. Although it is a significant task, developing these domestic capabilities represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to contribute to a decarbonized energy future and also create massive economic benefits that are distributed throughout the country.

17 WIND ENERGY↗