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Guidance for Integrating Energy Justice and Equity in Building Technology Deployment Programs: Tracking, Reporting, and Maximizing the Flow of Benefits from Building System Technology Deployment Activities to Disadvantaged Communities and Target Sectors

The Federal Justice40 Initiative directs at least 40% of the overall benefits of certain clean energy investments to flow to disadvantaged communities and requires that all federal programs covered by Justice40 consult stakeholders to determine the program benefits, and that the flow of benefits to disadvantaged communities is tracked and reported. Unequal distribution of benefits, in terms of access to clean energy research, design, development, and deployment, can disproportionately benefit or burden certain communities. This can result in higher rates of pollution, negative health effects, and increased energy burdens and insecurities in disadvantaged communities. Programs focused on decarbonizing the built environment can enhance health, quality of life, and economic opportunities for impacted communities. This guidance document, developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office, provides best practices and approaches for incorporating energy justice and equity principles into building technology deployment activities. It provides best practices and recommendations for communicating with and involving disadvantaged communities and target building sectors in program activities, along with methods to monitor and report the distribution of benefits to these sectors. This document lays out a set of strategies, metrics, and best practices that can be implemented over time to apply energy justice and equity approaches, whether the program is just starting out or ongoing. Although this guidance was designed for Building Technologies Office technology deployment programs, the best practices, recommendations, and methods can be valuable to any program concerned with the equitable deployment of clean energy technologies. The goal of this project is to enable the equitable development, deployment, and adoption of clean energy technologies and practices.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Modeling and Policy Pathways to Decarbonize South Asia’s Industrial Sector

The industrial sector is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and industrial decarbonization will be an essential component of limiting emissions and mitigating climate change (Rissman et al., 2020). This holds true for South Asian countries as they work toward their stated commitments to reducing emissions in the coming years. India has pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 33–35% by 2030 (Government of India, 2016) and announced at COP26 a target of reaching net-zero CO 2 emissions by 2070, a goal that will require rapid decarbonization of energy-intensive industries (WEF, 2021). Bangladesh’s Nationally Determined Contributions include a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 6.73% to 15.12% by 2030 (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 2021). While these Nationally Determined Contributions do not explicitly target emissions reductions in industry, Bangladesh’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EE&C) Master Plan highlights industry as an important sector for EE&C (Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority, 2015). Sri Lanka has pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, including a reduction in industrial greenhouse gas emissions (Ministry of Environment, 2021). Nepal’s commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 includes plans to establish guidelines and technology transitions facilitating industrial decarbonization (Government of Nepal, 2020).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Impacts of Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen Policies on Uttar Pradesh's Power Sector Future

This report is part of a broader program focused on supporting Indian states with long-term power system planning. More information about this program can be found at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's "Supporting India's States With Renewable Energy Integration" web page at https://www.nrel.gov/international/india-renewable-energy-integration.html. The power sector in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, is poised to transform over the next few decades due to a combination of national and state-level policies impacting both the supply and demand of electricity. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has policies and plans to develop in-state solar PV, pumped storage hydropower, and green hydrogen. Power system policymakers and utilities in Uttar Pradesh are faced with the challenges of planning a system that incorporates increasing amounts of renewable energy and storage resources, meets rising electricity demand due to economic development and green hydrogen production, and satisfies operational and reliability requirements. To support these various objectives, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), RMI, and the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) evaluated the least-cost pathways for the state's power sector through 2050. NREL developed a capacity expansion model that identifies investment and operational decisions for every year (2024-2050) for all of India, with detailed representation for the state of Uttar Pradesh, which can provide a framework for recurring planning studies. The main insights from this study can also help inform policy development and investment decisions.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Overview of Quantum Sensing Materials and Techniques for Energy Sector Applications

The energy sector is dependent upon highly sensitive sensing devices for a wide range of applications. Variables such as temperature, pH, electromagnetic fields, and pressure must be measured with high precision, often in harsh conditions (e.g. high temperature, pressure and humidity). These sensors are deployed in infrastructure such as transformers, pipelines, mines, nuclear power plants, and other areas to ensure safe operating conditions and uninterrupted, optimized service. Moreover, new opportunities for sensors have emerged due to the expansion of smart grids/meters, driverless vehicles, and the discovery of new oil/gas deposits. The continued maturation of quantum sensors offers exciting opportunities for quantum-enhanced measurements to improve sensitivity beyond the classical limit. Here, an overview of established and emerging quantum materials and methods for sensing applications will be provided. Opportunities within the energy sector for quantum sensors will then be analyzed, including oil/gas discovery, greenhouse gas emission monitoring, pH and ion sensing, current measurements, and quantum-enhanced spectroscopy, along with barriers such as quantum sensor platform miniaturization and ruggedization. A specific project at the National Energy Technology Laboratory involving the functionalization of qubits using metal-organic frameworks for enhanced quantum sensing will then be highlighted. Here, nitrogen vacancy centers (NV) in nanodiamonds, a commercially available qubit with long coherence times and utilizable quantum properties at room temperature, are encapsulated using the metal-organic framework ZIF-8. Significantly, the ZIF-8 coating increases the longitudinal spin relaxation lifetime of the NV centers, an important parameter for spin relaxometry-based quantum sensing experiments. These results demonstrate the importance of qubit functionalization as a crucial step for rationally designing high performance quantum sensors.

Crawford, Scott↗

Impacts of Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen Policies on Uttar Pradesh's Power Sector Future: Additional Modeling Scenarios to Explore Hydrogen Flexibility [Slides]

This slide deck is part of a broader program focused on supporting Indian states with long-term power system planning. More information about this program can be found at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's "Supporting India's States With Renewable Energy Integration" web page at https://www.nrel.gov/international/india-renewable-energy-integration.html. The power sector in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, is poised to transform over the next few decades due to a combination of national and state-level policies impacting both the supply and demand of electricity. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has policies and plans to develop in-state solar PV, pumped storage hydropower, and green hydrogen. Power system policymakers and utilities in Uttar Pradesh are faced with the challenges of planning a system that incorporates increasing amounts of renewable energy and storage resources, meets rising electricity demand due to economic development and green hydrogen production, and satisfies operational and reliability requirements. To support these various objectives, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), RMI, and the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) evaluated the least-cost pathways for the state's power sector through 2050. NREL developed a capacity expansion model that identifies investment and operational decisions for every year (2024-2050) for all of India, with detailed representation for the state of Uttar Pradesh, which can provide a framework for recurring planning studies. The purpose of this slide deck is to supplement the main study (published in May 2024) with additional modeling scenarios to explore hydrogen flexibility.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Phase II Cost-Benefit Analysis: Economic Impact Assessment For Indonesia Building Sector Whole-Building Cooling Solutions

The Net Zero World (NZW) Initiative Collaborative Work Program with the Government of Indonesia (GoI) includes technical assistance and investment mobilization facilitation to accelerate deployment of energy efficiency technologies and solutions for the building sector. A February 2023 US–Indonesia Joint Workshop on Decarbonizing the Building Sector yielded a NZW Indonesia Building Decarbonization Working Group (NZW IBDWG) with four sub working groups (SWGs): SWG-A National Center, SWG-B Capacity Building, SWG-C Investment and Financing, and SWG-D Pilot Projects.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

The Workforce Readiness Index: A Local and Regional Assessment Tool for Energy Sector Preparedness

Building up a workforce that is properly trained and adequately sized is essential to ensuring that the deployment of energy generation sources in the United States meets future energy demand. Workforce development to support supply chain or large infrastructure investments typically occurs at a local level. However, there is a critical gap in understanding where and to what extent regional workforces are equipped to meet the needs of an energy industry. The Workforce Readiness Index ("the index") was developed to assess and compare energy sector workforce readiness across the United States at the county level to provide granular information to various stakeholders such as industry members, state decision makers, and training program developers. Workforce readiness is defined as the ability to recruit from the general labor market, transition workers with comparable skill sets, and train a workforce using scalable or existing training programs near a specific location. Therefore, the index evaluates readiness levels based on the likelihood that a county possesses the workforce development infrastructure needed to support the occupations required by an energy-related industry or sector. Furthermore, the index offers a standardized yet flexible approach that captures regional variations and highlights local strengths and challenges.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Bioenergy’s Role in Soil Carbon Storage Decarbonizing Transportation, Agriculture, and Industrial Sectors Workshop Summary Report

On March 28–29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted the public virtual workshop “Bioenergy’s Role in Soil Carbon Storage.” Given the recent emphasis of the Biden administration on decarbonizing transportation, agriculture, and industrial sectors of the U.S. economy, this workshop examined how decarbonization through enhanced soil carbon storage while growing bioenergy crops is possible by discussing challenges and opportunities that affect soil carbon levels. Stakeholders representing academia, industry, the farming community, agricultural and forestry sectors, municipalities, and federal agencies involved in soil carbon storage participated in this workshop. A series of keynote presentations, plenary presentations, and stakeholder input sessions provided opportunities for sharing knowledge and identifying research and development (R&D) needs for future advances in soil carbon storage in relation to bioenergy crops. This document provides an overview of the content discussed in the presentations, as well as a summary of the stakeholder input received during the session discussions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Enabling Solar Cybersecurity Solutions Through State Energy Office and Public Utility Commission Engagement with Private Sector Partners (Final Technical Report)

Between 2020 and 2025, the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), together with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) established and managed the Enabling Solar Cybersecurity Solutions Through State Energy Office and Public Utility Commission Engagement with Private Sector Partners project, later informally retitled and recognized as the Cybersecurity Advisory Team for State Solar (CATSS). This effort convened State Energy Offices, Public Utility Commissions, and critical private sector and federal partners to inform the development of solar cybersecurity education and action-oriented resources for states. This is the final report.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

First Search for Dark Sector e+e- Explanations of the MiniBooNE Anomaly at MicroBooNE

The MiniBooNE anomaly has puzzled the neutrino physics community for over two decades. MicroBooNE has previously searched for anomalous electron and photon excesses as potential explanations but the mystery persists. In this poster, we present the first direct test of dark sector models in which dark neutrinos scatter, then decay into e+e− pairs and missing energy, mimicking the MiniBooNE signal. These models have recently emerged as compelling candidates that evade existing constraints. Using 6.87×1020 protons-on-target in the Booster Neutrino Beam, we select forward-going, coherently produced e+e− events in the MicroBooNE detector. We observe 95 events against a constrained background prediction of 69.7±17.3. We set the world's first direct limits on this class of dark sector models, excluding at 95% CL the majority of parameter space viable as a solution to the MiniBooNE anomaly.

Basque, Vincent Marc [Edinburgh U.] (ORCID:0000000↗

Neutron Stars with Baryon Number Violation, Probing Dark Sectors

The neutron lifetime anomaly has been used to motivate the introduction of new physics with hidden-sector particles coupled to baryon number, and on which neutron stars provide powerful constraints. Although the neutron lifetime anomaly may eventually prove to be of mundane origin, we use it as motivation for a broader review of the ways that baryon number violation, be it real or apparent, and dark sectors can intertwine and how neutron star observables, both present and future, can constrain them.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Evolving Dark Sector and the Dark Dimension Scenario

String theory naturally leads to the expectation that dark energy is not stable, and may be evolving as captured by the Swampland de Sitter conjectures. Moreover, motivated by the distance conjecture, a unification of dark sector has been proposed, where the smallness of dark energy leads to one extra dimension of micron size with dark matter being the Kaluza--Klein graviton excitations in this extra dimension. We consider the natural possibility that the radius of the dark dimension varies as the dark energy decreases, leading to the variation of the dark matter mass. This correlates the decrease of the dark energy with the variation of the dark matter mass as they depend on the variations of a scalar field $ϕ$ controlling the radius of the extra dimension. A simple realization of this idea for small range of $ϕ$ is adequately captured by choosing a potential which is locally of the form $V=V_0\ {\rm exp}(-cϕ)$ and dark matter mass $m_{\rm DM}=m_0\ {\rm exp}(-c' ϕ)$ where the sign of $ϕ$ is chosen such that $c'\geq 0$ while we have two choices for the sign of $c$ depending on whether the dark dimension expands or shrinks when the dark energy dominates. We find excellent agreement with recent experimental data from DESI DR2 combined with SN measurements (from DES, Union3 or Pantheon+) and reproduces the same significance as CPL parametrization with the added benefit of providing a natural explanation for the apparent phantom behavior ($w<-1$) reported by DESI and DES based on a physical model. DESI and SN datasets independently favor non-zero values of $c'$ and $c$, respectively, both lying within the expected $\mathcal{O}(1)$ range suggested by the Swampland criteria. Moreover, our best fit value $c'\simeq 0.05 \pm 0.01$ is remarkably consistent with the experimental upper bound of $c'\lesssim 0.2$ demanded by the lack of detection of fifth force in the dark sector.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗

Global source apportionment of aerosols into major emission regions and sectors over 1850–2017

Anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and precursor gases have changed significantly in the past few decades around the world. In this study, the Explicit Aerosol Source Tagging (EAST) system is merged into the Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 1 (E3SMv1) to quantify the variations in anthropogenic aerosol concentrations, source contributions, and their subsequent radiative impact in four major emission regions across the globe during 1850–1980, 1980–2010, and 2010–2017. In North America and Europe, changes in anthropogenic PM 2.5 were mainly caused by changes in emissions from local energy and industrial sectors. The local industrial sector caused the largest increase in PM 2.5 in East Asia during 1980–2010 and decrease during 2010–2017. In South Asia, the increase in energy-related emissions dominated the rise in PM 2.5 levels during 1980–2017. During 1850–1980, the increases in emissions from North America contributed to the increase in the European PM 2.5 burden by 1.7 mg m -2 and the sources from the Europe were also responsible for the PM 2.5 burden increase in East Asia and South Asia by about 1.0 mg m -2 . During 1980–2010, East Asia contributed to an increase of 0.4–0.6 mg m -2 in the PM 2.5 burden in North America and Europe, while South Asia contributed about 0.3 mg m -2 . During 2010–2017, the contributions from East Asia to the PM 2.5 burdens in the North America, Europe, and South Asia declined by 0.3–0.6 mg m -2 due to the clean air actions in China, while the contributions from South Asia still increased due to the continuous increase in emissions in South Asia. The historical changes in aerosols had an impact on effective radiative forcing through aerosol–radiation interactions (ERF ari ). During 1980–2010, a decline in North American aerosols resulted in a positive ERF ari change (warming effect) in Europe and a decline in aerosols in Europe caused a warming effect in Russia and northern China. The changes in ERF ari from the increase and decrease in aerosols in China during 1980–2010 and 2010–2017, respectively, are comparable in magnitude. The continuous aerosol increases in South Asia from 1980 to 2017 resulted in negative ERF ari (cooling) changes in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and southern China.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A comprehensive and synthetic dataset for global, regional, and national greenhouse gas emissions by sector 1970–2018 with an extension to 2019

To track progress towards keeping global warming well below 2 °C or even 1.5 °C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement, comprehensive up-to-date and reliable information on anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is required. Here we compile a new synthetic dataset on anthropogenic GHG emissions for 1970–2018 with a fast-track extension to 2019. Our dataset is global in coverage and includes CO 2 emissions, CH 4 emissions, N 2 O emissions, as well as those from fluorinated gases (F-gases: HFCs, PFCs, SF 6 , NF 3 ) and provides country and sector details. We build this dataset from the version 6 release of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR v6) and three bookkeeping models for CO 2 emissions from land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). We assess the uncertainties of global greenhouse gases at the 90 % confidence interval (5th–95th percentile range) by combining statistical analysis and comparisons of global emissions inventories and top-down atmospheric measurements with an expert judgement informed by the relevant scientific literature. We identify important data gaps for F-gas emissions. The agreement between our bottom-up inventory estimates and top-down atmospheric-based emissions estimates is relatively close for some F-gas species (~ 10 % or less), but estimates can differ by an order of magnitude or more for others. Our aggregated F-gas estimate is about 10 % lower than top-down estimates in recent years. However, emissions from excluded F-gas species such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are cumulatively larger than the sum of the reported species. Using global warming potential values with a 100-year time horizon from the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global GHG emissions in 2018 amounted to 58 ± 6.1 GtCO 2 eq. consisting of CO 2 from fossil fuel combustion and industry (FFI) 38 ± 3.0 GtCO 2 , CO 2 -LULUCF 5.7 ± 4.0 GtCO 2 , CH 4 10 ± 3.1 GtCO 2 eq., N2O 2.6 ± 1.6 GtCO 2 eq., and F-gases 1.3 ± 0.40 GtCO 2 eq. Initial estimates suggest further growth of 1.3 GtCO 2 eq. in GHG emissions to reach 59 ± 6.6 GtCO 2 eq. by 2019. Our analysis of global trends in anthropogenic GHG emissions over the past 5 decades (1970–2018) highlights a pattern of varied but sustained emissions growth. There is high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased every decade, and emissions growth has been persistent across the different (groups of) gases. There is also high confidence that global anthropogenic GHG emissions levels were higher in 2009–2018 than in any previous decade and that GHG emissions levels grew throughout the most recent decade. While the average annual GHG emissions growth rate slowed between 2009 and 2018 (1.2 % yr –1 ) compared to 2000–2009 (2.4 % yr –1 ), the absolute increase in average annual GHG emissions by decade was never larger than between 2000–2009 and 2009–2018. Our analysis further reveals that there are no global sectors that show sustained reductions in GHG emissions. There are a number of countries that have reduced GHG emissions over the past decade, but these reductions are comparatively modest and outgrown by much larger emissions growth in some developing countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. There is a need to further develop independent, robust, and timely emissions estimates across all gases. As such, tracking progress in climate policy requires substantial investments in independent GHG emissions accounting and monitoring as well as in national and international statistical infrastructures. The data associated with this article (Minx et al., 2021) can be found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5566761.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Engineering as Enablers for System Engineering in the Energy Sector

Systems engineering is of utmost importance for the success of high-cost, high-complexity megaprojects, which are common in the energy sector. However, the traditional document-centric systems engineering approach tends to be labor-intensive and time-consuming, which has inhibited its full adoption despite proven metrics on its return on investment. However, with the modern approach of digital engineering and technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the barriers to systems engineering adoption can finally be broken. This paper goes through the systems engineering V-model for lifecycle management and assesses the current state of implementation of digital engineering (especially, mod-el-based systems engineering, digital twins, and digital threads) and AI for each step. It was observed that a combination of digital engineering and AI is being used across different industries to accelerate and optimize systems engineering processes such as concept development, requirements management, architecture definition, system development, verification and validation, operations, and maintenance. Specifically in the energy sector, AI-augmented digital engineering has shown initial potential in accelerated development and deployment, performance optimization, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and configuration management. However, challenges remain in integrating DE and AI into an end-to-end system lifecycle management ecosystem safely and reliably. Addressing these challenges and continuously developing impactful tools will enable fast, efficient, and high-frequency deployment of power generation capabilities to keep up with the world’s energy demands and build energy security.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Engineering as Enablers for Systems Engineering in the Energy Sector

Systems engineering is of utmost importance for the success of high-cost, high-complexity megaprojects, which are common in the energy sector. However, the traditional document-centric systems engineering approach tends to be labor-intensive and time-consuming, which has inhibited its full adoption despite proven metrics on its return on investment. However, with the modern approach of digital engineering and technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the barriers to systems engineering adoption can finally be broken. This paper goes through the systems engineering V-model for lifecycle management and assesses the current state of implementation of digital engineering (especially, mod-el-based systems engineering, digital twins, and digital threads) and AI for each step. It was observed that a combination of digital engineering and AI is being used across different industries to accelerate and optimize systems engineering processes such as concept development, requirements management, architecture definition, system development, verification and validation, operations, and maintenance. Specifically in the energy sector, AI-augmented digital engineering has shown initial potential in accelerated development and deployment, performance optimization, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and configuration management. However, challenges remain in integrating DE and AI into an end-to-end system lifecycle management ecosystem safely and reliably. Addressing these challenges and continuously developing impactful tools will enable fast, efficient, and high-frequency deployment of power generation capabilities to keep up with the world?s energy demands and build energy security.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

Lao Power Sector Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Action Plan

This purpose of this work is to develop a power sector resilience action plan for the Lao PDR (resilience action plan). The resilience action plan provides strategies to address the key vulnerabilities identified in a previous vulnerability assessment.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Convergence of Energy and IT Sectors

Today there has never been a more profound codependence and synergetic convergence, such as the one between the energy and IT sectors, and the industries will need to work together more closely to meet today’s growing data center power demands.

AI↗