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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Modeling nuclear energy’s future role in decarbonized energy systems

Increased attention has been focused on the potential role of nuclear energy in future electricity markets and energy systems as stakeholders target rapid and deep decarbonization and reductions in fossil fuel use. This paper examines models of electric sector planning and broader energy systems optimization to understand the prospective roles of nuclear energy and other technologies. In this perspective, we survey modeling challenges in this environment, illustrate opportunities to propagate best practices, and highlight insights from the deep decarbonization literature on the range of visions for nuclear energy's role. Nuclear energy deployment is highest with combinations of stringent emissions policies, nuclear cost reductions, and constraints on the deployment of other technologies, which underscores model dimensions related to these areas. New modeling capabilities are needed to adequately address emerging issues, including representing characteristics and applications of nuclear energy in systems models, and to ensure the relevance of models for policy and planning as deeper decarbonization is explored.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Validation of emission-line galaxies target selection algorithms for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument using the MMT Binospec

ABSTRACT The forthcoming Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) experiment plans to measure the effects of dark energy on the expansion of the Universe and create a 3D map of the Universe using galaxies up to z ∼ 1.6 and QSOs up to z ∼ 3.5. In order to create this map, DESI will obtain spectroscopic redshifts of over 30 million objects; among them, a majority are [O ii] emitting star-forming galaxies known as emission-line galaxies (ELGs). These ELG targets will be pre-selected by drawing a selection region on the g − r versus r − z colour–colour plot, where high-redshift ELGs form a separate locus from the lower redshift ELGs and interlopers. In this paper, we study the efficiency of three ELG target selection algorithms – the Final Design Report (FDR) cut based on the DEEP2 photometry, Number Density Modelling (NDM) and Random Forest – to determine how the combination of these three algorithms can be best used to yield a simple selection boundary that will be best suited to meet DESI’s science goals. To do this, we selected 17 small patches in the DESI footprint where we run the three target selection algorithms to pre-select ELGs based on their photometry. We observed the pre-selected ELGs using the MMT Binospec, which is similar in functionality to the DESI instrument, to obtain their spectroscopic redshifts and fluxes of 1054 ELGs. By analysing the redshift and fluxing distribution of these galaxies, we find that although NDM performed the best, simple changes in the FDR definition would also yield sufficient performance.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Assessing the Interactive Impacts of Energy Efficiency and Demand Response on Power System Costs and Emissions

Utilities are increasingly interested in integrating energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) measures and technologies (as well as other distributed energy resources) as a strategic approach to improve their cost-effectiveness and performance. However, the specific EE and DR features that may be best integrated, the interplay between changing EE and DR resource potential, and resulting utility system impacts are not well understood. We quantify the impacts of EE and DR in isolation and in combination on bulk power system costs and emissions based on changes in generation expansion, transmission expansion, and dispatch patterns. The study methodology mimics utility resource planning and uses more novel techniques to select least-cost generation and transmission capacity from supply-and demand-side resources, as compared to more commonly used utility approaches that only consider supply-side resources. The results identify key EE and DR characteristics affecting each other’s power system value and the most valuable technologies and strategies that can be jointly deployed. We discuss implications for EE and DR cost-effectiveness frameworks, program design, and integrated resource planning.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nuclear Power's Future Role in a Decarbonized U.S. Electricity System

This study explores the potential future role of nuclear energy in a decarbonized U.S. electricity system through a multi-model comparison approach. We employ four state-of-the-art CEMs with native and harmonized input assumptions, layered with different policy and technology trajectories. Comparing outputs across models, technology assumptions, and policy scenarios informs model understanding, interpretation, and development decisions. Under current policies, models differ in their projections for nuclear retirements, but nuclear power plants consistently run with high capacity factors and new builds only occur in scenarios with very low nuclear costs. String power sector carbon policies drive models to align in keeping existing nuclear capacity and employing nuclear plant flexibility, but they may not be enough to bring new nuclear capacity online in the absence of significant cost declines. Therefore, significant economic deployment of new nuclear capacity requires both a stringent electric sector CO2 policy and very low cost assumptions for new nuclear. While these scenarios should not be interpreted as predictions, they are informative for understanding differing model assessments of the relative competitiveness of nuclear energy under a range of policy and technology conditions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wholesale Electricity Market Design to Support Resource Adequacy

Wholesale electricity markets are intended to incentivize system generation investments and operations outcomes that meet evolving system needs. In this work, we evaluate the effectiveness of wholesale market structures, rules and policies in achieving system resource adequacy (RA) and clean energy targets in the presence of self-interested generation investors using the Electricity Markets and Investment Suite Agent-based Simulation (EMIS-AS) model. Results highlight that both capacity markets and operating reserve demand curves (ORDCs) can help achieve a reliable system but with different RA compliance timelines and distribution of generation technologies. Structures with capacity markets tend to favor more capital-intensive peaking technologies while reducing wind and solar build-outs due to suppressed energy and clean energy market prices, particularly in the absence of strong clean energy targets. Conversely, ORDCs improve the commitment of available generation units, but this comes at the expense of higher system costs and renewable generation curtailment. We also find that well-calibrated static capacity demand curves can yield similar reliability and total cost compared to capacity market demand curves informed dynamically by resource adequacy while also yielding stable annual capacity prices. Different approaches to formulating ORDC curves can also yield key trade-offs, namely that a more efficient treatment of storage chronology results in lower ORDC curves and prices, yielding less investment and cost but at the expense of reliability. Finally, the effectiveness of wholesale electricity markets in practically achieving very high clean energy generation targets highly depends on the cost-competitiveness of clean energy technologies that can support critical balancing needs across multiple timescales.

agent based modeling↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impacts of Regional Coordination on Transmission Needs for Power System Resource Adequacy [Slides]

Resource adequacy (RA) is an important component of bulk power system reliability that addresses whether there are sufficient resources available to meet electricity demand at all times. RA analysis is used to assess whether the planned power system will provide reliable electricity to consumers while accounting for equipment outages, weather variability, and load uncertainty. Coordination between regions can enable resource sharing to meet RA needs if sufficient transmission capacity exists. Transmission's role in RA coordination can be particularly pronounced for large power systems like the U.S. electricity grid which contains geographically diverse demand and weather-dependent resources. Depending on the level of coordination desired, existing inter-regional transmission capacity may not be sufficient. This study is designed to assess optimal pathways for the development of inter-regional transmission in the U.S. under varying levels of RA coordination. Results can inform long-term grid infrastructure planning and provide insights into potential benefits of greater coordination for generation and transmission planning between regional U.S. power systems.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

India Power Sector Reliability Analysis [Slides]

The objective of the study is to assess pathways for India to achieve its 2070 power sector goals reliably and cost-effectively by considering various supply- and demand-side factors to support planning by national stakeholders including the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS1994

Solar System Exploration, 1995-2000

Goals for planetary exploration during the next decade include: (1) determine how our solar system formed, and understand whether planetary systems are a common phenomenon through out the cosmos; (2) explore the diverse changes that planets have undergone throughout their history and that take place at present, including those that distinguish Earth as a planet; (3) understand how life might have formed on Earth, whether life began anywhere else in the solar system, and whether life (including intelligent beings) might be a common cosmic phenomenon; (4) discover and investigate natural phenomena that occur under conditions not realizable in laboratories; (5) discover and inventory resources in the solar system that could be used by human civilizations in the future; and (6) make the solar system a part of the human experience in the same way that Earth is, and hence lay the groundwork for human expansion into the solar system in the coming century. The plan for solar system exploration is motivated by these goals as well as the following principle: The solar system exploration program will conduct flight programs and supporting data analysis and scientific research commensurate with United States leadership in space exploration. These programs and research must be of the highest scientific merit, they must be responsive to public excitement regarding planetary exploration, and they must contribute to larger national goals in technology and education. The result will be new information, which is accessible to the public, creates new knowledge, and stimulates programs of education to increase the base of scientific knowledge in the general public.

Squyres, S.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A review of the US Global Change Research Program and NASA's Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System

This report reflects the results of a ten-day workshop convened at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography July 19-28, 1995. The workshop was convened as the first phase of a two part review of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The workshop was organized to provide a review of the scientific foundations and progress to date in the USGCRP and an assessment of the implications of new scientific insights for future USGCRP and Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System (MTPE/EOS) activities; a review of the role of NASA's MTPE/EOS program in the USGCRP observational strategy; a review of the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) as a component of USGCRP data management activities; and an assessment of whether recent developments in the following areas lead to a need to readjust MTPE/EOS plans. Specific consideration was given to: proposed convergence of U.S. environmental satellite systems and programs, evolving international plans for Earth observation systems, advances in technology, and potential expansion of the role of the private sector. The present report summarizes the findings and recommendations developed by the Committee on Global Change Research on the basis of the presentations, background materials, working group deliberations, and plenary discussions of the workshop. In addition, the appendices include summaries prepared by the six working groups convened in the course of the workshop.

Moore, Berrien, III↗
DOE OSTI2022

Modeling Methods for Capturing System Interactions of Combined Technologies: A Study of PV + Battery

The costs of solar photovoltaics (PV) have been dropping in recent years, leading to increasing installations of solar PV systems and growing interest in how the technology will impact the electric grid at higher penetrations. Additionally, as battery costs decline it becomes important to understand the benefits and limitations of battery storage for the grid as well as potential benefits of co-locating battery storage and PV, particularly within the realm of future system planning. However, it is non-trivial to capture these potential benefits within a linearized capacity expansion model (CEM). This paper presents methodological developments to more fully represent the value and limitations of coupled PV and battery systems (PV + Battery) in CEMs using the Resource Planning Model (RPM), which co-optimizes capacity investments, transmission investments, and reduced-order dispatch in the Western Interconnection of North America through 2045. We use the model to simulate the evolution of the generation and transmission system under two core scenarios - a baseline scenario and a high renewable penetration scenario - coupled with sensitivities assuming low and midline PV and battery cost projections. When incorporating PV + battery, we find that it is important for CEMs to capture the ability of the coupled technology to provide firm capacity and reduce expected curtailment, compared to independent systems. These interactions can have even more dramatic impacts at higher solar penetrations.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scalable Transmission Expansion Under Uncertainty Using Three-Stage Stochastic Optimization

The intermittent nature of renewable energy poses new challenges for power grids due to its variable and uncertain power output. These features of renewable generation are becoming more relevant to transmission planning as grids reach higher penetration levels of renewable energy. In this paper we present an approach for transmission planning based on scalable computational approaches which enable the explicit consideration of operational uncertainties in the planning process. Using three-stage stochastic programming and the progressive hedging algorithm, we compute transmission expansion decisions on a modified RTS-GMLC test system. We augment the grid with large amounts of wind generation and consider many operational scenarios subject to wind uncertainty.

multi-stage stochastic optimization↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated System Planning: Emerging Software Requirements in the Power Industry

Power system planning software remains fragmented across organizational boundaries, with specialized tools for capacity expansion, production cost modeling, power flow, and dynamic analysis operating on incompatible data models and assumptions. This article argues that the fragmentation is not merely a technical problem but a predictable consequence of Conway's law: software architectures mirror the departmental structures within which they are developed. Regulatory milestones like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 888 formalized these divisions, but the roots trace back to the distinct engineering disciplines-mechanical, chemical, and electrical-that staffed generation and transmission planning departments in vertically integrated utilities. As the industry moves toward integrated system planning (ISP) that coordinates generation, transmission, and distribution investment decisions, the software ecosystem must evolve accordingly. We identify five categories of software requirements to enable this transition: coherent data inputs decoupled from individual applications, unified and extensible data schemas, modular component representations that support multiple abstraction levels, lifecycle management of planning datasets, and well-defined application programming interface (API) contracts that separate data exchange from algorithmic control. We examine how these requirements interact with three common workflow patterns-serial gate clearing, sequential multiapplication, and convergence oriented-and discuss the interface design principles each demands. We then outline a vision for platform-based planning architectures where specialized analytical services compose through standardized interfaces and where artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) tools augment decision support within a disciplined software infrastructure. The practices proposed here offer a path from today's siloed tool collections toward collaborative planning ecosystems capable of handling the complexity of modern power system transformation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Implementing the Inflation Reduction Act: What We Expect and How We Might Get There

This presentation summarizes findings from three related studies: Evaluating Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on the U.S. Power System; The Roles and Impacts of PV-Battery Hybrids in a Decarbonized U.S. Electricity Supply; and Optimal Design and Deployment of Wind-Solar Hybrids in Low-Carbon U.S. Power System. The compilation of results from these three studies indicate that the Inflation Reduction Act could drive significant deployment of variable renewable energy technologies, but the level of deployment depends on our ability to build new transmission projects (among other factors). Hybrid systems can help, to an extent, to facilitate greater shares of wind/solar with lesser amounts of transmission expansion.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law↗
DOE OSTI2022

Scalable Energy System Expansion Under Uncertainty Using Multi-Stage Stochastic Optimization

The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources poses challenges for electrical grids. This is due to the variable and uncertain nature of the power output from these resources. These features of renewable generation are more relevant to energy system planning as grids reach higher penetration levels of renewable energy. We present approaches for energy system planning based on scalable computational approaches which enable explicit consideration of operational uncertainties in the planning process. Using multi-stage stochastic programming and the progressive hedging algorithm, we compute energy system expansion decisions on modified versions of the RTS-GMLC test system.

electrical↗
NASA NTRS1991

Propulsion modeling techniques and applications for the NASA Dryden X-30 real-time simulator

An overview is given of the flight planning activities to date in the current National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program. The government flight-envelope expansion concept and other design flight operational assessments are discussed. The NASA Dryden NASP real-time simulator configuration is examined and hypersonic flight planning simulation propulsion modeling requirements are described. The major propulsion modeling techniques developed by the Edwards flight test team are outlined, and the application value of techniques for developmental hypersonic vehicles are discussed.

Hicks, John W.↗