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At least 289 records · Page 16

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DOE OSTI2022

How effective is the Brink–Axel hypothesis for astrophysical weak rates?

We explore the effectiveness of the Brink–Axel hypothesis (BAH) for the computation of stellar electron capture (EC) and β-decay (BD) rates, namely that the transition strength function depends only upon the transition energy and not upon the details of the initial state. For this purpose, we calculated Gamow–Teller (GT) strength distributions for a selection of sd-shell nuclides, using two different microscopic models, namely the proton–neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation and the full configuration-interaction shell model, taking into account the first 100 states of both the initial and final nuclides. The GT transition strengths among these levels evolve with initial state energy. These transition strength functions we folded into weak-interaction mediated rates in stellar matter, specifically EC and BD rates, for a range of densities 10 g cm –3 ≤ ρ ≤ 10 11 g cm –3 and range of temperatures 1 GK ≤ T ≤ 30 GK. When transitions from excited states were approximated using the BAH, augmented by so-called 'back-resonance' transitions, the rates were affected by up to three orders of magnitude or more at high temperatures and densities. Furthermore the BAH is not a reliable approximation for the calculation of stellar rates, especially in high temperature–density environments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

The flexibility gap: Socioeconomic and geographical factors driving residential flexibility

Residential consumers are moving to the center of electricity systems and their flexibility is seen as a key resource to integrate renewable energy sources and support the grid. However, residential flexibility capacities are not homogeneous, as they depend on household appliances, comfort patterns, occupancy, and climate conditions. In this work, we calculate the technical flexibility capacities of 45 consumer types in mainland Spain, organised according to income and regional criteria. We show that flexibility gaps exist at both regional and socioeconomic (income) levels with flexibility differences of up to 10 times more capacity between the household groups from the lowest to the highest capacities. These geographical and socioeconomic gaps in flexibility can lead to distortions in national markets and have the potential to exclude citizens from the provision of flexibility services. Our results show in quantitative terms that a consumer-centered approach without considering correcting measures nor these gaps in drafting energy policies may lead to increasing inequality levels in the residential sector. Under an economic competitive paradigm, households with lower income levels or located in regions with lower flexibility potential may be excluded from the provision of flexibility to the detriment of households with larger potential, raising justice concerns in a flexibility-based energy transition.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Energy Equity: From Sociological Concept to Engineering Perspective of Electric Power Systems

The implementation of energy equity has emerged as a pivotal goal of the global energy transition, driven by widespread recognition of energy inequities worldwide. Because energy equity is broadly regarded as a sociological concept rather than an engineering one, the current absence of technical engineering methods necessitates the development of a justified and sound approach to making energy equity an actionable practice in the broader realms of energy, environment, and sustainability. This Perspective discusses different terms related to energy equity and proposes a generalized definition of energy equity from the engineering perspective of electric power systems. To address these challenges related to energy equity, policies in Europe and the U.S. are introduced, although their effectiveness is limited. Further, current energy equity research is classified into four categories: quantifying energy equity, improving equity in the accessibility of electricity, improving equity in the affordability of electricity, and improving equity in the resilience of power systems. Then, we classify the ongoing research challenges in energy equity into two categories, technical challenges and application challenges, and provide corresponding insights. Finally, we discuss equity of resilience or reliability, income disparity, and environmental equity, followed by a summary of this Perspective.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Hybrid Uses of High-Temperature Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage: Lessons Learned from Previous Projects

One of the critical challenges of the green energy transition is resolving the mismatch between energy generation provided by intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind and the demand for energy. There is a need for large amounts of energy storage over a range of time scales (diurnal to seasonal) to better balance energy supply and demand. Subsurface geologic reservoirs provide the potential for storage of hot water that can be retrieved when needed and used for power generation or direct-use applications, such as district heating. It is important to identify potential issues associated with high-temperature reservoir thermal energy storage (HT-RTES) systems so that they can be mitigated, thus reducing the risks of these systems. This paper reviews past experiences from moderate and high-temperature reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) projects, along with hot water and steam flood enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations, to identify technical challenges encountered and evaluate possible ways to address them. Some of the identified technical problems that have impacted system performance include: 1) insufficient site characterization that failed to identify reservoir heterogeneity; 2) scaling resulting from precipitation of minerals having retrograde solubility that form with heating of formation brines; 3) corrosion from low pH or high salinity brines; 4) thermal breakthrough between hot and cold wells due to insufficient spacing. Proper design, characterization, construction, and operational practices can help reduce the risk of technical problems that could lead to reduced performance of these thermal energy storage systems.

energy storage↗

DOE OSTI2022

In-Situ Pipeline Coatings for Methane Emissions Mitigation and Quantification from Natural Gas Pipelines

Addressing the current health of the nation’s existing 3 million miles of pipeline infrastructure is key to preventing further climate change. In 2020, natural gas production exceeded 34 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Roughly 75% of natural gas consists of methane (CH 4 ), which is up to 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at trapping heat within the atmosphere over a 100-year period, and studies from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) estimate approximately 2% of all the natural gas produced will be lost during normal operations due to unaddressed leaks. This does not even consider the risks of major disaster due to pipeline failure, or the losses and extra fuel costs incurred due to corrosion and scale deposits in under-maintained pipelines. The objective of the proposed research is to demonstrate the protection capabilities and economic benefits of Oceanit’s internal pipe surface treatment, known as DragX™. DragX™ is a chemically resistant, water-and-oil repellent nanocomposite system that can be readily applied in-situ on natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines with a minimum of surface preparation. This makes it an ideal candidate for in-place retrofitting and refurbishment of existing pipelines without the need for expensive extraction and replacement. DragX™ is also able to significantly reduce the surface roughness, and subsequently, the frictional drag forces within a pipeline, improving throughput, decreasing energy costs of pressurization and pumping, and allowing for longer pipeline operation without interruption, reducing the methane emitted during pipe isolation and venting. As part of this project, Oceanit has utilized the Department of Energy’s support to fully develop, de-risk and prove the DragX™ core technology is both economically viable and commercially desirable to pipeline operators and energy companies alike. DragX™ material properties were optimized in this effort both for ease of applicability, to provide value in certain key parameters, and was demonstrated on pilot applications exceeding 2 miles in length. Beyond the already field demonstrated applications, this innovative nanocomposite surface treatment has the potential to be the backbone for CO 2 and Hydrogen transporting pipeline infrastructure. The learnings from this project could accelerate the deployment of surface treatment technologies related to the energy transition infrastructure, thus benefitting the clean energy initiatives in the United States and all around the world.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Resource Characterization to Estimate Potential for Electricity Co-Production at Blackburn Oil Field, Nevada

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that an annual average of 25 billion barrels of hot water are produced from oil and gas wells within the United States. The thermal energy available in the co-produced water stream is usually discarded, as the produced waters are considered an inconvenience by the operators and are disposed of using injection wells. However, utilizing organic Rankine cycle (ORC) generators, a vast amount of thermal energy can be captured and converted into electricity (albeit at relatively low efficiency due to the low temperatures). The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with Transitional Energy and Grant Canyon Oil & Gas, evaluated the feasibility of geothermal co-production of electricity by utilizing existing oil wells in Blackburn oil field in Nevada. The once prolific Blackburn oil field is located in Pine Valley, approximately 45 miles east-southeast of Elko, Nevada. Currently, the wells targeting the highly fractured Devonian Nevada dolomite reservoir are operating at a water cut ratio of more than 99%, with individual fluid (oil and water) production rates reaching 7.4 L/s (4,021 BBL/day). Analysis of publicly available data showed that the combination of the suitable wells' maximum historical production rates reached 22.90 L/s. The production from these wells occurs naturally and the wells are choked (and even shut down) by the operator to mitigate excessive water production, indicating a strong reservoir recharge and future opportunity to increase the water production for geothermal electricity generation. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the productivity of the existing wells, the performance of the reservoir, the surface network, and the operational constraints in order to achieve 1 MWe of electricity production from the field's water production. Utilizing the GEOPHIRES tool, we have determined that a twofold to threefold increase in the total fluid production, compared to the historical production under artificial restraint (choke), is required to reach a 1-MWe net target output for a low-temperature ORC system with air-cooled condensers. Lower flow rates would be required when utilizing water-based condensers instead of air-cooled condensers. However, that would require a constant supply of cold water, which may be challenging given the arid environment of the project site.

Blackburn↗

DOE OSTI2023

Electric vehicle batteries alone could satisfy short-term grid storage demand by as early as 2030

The energy transition will require a rapid deployment of renewable energy (RE) and electric vehicles (EVs) where other transit modes are unavailable. EV batteries could complement RE generation by providing short-term grid services. However, estimating the market opportunity requires an understanding of many socio-technical parameters and constraints. We quantify the global EV battery capacity available for grid storage using an integrated model incorporating future EV battery deployment, battery degradation, and market participation. We include both in-use and end-of-vehicle-life use phases and find a technical capacity of 32–62 terawatt-hours by 2050. Low participation rates of 12%–43% are needed to provide short-term grid storage demand globally. Participation rates fall below 10% if half of EV batteries at end-of-vehicle-life are used as stationary storage. Short-term grid storage demand could be met as early as 2030 across most regions. Our estimates are generally conservative and offer a lower bound of future opportunities.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Spectral line identification from a photoionised silicon plasma in emission

Next-generation X-ray satellite telescopes such as XRISM, NewAthena and Lynx will enable observations of exotic astrophysical sources at unprecedented spectral and spatial resolution. Proper interpretation of these data demands that the accuracy of the models is at least within the uncertainty of the observations. One set of quantities that might not currently meet this requirement is transition energies of various astrophysically relevant ions. Current databases are populated with many untested theoretical calculations. Accurate laboratory benchmarks are required to better understand the coming data. We obtained laboratory spectra of X-ray lines from a silicon plasma at an average spectral resolving power of ∼7500 with a spherically bent crystal spectrometer on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories. Many of the lines in the data are measured here for the first time. We report measurements of 53 transitions originating from the K-shells of He-like to B-like silicon in the energy range between ∼1795 and 1880 eV (6.6–6.9 Å). The lines were identified by qualitative comparison against a full synthetic spectrum calculated with ATOMIC. The average fractional uncertainty (uncertainty/energy) for all reported lines is ∼5.4 × 10 −5 . We compare the measured quantities against transition energies calculated with RATS and FAC as well as those reported in the NIST ASD and XSTAR’s uaDB. Average absolute differences relative to experimentally measured values are 0.20, 0.32, 0.17 and 0.38 eV, respectively. All calculations/databases show good agreement with the experimental values; NIST ASD shows the closest match overall.

astrophysical plasmas↗

DOE OSTI2021

Progress and prospects of thermo-mechanical energy storage – A critical review

The share of electricity generated by intermittent renewable energy sources is increasing (now at 26% of global electricity generation) and the requirements of affordable, reliable and secure energy supply designate grid-scale storage as an imperative component of most energy transition pathways. The most widely deployed bulk energy storage solution is pumped-hydro energy storage (PHES), however, this technology is geographically constrained. Alternatively, flow batteries are location independent and have higher energy densities than PHES, but remain associated with high costs and low lifetimes, which highlights the importance of developing and utilizing additional larger-scale, longer-duration and long-lifetime energy storage alternatives. Here, we review a class of promising bulk energy storage technologies based on thermo-mechanical principles, which includes: compressed-air energy storage (CAES), liquid-air energy storage (LAES) and pumped-thermal electricity storage (PTES). The thermodynamic principles upon which these thermo-mechanical energy storage (TMES) technologies are based are discussed and a synopsis of recent progress in their development is presented, assessing their ability to provide reliable and cost-effective solutions. The current performance and future prospects of TMES systems are examined within a unified framework and a thermoeconomic analysis is conducted to explore their competitiveness relative to each other as well as when compared to PHES and flow battery systems. This includes carefully selected thermodynamic and economic methodologies for estimating the component costs of each configuration in order to provide a detailed and fair comparison at various system sizes. The analysis reveals that the technical and economic characteristics of TMES systems are such that, especially at higher discharge power ratings and longer discharge durations, they can offer promising performance (round-trip efficiencies higher than 60%) along with high lifetimes (> 30 years), low specific costs (often below 100 $/kWh), low ecological footprints and unique sector-coupling features compared to other storage options. TMES systems have significant potential for further progress and the thermoeconomic comparisons in this paper can be used as a benchmark for their future evolution.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2022

Metallic and complex hydride-based electrochemical storage of energy

Abstract The development of efficient storage systems is one of the keys to the success of the energy transition. There are many ways to store energy, but among them, electrochemical storage is particularly valuable because it can store electrons produced by renewable energies with a very good efficiency. However, the solutions currently available on the market remain unsuitable in terms of storage capacity, recharging kinetics, durability, and cost. Technological breakthroughs are therefore expected to meet the growing need for energy storage. Within the framework of the Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Program—H 2 TCP Task-40, IEA’s expert researchers have developed innovative materials based on hydrides (metallic or complex) offering new solutions in the field of solid electrolytes and anodes for alkaline and ionic batteries. This review presents the state of the art of research in this field, from the most fundamental aspects to the applications in battery prototypes.

Cuevas, Fermin (ORCID:0000000290555880)↗

DOE OSTI2023

Energy Assets Transformation Web Mapping Application

This submission contains the link and geospatial materials used in the Energy Assets Transformation Web Mapping Application. The zip file contains 19 geospatial layers in a file geodatabase called EAT.gdb to be grouped in the following categories. 1. Industrial Assets: Coal Generation Units Retirements 2012-2040 (EIA); Examples of Repurposing Projects (32 projects in total); Abandoned Coal Mines (CORD, SkyTruth); Abandoned or Orphaned Wells (for ten states only). 2. Energy Transition Communities: 48C (e) Tax Credits - Designated Energy Communities (IRA); Index of Deep Disadvantage; Local Energy Action Program (LEAP); EJ Index for Proximity to Hazardous Waste (EPA). 3. Regional Landscape: State-Level Funding Programs (relevant to repurposing projects, for 2022 and 2023 only); Coal Flows from Mine to Plant 2021 (EIA), Variable Renewable Energy Shares (Wind and Solar, 2021, EIA). 4. Supporting Infrastructure: Railroads (HIFLD), Electric Power Transmission Lines (HIFLD), Major Highways (NHPN, DOT), Major Ports (National Atlas of the U.S.); Independent System Operators (HIFLD), NERC Regions and Subregions (HIFLD).

abandoned coal mines↗

DOE OSTI2024

Prospecting for Critical Minerals and Rare Earth Elements from Marcellus Shale in the Western Portion of the Appalachian Basin with Non-Destructive Core Characterization

Identification of sources for domestic critical minerals and rare earth elements (CM/REE) has been deemed essential for the energy transition by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The U.S. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL) Geomaterials Characterization Laboratory has performed non-destructive core characterizations on energy-relevant rock cores for the past decade. During this time, NETL has published over 36 technical reports and made the associated data publicly available. Much of this work focuses on unconventional shale gas, subsurface carbon storage systems, and carbon-ore. These efforts provide cm-scale petrophysical and elemental data, photographic documentation, detailed core descriptions, and computed tomography (CT) data for each well. This provides a first phase prospecting resource for CM/REE resources and can provide a map for pin-pointing intervals and lithologies for further development. Using historical core characterization data from 12 Marcellus wells from the western portion of the Appalachian Basin, this study builds an improved understanding of the chemostratigraphy of the basin. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and CT images were used to determine lithologic intervals and potential ore bodies for further analysis, including benchtop digestion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to better understand the CM/REE enrichments.

Paronish, Thomas J.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Clean Energy Transformation in Bangladesh

Since 2011, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have partnered to support Bangladesh’s energy transition by enabling the deployment of advanced energy systems. The USAID-NREL Partnership launched the Reinforcing Advanced Energy Systems (RAES) program in May 2021 as a mechanism for providing a broader array of technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh in support of their goal to promote renewable energy development to stimulate private sector investment, rural economic development, and to meet growing energy demand through domestic energy resources. This fact sheet reviews how USAID and NREL collaborate in Bangladesh to improve energy access and security and stimulate economic growth through the deployment of advanced energy systems.

Bangladesh↗

DOE OSTI2025

Intelligently Partitioned Phasor-EMT Hybrid Simulations of Large-Scale, High-IBR Power Systems

As the penetration level of power electronics-interfaced renewables such as photovoltaics (PV) and wind has surged in modern electric grids, new operational risks caused by the dynamics of those inverter-based resources (IBRs) are emerging in parallel. Lessons learned from various grid events include that the impact of IBRs on system-level grid stability will become prominent along with the increase of renewables and that the short-timescale dynamic impacts of IBRs on grid stability are not fully captured by current commercial dynamic simulation tools [1] [2]. For example, IBRs can be controlled to mitigate those destabilizing interactions, but conventional phasor-domain tools (e.g. PSS/E, PSLF) often cannot capture that; likewise, the existing electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation tools (e.g. PSCAD, EMTP) can simulate detailed IBR controls, but for large power systems with many IBRs, slow simulation speeds severely impede the ability to study dynamic events [3] [4]. Massively paralleling simulations using high-performance computing (HPC) can help address this, especially now that cloud-based HPC capability is widely available, but today s EMT tools are not HPC-compatible, and parallelization of dynamic simulation solvers is not trivial because each region can dynamically affect the others. Thus, dynamic simulation of grids with very large numbers of IBRs potentially poses a barrier to the ongoing energy transition.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2023

Towards an Energy Future with Ubiquitous Electric Vehicles: Barriers and Opportunities

The electrification of personal transportation holds great potential for lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing climate change. The promise of electric vehicles (EVs) to serve these goals has resulted in a broad range of supporting policies aimed at encouraging widespread EV adoption at both the state and federal levels in the United States and around the world. While the EV revolution and prospects of a world with ubiquitous EVs are impacting various industries and many aspects of daily life, strategic interactions between the power grid and EVs are crucial for a successful energy transition. However, managing the interplay between EVs and the power grid remains a challenge. Motivated by that tension, this paper surveys a variety of solutions, policies, and incentives that are focused on effectively managing EV charging behaviors. The paper’s objective is to explore these tools to ensure that EV owners have ultimate control over their personal vehicles while simultaneously allowing the power grid to mitigate adverse network impacts. Furthermore, this paper examines the role of charging infrastructure technology and its strategic placement in facilitating the seamless integration of EVs into the grid. Additionally, the paper highlights financial mechanisms associated with EV integration and discusses the consequences of these mechanisms.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA NTRS1986

Field-dependent linewidths and photoluminescence energies in GaAs-AlGaAs multiquantum well modulators

Photoluminescence linewidths and transition energies have been measured in GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum wells with large (equal to or greater than 160 A) barrier widths as a function of applied transverse electric field. The experimental data agree well with values calculated by using a recently developed variational technique. It is apparent that heterointerface roughness is the dominant line broadening mechanism. The emission intensity decreases rapidly with field, principally due to carrier tunneling at high fields. At 80 kV/cm a shift of 20 meV in the emission energy is observed.

Juang, F.-Y.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Convergence of micro-geochemistry and micro-geomechanics towards understanding proppant shale rock interaction: A Caney shale case study in southern Oklahoma, USA

As a direct outcome of economic development coupled with an increase in population, global energy demand will continue to rise in the coming decades. Although renewable energy sources are increasingly investigated for optimal production, the immediate needs require focus on energy sources that are currently available and reliable, with a minimal environmental impact; the efficient exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbon resources is bridging the energy needs and energy aspirations, during the current energy transition period. The main challenges are related to the accurate quantification of the critical rock properties that influence production, their heterogeneity and the multiscale driven physico-chemical nature of rock–fluid interactions. A key feature of shale reservoirs is their low permeability due to dominating nanoporosity of the clay-rich matrix. As a means of producing these reservoirs in a cost-effective manner, a prerequisite is creation of hydraulic fracture networks capable of the highest level of continued conductivity. Fracturing fluid chemical design, formation brine geochemical composition, and rock mineralogy all contribute to swelling-induced conductivity damage. The Caney Shale is an organic-rich, often calcareous mudrock. Many studies have examined the impact that clay has on different kinds of shale productivity but there is currently no data reported on the Caney Shale in relation to horizontal drilling; all reported data on the Caney Shale is on vertical wells which are shallow, compared to an emerging play that is at double the depth. Here, in this work we develop geochemical–geomechanical integration of rock properties at micro-and nanoscales that can provide insights into the potential proppant embedment and its mitigation. The novel methodology amalgamates the following: computed X-ray tomography, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, micro-indentation, and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Here, our results show that due to the multiscale heterogeneity in the Caney Shale, these geochemical and structural properties translate into a variation in mechanical properties that will impact interaction between the proppant and the host shale rock.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Grid connection barriers to renewable energy deployment in the United States

Bulk-power grid connection is an emerging bottleneck to the entry of wind, solar, and storage but has been understudied due to a lack of data. We create and analyze two novel interconnection datasets with more than 38,000 project-level observations that provide new information documenting interconnection challenges in the United States. Active grid connection requests are more than double the total installed capacity of the US power plant fleet (2,600 vs. 1,280 GW). The time required to secure a connection has increased by 70% over the last decade, and withdrawal rates remain high at 80%, suggesting a constrained transmission system that jeopardizes energy transition targets. Wide distributions of interconnection costs indicate the inherent uncertainty of the interconnection process. Interconnection requests that identify large transmission upgrades tend to withdraw from the process. These findings suggest the need for interconnection reforms, tighter links between long-term transmission planning and project-level interconnection processes, and more interconnection outcome transparency.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗