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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Performance Assurance Planning Guide for Utility Energy Service Contracts: 2025 Edition

Administered by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the Utility Program has fostered collaboration among federal agencies and their serving utilities for more than 25 years. The Utility Program supports agencies using Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), a well-developed, effective contracting vehicle that enable the latest approaches to cost-effective energy management at federal sites. Federal agencies have successfully used UESCs to award over 2,000 energy and water efficiency and renewable energy projects, investing approximately $\$$2.8 billion in furthering the Federal Government's efforts to reduce energy intensity. Authorized by 42 U.S. Code section 8256 (10 U.S. Code section 2913 for the Department of Defense), a UESC is a limited-source acquisition between a federal agency and an eligible serving utility for energy management services that generate savings from the implementation of energy- and water -conservation measures (collectively referred to as ECMs), with 42 U.S. Code section 8287 (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Part 241), providing the term of a UESC, which may extend up to 25 years. Through a UESC, the utility partner assesses designs, and implements the desired ECMs - which can range from lighting retrofits and renewable energy systems, to combined heat and power plants or other technologies and strategies, and may provide financing for the project. The agency may use any combination of appropriations and third-party financing to pay for the project, providing useful flexibility. There is no limit to the project size, big or small, that can be implemented using a UESC. To assist agencies implementing a UESC, FEMP has developed a Utility Energy Service Contract Guide and this companion guidance document to help agencies and their utility partners better understand the best practices for to ensure UESCs continue to perform and generate savings throughout their performance period. These best practices utilize a combination of effective project management, communication, documentation, and a detailed Performance Assurance Plan. This plan is a project specific set of actionable protocols that define important tasks and responsibilities throughout the contract term and reflects the site conditions, complexities, agency capabilities, and operating and maintaining planned ECMs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

PIPES (Pipeline for Integrated Projects in Energy Systems) [SWR-24-89]

The Pipeline for Integrated Projects in Energy Systems (PIPES) is a comprehensive project, data, and workflow management tool designed for integrated modeling teams. PIPES facilitates the management of data requirements, tasks, and progress tracking, serving as a higher-level integration layer that works across various data and modeling software. This tool integrates models, data, and tools to perform large-scale, integrated analysis work at scale. PIPES is designed to streamline integrated modeling projects, enhance collaboration, and ensure the quality and efficiency of data management and workflow processes. https://github.com/nrel-pipes/pipes-api https://github.com/nrel-pipes/pipes-web https://github.com/nrel-pipes/nrel-pipes

Gu, Jianli↗
DOE OSTI2024

Self-Assembling Microgrids for Resilient Distribution Systems of the Future: Implementation in a Commercial DERMS Platform

Microgrids have long provided resilience to critical facilities such as hospitals and military installations, and they are now increasingly being looked at as a building block for future grids to support the energy resilience needs of the grid of the future. State-of-the-art technologies, such as blackstart algorithms using renewable distributed energy resources (DERs) to effectively and seamlessly form microgrids, have been produced by national labs over the years. Their adoption by the utility industry would be critical to reap the most benefits toward energy and climate resilience, and the pathway is via commercialization of these self-assembling microgrid algorithms by integrating them in a commercial product platform. This project brings a national labs team (LLNL, LANL) together with a vendor (Smarter Grid Solutions) to perform proof-of-concept integration of the algorithms into the vendor’s commercial Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS). The project provides a strong pathway to commercialization of the algorithms thereby promoting adoption of resilient microgrid technology by utilities to offer resilience benefits to all customers and especially to disadvantaged and underserved communities.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Best Practices for Regulatory Engagement and Relationship Building – 26129

In the initiation of a new project or facility, the management team should begin to engage with appropriate regulators, early and often. However, if this did not occur and new issues arise, new challenges develop, or regulatory impacts become a concern, the regulatory engagement process should be reconsidered and reevaluated. Regulators are key in the siting, construction, and continued operations of a new facility. Municipalities often seek to attract new initiatives, projects, or facilities that will have a significant positive impact on the community. Even though this is typically the goal, there are many hurdles along the path that may cause negative impacts leading to regulatory concerns and hurdles that may delay or stop work. Additionally, early and frequent engagement with regulators can have a significant positive impact on the successful siting, permitting, and construction of a facility, including meeting needed schedules that are important to economic viability. Further, it is essential for ongoing operations for regulators to be effectively and meaningfully engaged throughout the life of the project or facility due to the potential of changing factors during the construction and/or operation. Regular and consistent engagement builds relationships and helps ensure that potential topics of concern are addressed early before they become problems. In this paper, we will discuss best practices in engaging with regulators, how to initiate effective regulatory interactions, and building lasting relationships.

Jacobs, Stephanie [Savannah River National Laborat↗
DOE OSTI2025

Williston Basin Resource Study for Commercial-Scale Subsurface Hydrogen Storage

This closeout presentation summarizes a Department of Energy–funded study that evaluated whether large amounts of hydrogen can be safely stored underground in the North Dakota portion of the Williston Basin. The project combined lab testing, computer simulations, and basin‑wide analysis to assess saline formations, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and salt formations for hydrogen storage capacity, recovery, and risks. Results show that underground hydrogen storage is technically feasible across multiple formation types, with depleted oil and gas reservoirs offering higher recovery and saline formations providing large long‑term storage potential. The study also identifies key challenges—such as wellbore material durability and gas purity management—and recommends pilot projects and further site‑specific studies to support future commercialization.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Western States Building Energy & Controls Apprenticeship (BECA) Program

How does this project help to understand the challenges of workforce development in the commercial building energy management industry? The purpose of this project was to create a replicable, scalable, and portable apprenticeship program for building energy management and controls. This paper will demonstrate how local processes can be more adaptable and inclusive than federal processes in achieving workforce development goals. Our work provides insights into the technical effectiveness of the program, enabling others to achieve greater success in their workforce development initiatives. The project required more time and financial resources than initially anticipated and spent a year in a no-cost extension working to accomplish the Statement of Project Objectives. The original goal was to create an Industry Related Apprenticeship Program (IRAP). The development of this apprenticeship presented challenges due to the lack of existing programs for reference and the absence of relevant industry classification codes by the Department of Labor (DOL). Notably, the role of a commercial building energy analyst is not recognized by the DOL. The SIC (industry codes) do not have a good description of this job. There are many that may fall into related categories, but none are the actual duties of an energy analyst. Discussions with the DOL indicated that substantial groundwork was necessary before a national apprenticeship program could be implemented, causing delays in the program’s commencement. As a result, students experienced longer wait times before starting their apprenticeship component. The apprenticeship program officially launched on September 14, 2021. The success of the State of Oregon’s apprenticeship program, the first of its kind in the state, underscored the flexibility and effectiveness of local initiatives compared to federal efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic also significantly impacted the project’s success. Beginning in March 2020, the pandemic led to widespread closures of schools and colleges by fall 2020. By September 2021, when the apprenticeship option became available, enrollment in colleges and universities nationwide had decreased, affecting student participation in the program. Moreover, as employers transitioned their employees to remote work, there was limited interaction with external personnel, influencing the willingness of training agents (employers) to integrate additional workers into their teams. This paper addresses several challenges encountered during the project, with the hope that future workforce development efforts will benefit from these experiences. We Final Technical Report 4 | Page encourage others to engage with state and federal agencies to enhance and update pathways for workforce development and apprenticeship programs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impacts of Forest Management-Induced Productivity Changes on Future Land Use and Land Cover Change

Anthropogenic land use and land cover change (LULCC) is projected to continue in the future. However, the influence of forest management on forest productivity change and subsequent LULCC projections remains under-investigated. This study explored the impacts of forest management-induced change in forest productivity on LULCC throughout the 21st century. Specifically, we developed a framework to softly couple the Global Change Analysis Model and Global Timber Model to consider forest management-induced forest productivity change and projected future LULCC across the five Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). We found future increases in forest management intensity overall drive the increase of forest productivity. The forest management-induced forest productivity change shows diverse responses across all SSPs, with a global increase from 2015 to 2100 ranging from 3.9% (SSP3) to 8.8% (SSP1). This further leads to an overall decrease in the total area with a change of land use types, with the largest decrease under SSP1 (-7.5%) and the smallest decrease under SSP3 (-0.7%) in 2100. Among land use types, considering forest management-induced change significantly reduces the expansion of managed forest and also reduces the loss of natural land in 2100 across SSPs. This suggests that ignoring forest management-induced forest productivity change underestimates the efficiency of wood production, overestimates the managed forest expansion required to meet the future demand, and consequently, potentially introduces uncertainties into relevant analyses, for example, carbon cycle and biodiversity. Thus, we advocate to better account for the impacts of forest management in future LULCC projections.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Makah Tribe Strategic Energy Plan

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) connects remote and island communities, regional partners, and the DOE national laboratories to support communities as they seek to build resilience in their energy systems. The Makah Tribe faces several energy challenges, including frequent power outages and the potential for an extended outage due to an earthquake or tsunami. The Tribe joined ETIPP in 2022 to address those challenges, seeking to build energy resilience and sovereignty in the community. The Makah Tribe, Spark Northwest, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) collaborated to develop a strategic energy plan as part of the second cohort of ETIPP communities. The long-term energy vision of the Makah Tribe includes increasing energy efficiency in the community, improving energy management capacity, and developing the renewable energy generation and storage sufficient to independently power the Reservation for one year. Additionally, the ETIPP team worked with Makah leadership, staff, and community members to identify a set of community priorities, values, and goals to guide energy development as the Tribe takes the incremental steps toward their vision for energy sovereignty. Those energy values include ecosystem-based management, energy sovereignty and project ownership, workforce development and capacity, economic opportunity, community wellbeing and priorities, and emergency disaster resilience. To understand what would be needed for a year for energy independence, the PNNL team conducted an assessment to determine the current energy usage of the Tribe and also modeled several scenarios for future energy use. Using the energy usage values, the team estimated how two types of renewable energy technology, specifically locally deployed solar and small-scale wind, could contribute towards the energy independence goal. The energy baseline and resource assessment produced the following key findings:

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

eMosaic: Electrification Mosaic Platform for Grid Informed Smart Charging Management (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

ABB (Prime Contractor), in collaboration with its partners at the Utah State University (USU), Idaho National Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), and Electric Power Engineers (EPE), have performed research, development, and wide scale demonstration of a scalable and resilient Electrification Mosaic (eMosaic) platform for Smart Charge Management (SCM) for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure. Work was completed under DE EE0009194, titled “eMosaic Electrification Mosaic Platform for Grid Informed Smart Charging Management”, funded by the US Department of Energy. The project members developed algorithms that provide localized and bulk grid services and that reduce and stabilize costs all the way down the supply chain to the PEV owner through SCM. This platform aggregates telemetry from multiple data sources as pieces of the larger picture including personal, private fleet or transportation EVs, fast chargers and other supply equipment, weather service information, and geographically distributed charging sites such as public lots, garage and retail, and private or shared usage depots. ABB and the project team designed, tested, and improved a charging management system at local/edge and cloud levels. The ultimate objective of the project was to convincingly demonstrate that the developed secure eMosaic plat-form can be readily and favorably adopted by diverse utilities and site owners at scale. This was achieved through a demonstration plan with field deployment at several physical sites across 4 states and additional scalable simulation from high fidelity charging models.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Application of quantitative risk assessment to address stakeholder questions in geologic carbon storage

Ambitious international greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets demand a rapid transformation to a low-carbon economy. This transformation includes the accelerated adoption of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technology. However, as with any large-scale engineering enterprise, the widespread commercial-scale deployment of geologic carbon storage (GCS) raises important questions about technology and cost-effectiveness, safety, environmental risk, and long-term liability. Effectively assessing and managing risks and liability associated with GCS projects is a key technical need throughout the project life cycle-from site selection and permitting to monitoring design, operational risk management, and post-operational site closure. This presentation highlights recent advancements in tools for quantitative risk assessment, being developed by the National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP). NRAP is a multi-year, multinational laboratory research collaboration sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Our focus will be on these tools' applications in addressing critical stakeholder questions related to supporting permitting to ensure secure and environmentally protective storage; designing effective and efficient monitoring plans; evaluating the effectiveness of remedial actions and risk management alternatives; and informing liability assessment and investment decisions. This paper will detail the key functionality of NRAP’s Open-Source Integrated Assessment Model (NRAP-Open-IAM), a computational framework for assessing leakage risk and containment assurance. This model features streamlined workflows for calculating leakage risk profiles, delineating risk-based area of review, and assessing contingency plans and post-injection site care requirements. ORION is an open-source, observation-based ensemble forecasting toolkit to help operators assess the seismic hazard at a carbon storage site. The State of Stress Analysis Tool (SOSAT), designed to assess subsurface stress conditions and evaluate geomechanical risk resulting from CO2 injection in an area of interest will also be presented. We will also introduce a prototype model to evaluate storage project costs and liability associated with risk management. The Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) model uses results from forecasts of leakage and induced seismicity risk to estimate the lifecycle cost of managing risk. Finally, a preliminary example of how the NRAP Risk-based Adaptive Monitoring Plan (RAMP) tool can be used to design efficient and effective site monitoring plans and estimate the detectability of fluid leakage will be provided. The relevance of these tools for addressing key stakeholder questions amidst uncertainty will be emphasized.

decision support↗
DOE OSTI2024

Developing a Database of Bio-based Materials for Building Envelope Applications

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) to help accelerate the introduction of building envelope materials that would reduce the carbon footprint of the buildings sector. The DOE’s Building Technologies Office has historically sought to resolve the knowledge gaps regarding the energy efficiency and moisture durability of building envelope systems and to develop the data, guidance, and tools needed to facilitate rapid industry adoption of high-performance, moisture-managed envelope systems. This project will help accelerate the widespread acceptance of a new generation of building materials developed specifically with the intent of reducing the carbon footprint of buildings. We have produced a database of hygrothermal transport properties on low embodied carbon building materials that can be added to energy and durability simulation tools. Properties that were measured include density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity as a function of temperature and relative humidity, moisture dependent permeance, and sorption isotherms as a function of relative humidity. These data sets were measured following consensus national standards using state-of-the-art facilities. The data has been compiled and is being made available to building designers who require these data to assess these new materials in their designs. We will publish the data and seek its addition to reference databases such as the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) Annual Site Environmental Report (ASER) for Calendar Year 2025

The report, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy West Valley Demonstration Project office (DOE-WVDP), summarizes the environmental protection program at the WVDP for calendar year (CY) 2025. Monitoring and surveillance of the facilities used by the DOE are conducted to verify protection of public health and safety and the environment. The report is a key component of the DOE’s effort to keep the public informed of environmental conditions at the WVDP. The quality assurance protocols applied to the environmental monitoring program ensure the validity and accuracy of the monitoring data. In addition to demonstrating compliance with environmental laws, regulations, and directives, the evaluation of data collected in 2025 continued to indicate that WVDP activities posed no threat to public health or safety, or to the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamic modeling studies of basin-scale pressure interference and CO 2 plume evolution in multi-well geologic CO 2 storage

This research employs numerical modeling to analyze how CO 2 plumes and pressure fronts evolve when CO 2 is injected into a single storage formation from multiple projects located in proximity. Here, this analysis also evaluates the extent to which injection well spacing alleviates pressure buildup in the absence of active pressure management tactics. The simulation approach was based on a single, homogenous saline aquifer in which CO 2 injection occurs under a one-injector baseline case and several multi-well cases where well spacing varies. Analysis results show that the extent of pressure buildup is in the range of tens or a few hundreds of kilometers and contingent upon the defining pressure buildup demarcating the front edge. For the geological setting evaluated in this paper, our analysis suggests that without active basin pressure management strategies, commercial-scale projects would likely need to be sited far apart to avoid pressure interference from one another. Analysis results show the radius of CO 2 plume varies approximately from 2 to 3 km from injection wells (each injecting 1 Mt/year for 30 years) depending on cases and modeling parameters assumed. Given the pressure interference, this paper thus draws attention to the importance of greater coordination among storage operators and regulatory stakeholders. Because this analysis assumes a very specific geologic setting, this exploratory analysis bears further investigations across other geologic scenarios.

42 ENGINEERING↗