SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
William Xi and Mark Ruth of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), will present a new solar-electrolysis technoeconomic assessment capability: low-temperature and high-temperature electrolysis in the System Advisor Model (SAM) environment. They will also present analysis results including opportunities for solar-hydrogen systems to achieve the $2/kg hydrogen cost target.
This final report describes the successful demonstration of AI‑assisted waste sorting and a novel pressurized solids feed system to enable conversion of non‑recyclable municipal solid waste to jet fuel under DOE Award DE‑EE0009265. Results include improved feedstock purity and variability reduction, lab‑scale testing, and technoeconomic and life‑cycle assessments.
The utilization of flue gas-derived CO2 presents an opportunity to enhance carbon utilization in the bioethanol industry, contributing to the production of valuable products. In the context of a 90 million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol plant generating approximately 30 tons per hour of 99% pure CO2, a collaborative effort involving six national laboratories has been established. This initiative, known as the CO2 Reduction and Upgrading for e-Fuels (CO2RUe) Consortium, is funded by the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Technologies Office (BETO). The primary objective of the CO2RUe Consortium is to explore innovative approaches to harness CO2 as a valuable feedstock. This interdisciplinary consortium integrates electrochemistry with biological upgrading techniques, aiming to yield sustainable, value-added products and aviation fuels. The presentation will delve into the recent advancements in the realms of electrochemistry and biological upgrading, with a specific focus on formic acid and CO. Additionally, the talk will include an analysis of future electricity grid scenarios, technoeconomic evaluations, and life-cycle assessments. These assessments aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of various conversion pathways on both cost and carbon intensity. The CO2RUe Consortium is at the forefront of steering the development of economically favorable and sustainable processes for CO2 utilization. The presentation will showcase the consortium's progress in driving the advancement of technology and processes, emphasizing the economic viability and sustainability of CO2 utilization within the broader context of the bioethanol industry.
This is a presentation featuring an analysis related to SMART Task 6 in which CO2 storage costs are presented. The National Energy Technology Laboratory has developed the NRAP/SMART Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) model to provide quantitative cost-based insights to support developers planning CO2 injection and storage projects. TALES calculates the revenues, costs, and financial performance of candidate CO2 saline storage project based on site-specific activity costs and financial parameters. TALES is being integrated as a module pertaining to storage cost as part of the broader SMART Visualization and Decision Support Platform (SVDSP). In this study, the TALES model was applied using real activity cost data associated with the development and operations at the Illinois Basin Decatur Project (IBDP) CO2 storage project site. Scenario analysis was implemented in which crucial operational and cost attributes were varied and the associated cost implications observed. Key results data and project cost summary metrics like first-year breakeven price of CO2 ($/tonne) and net present value (NPV) are presented in similar fashion to how they will appear in the SVDSP.
CONTEXT Agrivoltaic systems co-locate solar technologies with agricultural operations on an integrated plot of land and potentially provide benefits to both energy and agricultural systems. To date, large-scale (>5-MW) agrivoltaic projects in the United States have been limited to grazing and ecovoltaic applications, raising questions about the impact and scalability of agrivoltaic crop systems. Many agrivoltaic designs raise the height of the solar panels to accommodate agricultural practices while keeping energy density high. However, raising the panels results in increased photovoltaic (PV) development costs, which often are higher than the economic returns of crop production underneath the panels. This leads to unfavorable project economics and the need for other agrivoltaic solutions than raising panels. OBJECTIVE To explore other solutions, we perform an initial feasibility analysis for an agrivoltaic solution that can integrate with large-scale farming practices by increasing the row spacing in between panels. Increased PV row spacing is a low-cost approach for scaling agrivoltaics to accommodate crop production and this spacing can be tailored to required crop equipment for different regions. Increasing row spacing will reduce the power density (PV installed per acre), but in areas that are not land limited, these agrivoltaic designs could be economically feasible. Our analysis establishes a framework for a feasibility analysis for where and with what crops spaced out panel agrivoltaic solutions might be economical. METHODS Using a case study for large-scale agriculture crops in Colorado, we establish a framework for wide-row agrivoltaic economic feasibility analysis. We utilized the System Advisor Model to calculate technoeconomic metrics to compare different row spacing solutions and capture tradeoffs of these system designs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We find that, in some circumstances, wider row agrivoltaic solutions that allow for continued mechanized crop production can provide economic benefits over a traditional utility-scale PV system. For most crops examined in this analysis, roughly $\$$200/acre in agricultural profit justified spacing out the panels to at least 31.7 ft. to accommodate agrivoltaic configurations versus PV only configurations. Additionally, opportunities for increased agricultural revenue with agrivoltaic systems allow PV project economics to tolerate a larger range of CAPEX variability while remaining economically viable relative to the PV only configurations. SIGNIFICANCE This framework can be adapted for a wide variety of crops and regions and allows for examination of economically favorable sites for future agrivoltaic systems that utilize different configuration and expand opportunities for agrivoltaics.
This presentation describes the Water treatment Technoeconomic Assessment Platform (WaterTAP), an open-source software tool to analyze water treatment trains. The presentation was provided to the NAWI Alliance Fall Meeting on November 29th 2023 and it includes an overview of the tool and a couple of analyses demonstrating its capabilities. The analyses include a technoeconomic assessment of a novel membrane-based technology called low salt rejection reverse osmosis and a brackish water desalination train with pretreatment.
Geothermal cost and performance evaluation implemented via technoeconomic assessment (TEA) modeling is critical for the Department of Energy (DOE) and other geothermal industry stakeholders in assessing the current state of geothermal technologies and to identify existing hurdles to commercially viable geothermal development. The Geothermal Electricity Technology Evaluation Model (GETEM) is a major TEA tool used in estimating the economic feasibility and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of conventional hydrothermal systems and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Since 2021, GETEM has been transitioning from an intricate spreadsheet model to a user-friendly tool within the System Advisor Model (SAM) developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Apart from enabling an expanded visibility of the geothermal model among other renewable resources, having GETEM in SAM has the advantage of simulation automation, better usability, updates tracking, active user inputs/feedback, and extended financial modeling. GETEM is used in developing supply curves for the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB). The ATB data are inputs to the Renewable Energy Potential (reV) and the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) models. The geothermal module in NREL’s reV model assesses the geothermal energy potential in the conterminous United States by defining the geospatial intersection of geothermal resources with existing grid infrastructure within the constraint of land use characteristics. The ReEDS model is a capacity expansion model used for simulating the long-term build-out and operation of the US generation and transmission system based on current energy costs and policies. To ensure enhanced representation of current industry trends in our model transitions and development, we organized a two-day virtual workshop to elicit geothermal industry stakeholder input and recommendations on our current approaches and assumptions on technoeconomic, resource assessment, and deployment scenarios modeling of geothermal technologies. Participants included developers, operators, investors, regulatory agencies, system modelers, national laboratory researchers, consultants, and other stakeholders. In this workshop, we gained stakeholder insights on current geothermal plant performance (i.e., capacity factors), updated drilling costs and learning curves, and next generation technologies such as closed loop and superhot rock geothermal. Other outcomes from this workshop and its impact on future geothermal development feasibility, resource availability, and capacity expansion studies are compiled and discussed.
The U.S. Department of Energy promotes production of advanced liquid transportation fuels from lignocellulosic biomass by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology (SOT). As part of its involvement with this overall mission, Idaho National Laboratory completes annual SOT reports for nth-plant biomass feedstock logistics. The purpose of the SOTs is to provide the status of feedstock supply system technology development for biomass to biofuels, based on actual data and experimental results relative to technical targets and cost goals from specific design cases. The 2020 Woody Feedstock SOT is separated into three separate pathways that utilize woody feedstocks: indirect liquefaction (IDL), catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP), and algal-blend hydrothermal liquefaction (AHTL).
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies will play a significant role in limiting global warming if implemented on a large scale. Direct air capture (DAC) is a scalable approach for removing atmospheric carbon, yet the true scope of its scalability remains unclear due to the early stage of technology development and high first plant costs. This study provides groundwork for understanding the technoeconomic trade-offs in developing DAC systems using laminate-structured gas–solid contactors, encompassing the analysis of both contactor and process design spaces. The robust mass transfer and process models outlined in this study provide tools for evaluating DAC processes and designing DAC plants based on cost and energy analysis. First, the key contactor geometrical parameters are identified to understand the CO 2 productivity–energy demand trade-offs, where geometries yielding higher mass transfer rates can achieve higher CO 2 productivities at the expense of energy consumption by fans and steam use. Next, a detailed process parametric study is conducted for DAC systems coupled with steam-assisted temperature-vacuum swing adsorption (S-TVSA) to visualize the trade-offs in the multidimensional design space. The main cost driver dramatically changes over different process conditions, but the operating cost prevailed on the Pareto front, with potential to operate as low as 150 $/tonne-CO 2 (within the cost range of 148–504 $/tonne-CO 2 in this study where the DAC system is coupled with industrial facilities for steam production).
Advanced nuclear power plants are well-positioned for future zero-carbon grids, however, the need for flexible power generation will be required over the traditional emphasis on baseload generation for meeting historical demands. To achieve such flexibility, this work examines viable configurations for coupling nuclear energy production with thermal energy storage. Previous designs on nuclear-thermal energy storage configurations for advanced reactor designs, which utilized reactor steam as the heat source for charging the thermal energy storage, are restricted by the heat diversion ratio and efficiency losses, thus their impacts can be limited. In this context, this study proposes configurations for fully decoupling the nuclear reactor from the power cycle and positioning the storage as an intermediate loop, thereby achieving an unconstrained heat diversion ratio and improved efficiency. Compared with a standard high-temperature gas-cooled reactor’s power cycle, steady-state thermodynamic modeling and dispatch optimizations quantify the benefits of a steam reheat cycle within the fully decoupled thermal energy system to separate the plant cycle from the high-pressure primary side. These benefits are further detailed, compatible with required high-temperature and high-pressure conditions, through (1) open-source dynamic transient models that examine the impact of off-design operation on the systems, (2) the investigation of components design and costing and finally (3) sizing and dispatch optimization. The fully-decoupled design achieves a cycle efficiency of 43.1%, an enhancement over the vendor’s standard efficiency of 42.2% (Xe-100 design). Here, the proposed design offers strengthened physical barriers from the nuclear island as well as superior operational flexibility and power boosting. Dispatch optimization and market analysis reveal that thermal energy storage size is highly dependent on the peak patterns of electricity prices and the minimum generation level constraint imposed on the balance of plant. Evaluation of off-design operation demonstrates that the full decoupling design with the suggested fail-safe control mechanisms ensures a minimal impact on reactor parameters, even during rapid power ramping.
Poster on “CO2 Storage Economic Analysis: CarbonSAFE Use Case” for the CCUS 2025 conference held in Houston, Texas March 3-5, 2025. The cost of designing, permitting, constructing, operating, and closing a CO2 storage project is of vital importance to project developers. The National Energy Technology Laboratory has developed the NRAP/SMART Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) Model to provide quantitative cost-based insights to support developers planning CO2 injection and storage projects. This study presents a collaborative economic analysis applying TALES with data from the San Juan Basin CarbonSAFE Phase III project led by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to estimate potential costs incurred during the implementation of a real-world commercial-scale carbon storage project. Scenario analysis was implemented in which different operational and cost attributes were varied and the associated cost implications observed. Key results data and project cost summary metrics, first-year breakeven price of CO2 ($/tonne) and net present value (NPV), are presented for base and alternative cases. Output provides a unique perspective for project stakeholders towards evaluating the influence of different operational strategies and financing approaches on overall project cost and financial viability.
Achieving a secure, abundant, and affordable energy future requires a robust and adaptable energy strategy, with bioenergy playing a pivotal role. Biomass-based energy presents a promising pathway to use domestic resources while fostering economic opportunities in rural areas. Despite the potential to source more than 1 billion dry short tons of biomass annually in the US, significant infrastructure and economic barriers hinder full utilization for energy production. This study used the Biofuel Infrastructure, Logistics, and Transportation (BILT) model to assess biorefinery siting and scale and determine the number and size of facilities required to maximize use of the US biomass potential. A spatially agnostic approach first assessed the effects of facility capacity and transportation constraints on biomass use. Then, a spatially explicit analysis integrated county-level biomass availability from the US Department of Energy's 2023 Billion-Ton Report and technoeconomic assessments to evaluate different biorefinery deployment scenarios. The results indicate that an optimized mix of facility sizes is essential to leverage biomass resources fully across varying regional production densities to maximize use of the US biomass potential. Larger biorefineries or co-located smaller facilities significantly enhance biomass use while reducing costs through economies of scale. These findings underscore the importance of strategically balancing facility capacity and spatial distribution to optimize the bioenergy supply chain. In conclusion, this study provides critical insights for advancing the US bioenergy economy by aligning biorefinery deployment with biomass resource availability and economic viability.
Through the Communities Local Energy Action Program (LEAP), NREL provided technical assistance to a coalition of stakeholders from Oakridge, Oregon. The coalition included community-based non-profit organizations, the city government, the local utility, and others. Technical assistance provides analysis and information to support Oakridge stakeholders with their goals to increase energy reliability and resilience in the community, while promoting economic development. The Geothermal Resource Assessment provides technical analysis related to the geothermal resource in the Oakridge area, possible technology applications, and information related to further geothermal exploration. Technical analysis includes a review of a previous geothermal study conducted for Oakridge, thermal modeling to estimate reservoir temperatures, and technoeconomic simulation of a combined heat and power application in the Oakridge area.
The United States has a large, domestic source of lithium in geothermal fluids, especially at the Salton Sea region of southern California, where estimates of lithium pass-through at geothermal plants exceed 24,000 metric tons per year, based on 2019 geothermal plant operations. Lithium extraction from geothermal brines offers the potential to provide the United States with a secure, domestic supply of lithium to meet the increasing demands of electric vehicles, grid energy storage, portable electronics, and other end-use applications. Additionally, the use of direct extraction technologies allows for a more sustainable lithium supply relative to current evaporative brine and hardrock mining operations in terms of land use, water use, time to market with lithium products, and carbon intensity of operations. This report is part of an effort to assess geothermal brines as a source of commercial lithium supply for the United States. In this study, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reviews and summarizes public technoeconomic analyses of lithium extraction technologies. The work was coordinated with the Critical Minerals Institute at the Colorado School of Mines who focused on supply chain analysis of lithium.
Commercial production of jet fuel from biobased feedstocks is still encumbering, mainly due to their high production cost and competition with food resources. Pennycress oilseed is a potential jet fuel feedstock which can be supplied at a lower price compared to similar oilseeds, such as soybean and canola. However, the technoeconomics of pennycress-based jet fuel production needs to be evaluated. The objective of this study was to assess the technical feasibility and costs of hydroprocessed renewable jet fuel (HRJ) production from pennycress. The production capacity was considered to be 18.9 million L/yr (5 million gal/yr). The analysis considered pennycress grain handling and conditioning, oil extraction and conversion to HRJ and byproducts, i.e., LPG, naphtha and green diesel, through hydroprocessing technology, as well as pennycress meal processing as boiler fuel and wastewater treatment. Total investment for establishing the HRJ biorefinery at the selected capacity was estimated to be 90.8 million USD. Minimum selling price (MSP) of HRJ was estimated to be 1.2 USD/L, which was comparable to the MSP of HRJ from similar oilseeds, including soybean and canola. It could also be further reduced by supplying pennycress grain at a lower price, increasing the oil content and increasing the production capacity of the biorefinery. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research would help establish the performance targets needed to reach the economic viability of HRJ production from pennycress at the commercial scale.
The economic cost of a microreactor is being investigated by leveraging MARVEL cost information in conjunction with some simplified design and analysis activities to present a hypothetical, yet feasible, option for investigation. This bottom-up cost estimate for a hypothetical commercial microreactor will be used to provide guidance to the industry and research communities regarding where priorities should be set to improve the viability of broad microreactor deployment. To support the design and analysis activities required to present a feasible option, some understanding of maximum accidental radionuclide releases and consequences is needed to provide bounding estimates on containment or confinement systems for radionuclide retention. To estimate fission product barrier and retention performance, a gaussian plume dose and dispersion model is employed, with isotopic inventories being propagated between barriers assuming conservative fractional release rates. Demonstrably conservative meteorological assumptions are also assumed. Standard reference release rates are assumed where safety requirements could be easily and economically employed. Results are provided in units of total effective dose equivalent as a function of distance from the release (i.e., the reactor). Initial results indicate that the hypothetical microreactor will likely need to credit the fuel cladding and at least one other barrier, or combination of barriers, to ensure public health and safety as required during a postulated accident. This approach is referred to as “functional containment,” since no single barrier will be relied upon for satisfying regulatory requirements and fundamental safety functions for radionuclide retention. Finally, a set of barrier options are provided so that future economic analyses can select the most viable design path.
As the global push towards net zero carbon gains momentum, the demand for clean hydrogen is expected to grow rapidly across various sectors, including transportation, industries and electrical grids. To meet this growing hydrogen demand, baseload hydrogen production facilities capable of providing a continuous and reliable supply of hydrogen will be necessary throughout the world. This paper explores the technoeconomic feasibility of establishing baseload electrolytic hydrogen production facilities in the United States, utilizing different clean generation resources. The key criteria include maintaining a consistent supply of clean hydrogen without putting baseload demand stress to already vulnerable power grid. In order to do that, the proposed facilities will host onsite clean power generation and energy storage technologies. The proposed facilities can capitalize on available investment and production incentives and have ability to export excess electricity to the utility at a bulk price. Several scenarios are considered based on the clean energy resources to support the electrolysis process including light water reactors (LWRs) currently evaluating retirement options, wind, solar PVs, and advanced small modular reactors (SMRs). For each scenario, a hypothetical hydrogen production facility is considered in a location in the US where the primary generation resource is at its peak strength. Comparative analysis in this paper reveal that the nuclear power plants are most economically viable for baseload hydrogen production facilities, outperforming renewable-based facilities with significantly lower levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Even under best-case scenarios for resource availability, incentives and export prices, renewable-based facilities face challenges due to daily and seasonal generation variability, resulting in large installation sizes and lower capacity factors. Among renewable-based facilities, complementarity hybrids, providing more stable power supply, demonstrate superior economics compared to facilities based on a single renewable technology. While LWR-powered facility can achieve a negative LCOH with incentives, SMR-powered facilities can provide economic hydrogen supply with LCOH below $1/kg with high temperature electrolysis option. The analysis in this paper underscores the pivotal role of nuclear energy in the future hydrogen economy.
As climate change-induced variables exacerbate water scarcities, the use of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane desalination technology for treating seawater could potentially provide a long-term drought-proof source of drinking water. This study carried out a technoeconomic assessment (TEA) for three SWRO desalination plants in the U.S. and one in Israel to set baselines for the cost and energy consumption for seawater desalination. In addition, a breakeven curve for implementing SWRO desalination was estimated in relation to the cost of water conservation measures to meet drought-induced reduction of the traditional water supply. The results show that the cost of SWRO water production scales with the plant capacity while energy intensity is not dramatically different across the plants. The higher cost in some U.S. plants is due to high capital investment, including land acquisition and permitting. Variations in plant capacity utilization have the greatest impact on the levelized cost of water (LCOW) over the plant service life, suggesting the importance of reducing fouling and maintenance-related downtime. Scenario analysis of fixed labor cost reduction through process automation indicates investments in automation and sensing technology could result in long-term savings. Breakeven analysis shows the decision to adopt SWRO is highly dependent on the local cost associated with water conservation to meet water supply reduction. Moreover, a small reduction in SWRO cost can influence a shift toward the adoption of SWRO over water conservation measures. Incorporation of future water demand, water conservation potential, and water stress data around the nation indicates SWRO desalination could be an important contributor to the future municipal drinking water portfolio in the U.S.