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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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The community of North Birmingham, Alabama, participated in the Communities LEAP pilot program. As part of this technical assistance pilot, residential buildings, energy efficiency, and electrification were analyzed. This slide deck details the baseline analysis of residential buildings in the community and potential upgrade strategies.
This technical assistance is part of the Communities Local Energy Action Program (CLEAP) for the community of Beacon Hill, Seattle, WA. This analysis focuses on opportunities to reduce energy burden, energy consumption, and energy bills for both single family homes and large multifamily buildings. It uses state-level data from the ResStock modelling tool that was filtered to be relevant to Beacon Hill. Hence, this content includes single family detached homes and large multifamily buildings in the income group of 0-80% AMI, and climate zone 4c (mixed temperatures, relatively cooler summers) within Washington State.
The importance of the development of inexpensive and efficient thermal and thermochemical energy storage technology to the solar power program is discussed in a summary of workship discussions held to exchange information and plan for future systems. Topics covered include storage in central power applications such as the 10 MW-e demonstration pilot receiver to be constructed in Barstow, California; storage for small dispersed systems, and problems associated with the development of storage systems for solar power plants interfacing with utility systems.
The NASA Langley high lift technology program is reviewed and elements of the program which are considered Reynolds number sensitive are discussed. The Energy Efficient Transport (EET) and Supersonic Cruise Research (SCR) models proposed for high lift studies in the National Transonic Facility (NTF) are described. Recommendations regarding the NTF facility and test techniques are presented.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Palau, an independent island nation geographically located in the Micronesia region. Over 97% of the island's electricity production is dependent on imported fossil fuels, primarily diesel. Palau is aiming for 45% renewable energy generation by 2025, and is striving to overcome technological, financial, and institutional capacity challenges to meet this goal.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of Guam, an island territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. Like many island nations, Guam is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels - nearly all the island's electricity is generated using imported petroleum products. This leaves it vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations that can directly impact the cost of electricity.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, an island country and a United States associated state near the equator in the Pacific Ocean. Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The Marshall Islands electricity rates for residential customers average $0.36 U.S. dollars (USD) per kilowatt-hour (kWh), nearly 3 times the average U.S. residential rate of $0.13 USD/kWh.
This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), a sovereign nation and U.S.-associated state in the western Pacific Ocean. The FSM is made up of more than 600 islands, which presents a significant challenge of delivering electricity to people living on outer islands. The country is striving to overcome electricity access needs, reduce high energy costs, and ensure energy security. Currently, almost all of the electricity produced in Micronesia is dependent upon imported petroleum based fossil fuels, with some solar photovoltaic systems in operation.
This is a very brief description of the State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) platform and State and Local Energy Profiles datasets to be included in the Tools issue of the Colorado chapter of the American Planning Association newsletter.
Manufacturing, in the effort to be more sustainable, is increasingly focusing on energy efficiency and waste reduction. DOE’s Better Buildings Better Plants Program has a Waste Reduction Network that works with 32 industrial partners to achieve higher material efficiency and reduce waste. United States generates 7.6 Billion Tons of industrial solid waste as estimated by EPA. In a linear economy as the economy grows, so does the waste – increasing strain on resources and the environment. The Circular Economy (CE) model keeps the available resources in circulation for longer period of time easing the burden on the environment. Remanufacturing and (Beneficial) re-use are widely accepted channels in 9R methodology and established pillars of CE. This paper reviews the two key strategies and their adoption in different industrial sectors. It reviews the key barriers faced by manufacturers in implementing these methodologies and discusses the possible solutions to those barriers. The paper also reviews impact of these CE strategies on sustainability, material efficiency and the economic and social benefits. Finally, this paper presents two case studies from DOE’s Better Plants partners – one on remanufacturing of components in heavy vehicles industry and one on beneficial reuse of spent foundry sand, a non-hazardous solid waste, and discusses the project impacts.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a leader in advancing hydropower technologies, positioning hydropower as a pillar of an affordable, reliable, and secure energy future. Through its hydropower program, NREL is conducting innovative research that reduces energy costs, drives efficiency, and supports systems integration - unlocking economic opportunities, rebuilding supply chains, and fueling America's global competitiveness.
To contribute to the U.S. Department of Energy's involvement with the U.S. photovoltaic (PV) industry's efforts to meet very competitive PV efficiency, cost, and reliability goals, NREL's Silicon PV program focuses on next-generation, high-efficiency silicon (Si) PV.
At low operating temperatures, commercially available electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries do not fully meet the energy and power requirements for NASA fs exploration activities. The composite cathode under development is projected to provide the required energy and power densities at low temperatures and its usage will considerably reduce the overall volume and weight of the battery pack. The newly developed composite electrode material can provide superior electrochemical performance relative to a commercially available lithium cobalt system. One advantage of using a composite cathode is its higher energy density, which can lead to smaller and lighter battery packs. In the current program, different series of layered-spinel composite materials with at least two different systems in an integrated structure were synthesized, and the volumetric and gravimetric energy densities were evaluated. In an integrated network of a composite electrode, the effect of the combined structures is to enhance the capacity and power capabilities of the material to levels greater than what is possible in current state-of-the-art cathode systems. The main objective of the current program is to implement a novel cathode material that meets NASA fs low temperature energy density requirements. An important feature of the composite cathode is that it has at least two components (e.g., layered and spinel) that are structurally integrated. The layered material by itself is electrochemically inactive; however, upon structural integration with a spinel material, the layered material can be electrochemically activated, thereby delivering a large amount of energy with stable cycling. A key aspect of the innovation has been the development of a scalable process to produce submicronand micron-scale particles of these composite materials. An additional advantage of using such a composite electrode material is its low irreversible loss (.5%), which is primarily due to the unique activation of the composite. High columbic efficiency (greater than 99%) upon cycling may indicate the formation of a stable SEI (solid-electrolyte interface) layer, which can contribute to long cycle life. The innovation in the current program, when further developed, will enable the system to maintain high energy and power densities at low temperatures, improve efficiency, and further stabilize and enhance the safety of the cell.
Virginia Tech (VT) had previously developed a 50 kW AC to DC power converter that is specifically designed to improve the performance and efficiency of wave energy converters (WECs). Through this CRADA, NLR will test the VT power converter via a coupled dynamometer and power electronics test platform. The NLR test platform will be comprised of (1) a rotary dynamometer that will drive a VT provided gearbox and generator, (2) one or more DC regenerative power supplies that provide input power to and take power from the VT supplied power electronics, and (3) a data acquisition system for measurement. NLR will work with VT to develop a test plan, set up the test platform and integrate the test article, perform the testing, and assist in the data analysis.
Road vehicle lane changes often initiate traffic disturbances and can therefore impact road networks’ energy and time efficiency. Furthermore, unexpected changes in traffic conditions may also render lane changes counterproductive for the lane-changing vehicle. Vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity combined with anticipative control could address these challenges via improved lane change decisions by automated vehicles. In a move toward this objective, receding horizon control cast as a mixed-integer quadratic program is used to plan lane changing and acceleration in a coupled optimization. A long-term pacing module, based on Pontryagin’s minimum principle from optimal control theory, sets terminal and input references for receding horizon control to target a user’s expected travel time. To remove nonlinear vehicle dynamics from the receding horizon controller, lane change commands are passed to a pure pursuit steering module whose response is approximated by a second-order linear model. Here, comparison against a rule-based reactive algorithm in arterial and highway scenarios shows an 8.9%–13.7% reduction in energy consumption and a 5.2%–10.3% reduction in the travel time, along with navigational improvements.
Residential building energy simulations are increasingly used for energy-efficient building design, codes and standards analysis, home certifications and ratings, utility programs, and technology assessments. Various software tools exist to perform residential building simulations, and these tools often use different models, inputs, and assumptions. This leads to inconsistencies that can undermine confidence in the predicted results. Validation of these tools can increase confidence by ensuring their accuracy and consistency. One way to validate simulation tools is through empirical testing, which compares predicted energy usage to measured utility billing data. This paper describes the process of data collection, data standardization, and empirical validation, and illustrates its use with our residential EnergyPlus (R)-based software. The data and process can be extended to other simulation tools and contribute to improving residential building simulations more broadly.
The Verde Ductless Heat Pump (DHP) Program expanded access to high-efficiency electric heating and cooling technologies for households in priority communities within the Portland Metro area. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office (DE-EE0010132), the program combined residential ductless heat pump deployment with community-based outreach, participant support, contractor partnerships, and system development to improve program delivery.
The Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), plays a pivotal role in enhancing the sustainability, safety, and economic viability of the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants. This program collaborates extensively with industry, vendors, suppliers, regulatory agencies, and research and development organizations within the nuclear energy sector. The overarching goals of the LWRS program are twofold: to provide innovative science and technology-based solutions to the nuclear industry, surpassing current performance models, and to manage the aging of systems, structures, and components (SSCs) to extend the operational lifetimes of nuclear power plants safely, efficiently, and economically. The program focuses on five research and development pathways: Plant Modernization: This pathway seeks to enhance the economic viability of nuclear power plants in evolving energy markets through innovation, efficiency improvements, and digital transformation. The integration of digital technologies into plant operations is a central theme, aiming to create a seamless digital environment that improves plant economics and safety. Flexible Plant Operation and Generation: Research efforts in this pathway explore opportunities for light-water reactors (LWRs) to directly supply energy to industrial processes, diversifying revenue generation approaches and improving economic sustainability.