Results for “economic development” — Page 5

DOE OSTI2024

Impacts of Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen Policies on Uttar Pradesh's Power Sector Future: Additional Modeling Scenarios to Explore Hydrogen Flexibility [Slides]

This slide deck is part of a broader program focused on supporting Indian states with long-term power system planning. More information about this program can be found at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's "Supporting India's States With Renewable Energy Integration" web page at https://www.nrel.gov/international/india-renewable-energy-integration.html. The power sector in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, is poised to transform over the next few decades due to a combination of national and state-level policies impacting both the supply and demand of electricity. The Government of Uttar Pradesh has policies and plans to develop in-state solar PV, pumped storage hydropower, and green hydrogen. Power system policymakers and utilities in Uttar Pradesh are faced with the challenges of planning a system that incorporates increasing amounts of renewable energy and storage resources, meets rising electricity demand due to economic development and green hydrogen production, and satisfies operational and reliability requirements. To support these various objectives, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), RMI, and the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) evaluated the least-cost pathways for the state's power sector through 2050. NREL developed a capacity expansion model that identifies investment and operational decisions for every year (2024-2050) for all of India, with detailed representation for the state of Uttar Pradesh, which can provide a framework for recurring planning studies. The purpose of this slide deck is to supplement the main study (published in May 2024) with additional modeling scenarios to explore hydrogen flexibility.

08 HYDROGEN↗

NASA NTRS2009

United States Human Access to Space, Exploration of the Moon and Preparation for Mars Exploration

In the past, men like Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne imagined the future and envisioned fantastic inventions such as winged flying machines, submarines, and parachutes, and posited human adventures like transoceanic flight and journeys to the Moon. Today, many of their ideas are reality and form the basis for our modern world. While individual visionaries like da Vinci and Verne are remembered for the accuracy of their predictions, today entire nations are involved in the process of envisioning and defining the future development of mankind, both on and beyond the Earth itself. Recently, Russian, European, and Chinese teams have all announced plans for developing their own next generation human space vehicles. The Chinese have announced their intention to conduct human lunar exploration, and have flown three crewed space missions since 2003, including a flight with three crew members to test their extravehicular (spacewalking) capabilities in September 2008. Very soon, the prestige, economic development, scientific discovery, and strategic security advantage historically associated with leadership in space exploration and exploitation may no longer be the undisputed province of the United States. Much like the sponsors of the seafaring explorers of da Vinci's age, we are motivated by the opportunity to obtain new knowledge and new resources for the growth and development of our own civilization. NASA's new Constellation Program, established in 2005, is tasked with maintaining the United States leadership in space, exploring the Moon, creating a sustained human lunar presence, and eventually extending human operations to Mars and beyond. Through 2008, the Constellation Program developed a full set of detailed program requirements and is now completing the preliminary design phase for the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle, and the associated infrastructure necessary for humans to explore the Moon. Component testing is well underway, and integrated flight testing will begin in 2009. This white paper summarizes 3 years of Constellation Program progress and accomplishments, and it describes the foundation set for human lunar return in 2020.

Rhatigan, Jennifer L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

MITT writer and MITT writer advanced development: Developing authoring and training systems for complex technical domains

MITT Writer is a software system for developing computer based training for complex technical domains. A training system produced by MITT Writer allows a student to learn and practice troubleshooting and diagnostic skills. The MITT (Microcomputer Intelligence for Technical Training) architecture is a reasonable approach to simulation based diagnostic training. MITT delivers training on available computing equipment, delivers challenging training and simulation scenarios, and has economical development and maintenance costs. A 15 month effort was undertaken in which the MITT Writer system was developed. A workshop was also conducted to train instructors in how to use MITT Writer. Earlier versions were used to develop an Intelligent Tutoring System for troubleshooting the Minuteman Missile Message Processing System.

Wiederholt, Bradley J.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Technical assistance and the transfer of remote sensing technology

The transfer of technology from industrialized countries to the third world is a very complicated process and one that requires a great deal of research and development. The political and social obstacles to this transfer are generally greater than the technical obstacles, but technical assistance programs have neither the competence nor the inclination to deal with these factors adequately. Funding for technical assistance in remote sensing is now expanding rapidly, and there is a growing need for institutions to study and promote the effective use of this technology for economic development. The United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development and the Canadian technical assistance agencies take different approaches to the problem and deal with the political pressures in different ways.

Chipman, R.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Transition in the Human Exploration of Space at NASA

NASA is taking the next step in human exploration, beyond low Earth orbit. We have been going to low Earth orbit for the past 50 years and are using this experience to work with commercial companies to perform this function. This will free NASA resources to develop the systems necessary to travel to a Near Earth Asteroid, the Moon, Lagrange Points, and eventually Mars. At KSC, we are positioning ourselves to become a multi-user launch complex and everything we are working on is bringing us closer to achieving this goal. A vibrant multi-use spaceport is to the 21st Century what the airport was to the 20th Century - an invaluable transportation hub that supports government needs while promoting economic development and commercial markets beyond Earth's atmosphere. This past year saw the end of Shuttle, but the announcements of NASA's crew module, Orion, and heavy-lift rocket, the SLS, as well as the establishment of the Commercial Crew Program. We have a busy, but very bright future ahead of us and KSC is looking forward to playing an integral part in the next era of human space exploration. The future is SLS, 21st Century Ground Systems Program, and the Commercial Crew Program; and the future is here.

Koch, Carla A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Transrapid (the first high-speed Maglev train system certified ready for application): Development status and prospects for deployment

The Transrapid maglev technology is at the threshold of commercial deployment and technologically all prerequisites for the successful operation of the system in public service are given. In post unification Germany the domestic maglev technology is envisioned to be applied in the Berlin-Hamburg project. At present, a public-private funding concept is being prepared and the lengthy planning process is about to be initiated. In the USA the AMG has presented a program to Americanize the technology and to make it available for commercial use in the U.S. in the very near future. The paramount features of this program are to generate economic development, provide a basis for transportation technology development, create opportunities for U.S. industry, improve the U.S. transportation infrastructure, and improve the environment and traveler safety. Maglev is ready for the U.S.; is the U.S. ready for maglev?

Luerken, Reinhard F.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Earth Observations and the Role of UAVs: A Capabilities Assessment

This document provides an assessment of the civil UAV missions and technologies and is intended to parallel the Office of the Secretary of Defense UAV Roadmap. The intent of this document is four-fold: 1. Determine and document desired future missions of Earth observation UAVs based on user-defined needs 2. Determine and document the technologies necessary to support those missions 3. Discuss the present state of the platform capabilities and required technologies, identifying those in progress, those planned, and those for which no current plans exist 4. Provide the foundations for development of a comprehensive civil UAV roadmap to complement the Department of Defense (DoD) effort (http://www.acq.osd.mil/uas/). Two aspects of the President's Management Agenda (refer to the document located at: www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf ) are supported by this undertaking. First, it is one that will engage multiple Agencies in the effort as stakeholders and benefactors of the systems. In that sense, the market will be driven by the user requirements and applications. The second aspect is one of supporting economic development in the commercial sector. Market forecasts for the civil use of UAVs have indicated an infant market stage at present with a sustained forecasted growth. There is some difficulty in quantifying the value of the market since the typical estimate excludes system components other than the aerial platforms. Section 2.4 addresses the civil UAV market forecast and lists several independent forecasts. One conclusion that can be drawn from these forecasts is that all show a sustained growth for the duration of each long-term forecast.

Cox, Timothy H.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Uplifting winds: The surprisingly positive community-wide impact of wind energy installations on property values

A primary concern of stakeholders when considering a new wind project is the potential negative effects wind turbines may have on home values. Yet, what has been surprisingly overlooked in the literature and general discourse around wind energy is that the well-researched positive economic development and fiscal and amenity benefits of wind energy (e.g., increased tax base, tax revenue, better public services and employment gains) might positively affect jurisdiction-wide housing values. With a focus on school districts in the United States, we compare home values in school districts with wind energy installations, before and after a wind energy installation becomes operational, to home values in other school districts located in the same county but without a wind energy installation to provide some of the first causal evidence on the relationship between wind energy projects and district-wide property values. We find that wind projects lead to economically meaningful increases in district-wide housing values of approximately 3 %, when those values are compared to similar homes located in school districts in same-county without wind energy. The effect is strongly correlated with wind project size. The mechanisms, our research suggests, are likely related to relatively large increases in school district per-pupil revenues and expenditures, which are also correlated with wind project size. We suggest other possible mechanisms for the increased values as well.

Attitudes↗

NASA NTRS2012

Global and Regional Trends of Aerosol Optical Depth over Land and Ocean Using SeaWiFS Measurements from 1997 to 2010

Both sensor calibration and satellite retrieval algorithm play an important role in the ability to determine accurately long-term trends from satellite data. Owing to the unprecedented accuracy and long-term stability of its radiometric calibration, the SeaWiFS measurements exhibit minimal uncertainty with respect to sensor calibration. In this study, we take advantage of this well-calibrated set of measurements by applying a newly-developed aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieval algorithm over land and ocean to investigate the distribution of AOD, and to identify emerging patterns and trends in global and regional aerosol loading during its 13-year mission. Our results indicate that the averaged AOD trend over global ocean is weakly positive from 1998 to 2010 and comparable to that observed by MODIS but opposite in sign to that observed by AVHRR during overlapping years. On a smaller scale, different trends are found for different regions. For example, large upward trends are found over the Arabian Peninsula that indicate a strengthening of the seasonal cycle of dust emission and transport processes over the whole region as well as over downwind oceanic regions. In contrast, a negative-neutral tendency is observed over the desert/arid Saharan region as well as in the associated dust outflow over the north Atlantic. Additionally, we found decreasing trends over the eastern US and Europe, and increasing trends over countries such as China and India that are experiencing rapid economic development. In general, these results are consistent with those derived from ground-based AERONET measurements.

Hsu, N. C.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Mapping Impervious Surface Expansion using Medium-resolution Satellite Image Time Series: A Case Study in the Yangtze River Delta, China

Cities have been expanding rapidly worldwide, especially over the past few decades. Mapping the dynamic expansion of impervious surface in both space and time is essential for an improved understanding of the urbanization process, land-cover and land-use change, and their impacts on the environment. Landsat and other medium-resolution satellites provide the necessary spatial details and temporal frequency for mapping impervious surface expansion over the past four decades. Since the US Geological Survey opened the historical record of the Landsat image archive for free access in 2008, the decades-old bottleneck of data limitation has gone. Remote-sensing scientists are now rich with data, and the challenge is how to make best use of this precious resource. In this article, we develop an efficient algorithm to map the continuous expansion of impervious surface using a time series of four decades of medium-resolution satellite images. The algorithm is based on a supervised classification of the time-series image stack using a decision tree. Each imerpervious class represents urbanization starting in a different image. The algorithm also allows us to remove inconsistent training samples because impervious expansion is not reversible during the study period. The objective is to extract a time series of complete and consistent impervious surface maps from a corresponding times series of images collected from multiple sensors, and with a minimal amount of image preprocessing effort. The approach was tested in the lower Yangtze River Delta region, one of the fastest urban growth areas in China. Results from nearly four decades of medium-resolution satellite data from the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) show a consistent urbanization process that is consistent with economic development plans and policies. The time-series impervious spatial extent maps derived from this study agree well with an existing urban extent polygon data set that was previously developed independently. The overall mapping accuracy was estimated at about 92.5% with 3% commission error and 12% omission error for the impervious type from all images regardless of image quality and initial spatial resolution.

Gao, Feng↗

NASA NTRS2021

Reductions in NO2 Burden Over North Equatorial Africa from Decline in Biomass Burning in Spite of Growing Fossil Fuel Use, 2005 to 2017

Socioeconomic development in low- and middle-income countries has been accompanied by increased emissions of air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides [NOx: nitrogen dioxide (NO2) + nitric oxide (NO)], which affect human health. In sub-Saharan Africa, fossil fuel combustion has nearly doubled since 2000. At the same time, landscape biomass burning—another important NOx source—has declined in north equatorial Africa, attributed to changes in climate and anthropogenic fire management. Here, we use satellite observations of tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) and burned area to identify NO2 trends and drivers over Africa. Across the northern ecosystems where biomass burning occurs—home to hundreds of millions of people—mean annual tropospheric NO2 VCDs decreased by 4.5% from 2005 through 2017 during the dry season of November through February. Reductions in burned area explained the majority of variation in NO2 VCDs, though changes in fossil fuel emissions also explained some variation. Over Africa’s biomass burning regions, raising mean GDP density (USD·km−2) above its lowest levels is associated with lower NO2 VCDs during the dry season, suggesting that economic development mitigates net NO2 emissions during these highly polluted months. In contrast to the traditional notion that socioeconomic development increases air pollutant concentrations in low- and middle-income nations, our results suggest that countries in Africa’s northern biomass-burning region are following a different pathway during the fire season, resulting in potential air quality benefits. However, these benefits may be lost with increasing fossil fuel use and are absent during the rainy season.

air pollution↗

DOE OSTI2024

Is Clean Hydrogen Production a Good Fit for Questa? (Final Economic Impact Results) [Slides]

The Village of Questa, New Mexico is aiming to become a regional clean energy hub with robust and diverse employment opportunities for the local community supported by the energy sector and by other businesses inspired or attracted by abundant clean energy, outdoor recreation, and cultural opportunities. A coalition of stakeholders in the Village of Questa, comprising the Village, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC), Questa Economic Development Fund, and Chevron, is exploring options to develop hydrogen production facilities as an opportunity to create jobs, provide reliable clean energy, and utilize former mine resources. Questa is home to a molybdenum mine owned by Chevron that closed in 2014. Several residents in Questa and surrounding communities lost their jobs when the mine closed and transitioned from active operations into environmental remediation. Although remediation efforts have been ongoing since 2014 and are expected to continue for at least 16 more years, the number of jobs with Chevron is much smaller now than it was before the closure. Between available workforce, brownfield land, and water rights formerly supporting mine operations but now in a transition period, there are considerable local resources that could be directed toward clean energy generation. Questa's electricity supply is already 100% solar during daylight hours thanks to Kit Carson Electric Cooperative's (KCEC's) strategic decision-making and partnering over the last decade. Now, Questa, KCEC, and Chevron are exploring the potential costs and benefits of siting an electrolytic hydrogen production facility and additional solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Questa to further advance the region's clean energy economy. In this report, we estimated the potential economic impacts (i.e., jobs, value added, gross output, tax revenue) of constructing and operating a combined hydrogen (32 MW polymer electrolyte membrane electrolizer + 7.5 MW fuel cell) and solar facility (22.5 MW) in the Village of Questa, as well as the resulting economic spillovers to Taos County and the state of New Mexico. We employ an input-output model that leverages IMPLAN's economic data for the region complemented by construction and operating expenses estimated by NREL and feedback from the local coalition to evaluate the direct, indirect and induced effects of the project construction (transient impacts) and operation (more permanent impacts). Based on the area's average trade profile, feedback from the coalition and current market conditions, these projects are expected to support 487 full-time equivalent jobs during construction, generating $\$24$ million in income for those workers and $\$82$ million in local economic activity in the state. Of those jobs, 106 are expected to be construction sector jobs. These investments are also estimated to add $\$36.5$ million to New Mexico's gross state product (GSP). In the Village of Questa, we estimate 16 jobs will be supported in construction and transportation industries, generating $\$0.9$ million in earnings. In Taos County, the construction phase is expected to support 285 jobs primarily in construction and professional services, while manufacturing jobs dominate the results for the Rest of New Mexico. The Village is also estimated to receive $\$0.9$ million in tax revenue from the construction phase alone. Once in operation, the project continues to impact the state and Questa. Around 20 jobs (full-time equivalent for each year of operation) are supported across New Mexico, with approximately 11 directly employed in Questa by both facilities. The total annual local economic activity supported by ongoing operations is just over $\$1.3$ million/yr, generating $\$1.6$ million/yr in additional income in the state. Annual operations are estimated to add $\$2.1$ million to the state's GSP. The Village is expected to receive around $\$43,000$/yr in tax revenue. Impacts vary significantly depending on which businesses are supplying materials, equipment and services, and where construction workers reside. Choosing local suppliers will most benefit Questa and the New Mexico economy, adding up to 500 jobs during construction and 13 long-term jobs. Local and state governments may consider ways to incentivize local businesses in order to maximize economic benefits.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2024

Is Clean Hydrogen Production a Good Fit for Questa? Final Economic Impact Results

The Village of Questa, New Mexico is aiming to become a regional clean energy hub with robust and diverse employment opportunities for the local community supported by the energy sector and by other businesses inspired or attracted by abundant clean energy, outdoor recreation, and cultural opportunities. A coalition of stakeholders in the Village of Questa, comprising the Village, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC), Questa Economic Development Fund, and Chevron, is exploring options to develop hydrogen production facilities as an opportunity to create jobs, provide reliable clean energy, and utilize former mine resources. Questa is home to a molybdenum mine owned by Chevron that closed in 2014. Several residents in Questa and surrounding communities lost their jobs when the mine closed and transitioned from active operations into environmental remediation. Although remediation efforts have been ongoing since 2014 and are expected to continue for at least 16 more years, the number of jobs with Chevron is much smaller now than it was before the closure. Between available workforce, brownfield land, and water rights formerly supporting mine operations but now in a transition period, there are considerable local resources that could be directed toward clean energy generation. Questa's electricity supply is already 100% solar during daylight hours thanks to Kit Carson Electric Cooperative's (KCEC's) strategic decision-making and partnering over the last decade. Now, Questa, KCEC, and Chevron are exploring the potential costs and benefits of siting an electrolytic hydrogen production facility and additional solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Questa to further advance the region's clean energy economy. In this report, we estimated the potential economic impacts (i.e., jobs, value added, gross output, tax revenue) of constructing and operating a combined hydrogen (32 MW polymer electrolyte membrane electrolizer + 7.5 MW fuel cell) and solar facility (22.5 MW) in the Village of Questa, as well as the resulting economic spillovers to Taos County and the state of New Mexico. We employ an input-output model that leverages IMPLAN's economic data for the region complemented by construction and operating expenses estimated by NREL and feedback from the local coalition to evaluate the direct, indirect and induced effects of the project construction (transient impacts) and operation (more permanent impacts). Based on the area's average trade profile, feedback from the coalition and current market conditions, these projects are expected to support 487 full-time equivalent jobs during construction, generating $\$24$ million in income for those workers and $\$82$ million in local economic activity in the state. Of those jobs, 106 are expected to be construction sector jobs. These investments are also estimated to add $\$36.5$ million to New Mexico's gross state product (GSP). In the Village of Questa, we estimate 16 jobs will be supported in construction and transportation industries, generating $\$0.9$ million in earnings. In Taos County, the construction phase is expected to support 285 jobs primarily in construction and professional services, while manufacturing jobs dominate the results for the Rest of New Mexico. The Village is also estimated to receive $\$0.9$ million in tax revenue from the construction phase alone. Once in operation, the project continues to impact the state and Questa. Around 20 jobs (full-time equivalent for each year of operation) are supported across New Mexico, with approximately 11 directly employed in Questa by both facilities. The total annual local economic activity supported by ongoing operations is just over $\$1.3$ million/yr, generating $\$1.6$ million/yr in additional income in the state. Annual operations are estimated to add $\$2.1$ million to the state's GSP. The Village is expected to receive around $\$43,000$/yr in tax revenue. Impacts vary significantly depending on which businesses are supplying materials, equipment and services, and where construction workers reside. Choosing local suppliers will most benefit Questa and the New Mexico economy, adding up to 500 jobs during construction and 13 long-term jobs. Local and state governments may consider ways to incentivize local businesses in order to maximize economic benefits.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2025

New directions and principles for solvent extraction for recovery of lithium from aqueous brines and mineral leachates: A brief review

Increasing demand for lithium for manufacturing of batteries is fueling the unprecedented search for improved recovery and alternative sources. Wider source distribution, lower energy consumption, and greater sustainability make extraction of lithium from brines, both natural and process-derived, an attractive alternative to mineral ores. Solvent extraction, used industrially for production of metals, salts, and pharmaceuticals, has been investigated as a methodology for lithium recovery for several decades. However, industrial application of solvent extraction for lithium recovery has so far been limited. In contrast, direct lithium extraction using adsorbents based on inorganic minerals has rapidly advanced from research to commercialization. A comparison of solvent extraction processes to adsorption highlights these issues and explains the preference for adsorbents. Although the application of solvent extraction has been criticized for use of large amounts of acid, alkali, and organic solvents, steady progress has been made to improve its potential for industrial lithium production, spurred on generally by the advantages of solvent extraction in selectivity and throughput. Previously developed beta-diketone, organophosphate, and crown ether ligands are being adapted and improved. Their novel use with ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and membrane technologies promises to expand capabilities for extraction of lithium from dilute aqueous sources while improving sustainability. Possibilities for further discovery and innovation abound. In this review, we provide a unique perspective from the field of solvent extraction starting with fundamentals such as ion-transfer theory and apply them to understanding lithium selectivity and extraction behavior. In conclusion, the results are cast in the light of the practical realities of developing economical solvent extraction processes.

Brine↗

DOE OSTI2026

Generating multiple benefits from forests by producing value-added products: Lessons from the Pacific Northwestern US

This paper asks what conditions are needed to counteract a declining forest industry. The mobilization of supply chains for new value-added forest products and services can be supported by programs designed to simultaneously achieve multiple goals related to health, climate, and rural economic development. But several challenges are identified that underscore the need to stack benefits and incentives to achieve muti-sectoral goals. Based on a case study in Washington state, we find opportunities and constraints for sourcing forest products are determined by the local and regional conditions such as availability of working forests and their residues, socioeconomic conditions, workforce availability, transportation options, and perceptions about social license of the new industry. Key recommendations are the need for (1) a consistent demand and resilient supply chain for the new product; (2) a stable, supportive policy and assessment framework; (3) timely, transparent, and trusted monitoring and reporting of benefits and costs; (4) fostering engagement and buy-in from stakeholders; (5) a context-specific evaluation of opportunities and constraints; and (6) agreement on the goals of sustainable forestry. A diversity of products and markets builds a more resilient forest-based economy by mitigating impacts of disruptions in any individual market, adding value to biomass, increasing employment, and reducing forest risks to fire, insects, and disease.

Bioenergy↗

DOE OSTI2026

Technology Impact and Resource Assessment of Existing and Planned U.S. Biofuel Production: Life Cycle Water Consumption, Water Stress, Land Use, and Criteria Air Pollutants

Biofuels have the potential to strengthen the U.S. energy supply, enhance energy security, and promote economic development. As the United States continues to expand biofuel production, quantifying resource requirements and location-specific constraints is crucial for planning, siting, and technology development to support long-term viability. Accordingly, this work assesses the life cycle resource consumption (water consumption, and land use), water stress and criteria air pollutants associated with expanded U.S. biofuel production over the 2020–2035 period, based on producers’ plans. We perform a bottom-up technology impact assessment and resource assessment by integrating facility-level production statistics with Argonne’s Research and Development (R&D) GREET model and county-level water-stress characterization factors from Available Water Remaining for the United States (AWARE-US) model. Results suggest that by 2035, biofuels could meaningfully contribute to U.S. energy demand, driven primarily by first-generation and waste-based feedstocks with plans for substantial capacity expansion, although cellulosic and e-fuel technologies remain limited. However, growth must be managed to minimize impacts on water resources and land use. These impacts vary by fuel type and facility location, specifically, projected expansion increases water consumption and can elevate water-stress impacts in certain regions like Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, California and North Texas. Direct land use also increases overall, particularly for first-generation feedstocks such as corn and soybeans. These findings underscore the need for continued technological improvements and innovative strategies to manage resource demands as the industry scales and to support complementary deployment within the evolving U.S. energy system.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Nitrogenated Graphene Quantum Dot-Derived Copper Single-Atom Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Despite the promise of fuel cells as sustainable energy conversion technologies, their widespread adoption is hindered by the high cost of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, particularly for catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode. Here, we report copper-based single-atom catalysts (Cu-SACs) as cost-effective non-PGM alternatives for ORR. The catalysts were synthesized via simple pyrolysis of pyrene-derived amine-terminated graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in the presence of nitrogen and metal precursors. The abundant nitrogen functionality in GQDs effectively stabilized isolated Cu atoms during their conversion to porous carbon. A subsequent acid-washing step yielded a high density of atomically dispersed Cu active sites. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HR-STEM) confirmed the effective incorporation of isolated Cu atoms into the carbon matrix through copper–nitrogen (Cu-N) coordination. Electrochemical measurements revealed excellent ORR activity with a dominant four-electron pathway. This synthetic strategy provides a practical route to developing economically viable, non-precious metal catalysts.

catalysts↗

DOE OSTI2024

Unusual plastic strain-induced phase transformation phenomena in silicon

Pressure-induced phase transformations (PTs) in Si, the most important electronic material, have been broadly studied, whereas strain-induced PTs have never been studied in situ. Here, we reveal in situ various important plastic strain-induced PT phenomena. A correlation between the direct and inverse Hall-Petch effect of particle size on yield strength and pressure for strain-induced PT is predicted theoretically and confirmed experimentally for Si-I→Si-II PT. For 100 nm particles, the strain-induced PT Si-I→Si-II initiates at 0.3 GPa under both compression and shear while it starts at 16.2 GPa under hydrostatic conditions. The Si-I→Si-III PT starts at 0.6 GPa but does not occur under hydrostatic pressure. Pressure in small Si-II and Si-III regions of micron and 100 nm particles is ~5–7 GPa higher than in Si-I. For 100 nm Si, a sequence of Si-I → I + II → I + II + III PT is observed, and the coexistence of four phases, Si-I, II, III, and XI, is found under torsion. Retaining Si-II and single-phase Si-III at ambient pressure and obtaining reverse Si-II→Si-I PT demonstrates the possibilities of manipulating different synthetic paths. The obtained results corroborate the elaborated dislocation pileup-based mechanism and have numerous applications for developing economic defect-induced synthesis of nanostructured materials, surface treatment (polishing, turning, etc.), and friction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗