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DOE OSTI2023

Power sector impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Abstract The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is regarded as the most prominent piece of federal climate legislation in the U.S. thus far. This paper investigates potential impacts of IRA on the power sector, which is the focus of many core IRA provisions. We summarize a multi-model comparison of IRA to identify robust findings and variation in power sector investments, emissions, and costs across 11 models of the U.S. energy system and electricity sector. Our results project that IRA incentives accelerate the deployment of low-emitting capacity, increasing average annual additions by up to 3.2 times current levels through 2035. CO 2 emissions reductions from electricity generation across models range from 47%–83% below 2005 in 2030 (68% average) and 66%–87% in 2035 (78% average). Our higher clean electricity deployment and lower emissions under IRA, compared with earlier U.S. modeling, change the baseline for future policymaking and analysis. IRA helps to bring projected U.S. power sector and economy-wide emissions closer to near-term climate targets; however, no models indicate that these targets will be met with IRA alone, which suggests that additional policies, incentives, and private sector actions are needed.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Performance Testing of Moving Bed Gasifier Using Biomass and Waste Fuels to Generate Low-Cost Clean Hydrogen

Our need for hydrogen is growing as the world transitions toward a low-carbon future. Hydrogen provides long-term energy storage for grid stability in a solar- and wind-dominated power market and can be used to decarbonize other sectors. One promising process for generating low-cost hydrogen that produces net-negative carbon is to gasify biomass with a mixture of legacy coal wastes, waste plastics, and other wastes with carbon capture. Use of waste fuels lowers costs and diverts waste from landfills. EPRI is leading a project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, to conduct performance testing of modular, moving-bed gasification for the generation of low-cost, clean hydrogen from biomass mixed with legacy coal waste, waste plastic, and/or refuse derived fuels. The work scope includes preparation of multiple pellet feedstocks using biomass (both woody biomass and corn stover) with a mixture of legacy coal waste, plastic waste (wire insulation), and refuse-derived fuel (RDF). These pelletized feedstocks are being qualified based on performance testing of selected fuel blend compositions in updraft moving-bed gasifier located in Sardinia, Italy. Testing is being conducted to obtain relevant data to advance the modular design of the moving-bed gasification process, and successfully use these feedstocks to produce a high hydrogen content raw syngas that can be shifted to produce clean hydrogen. Testing results will be used to determine the effects of the various fuels on feedstock development, the resulting products (i.e., syngas compositions, organic condensate production, and ash characteristics), and impacts on gasifier operations.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2024

Status of Power System Transformation: Leading Topics of 2024

This presentation provides an overview of key power sector transformation topics that are relevant for global power system decarbonization and net zero goals. It includes examples of strategies to achieve rapid power system decarbonization and enable clean energy deployment.

21st Century Power Partnership↗

DOE OSTI2023

Decarbonizing all-electric communities via carbon-responsive control of behind-the-meter resources

The progression of electrification in the building and transportation sectors brings new opportunities for energy decarbonization. With higher dependence on the grid power supply, the variation of the grid carbon emission intensity can be utilized to reduce the carbon emissions from the two sectors. Existing coordinated control methods for buildings with distributed energy resources (DERs) either consider electricity price or renewable energy generation as the input signal, or adopt optimization in the decision-making, which is difficult to implement in the real-world environment. This paper aims to propose and validate an easy-to-deploy rule-based carbon responsive control framework that facilitates coordination between all-electric buildings and electric vehicles (EVs). The signals of the grid carbon emission intensity and the local photovoltaics (PV) generation are used for shifting the controllable loads. Extensive simulations were conducted using a model of an all-electric mixed-use community in a cold climate to validate the control performance with metrics such as emissions, energy consumption, peak demand, and EV end-of-day state-of-charge (SOC). Our study identifies that 4.5% to 27.1% of annual emission reduction can be achieved with limited impact on energy costs, peak demand, and thermal comfort. Additionally, up to 32.7% of EV emission reduction can be obtained if the EV owners reduce the target SOC by less than 21.2%.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2023

Decarbonization of the Chemical Industry Through Electrification: Barriers and Opportunities

The chemical industry is a major source of economic productivity and employment globally and among the top 3 industrial sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, along with steel and cement. As global demand for chemical products continues to grow, there is an urgency to develop and deploy sustainable chemical production pathways and to reconsider continued investment in current emission-intensive production technologies. This perspective describes the challenges and opportunities to decarbonize the chemical industry via electrification powered by low-carbon electricity supply, both in the near term and long term, and it discusses four technological pathways ranging from the more mature direct substitution of heat with electricity and use of hydrogen to technologically less mature, yet potentially more selective, approaches based on electrochemistry and plasma. Finally, we highlight the key elements of integrating an electrified industrial process with the power sector to leverage process flexibility to reduce energy costs of chemical production and provide valuable power grid support services. Unlocking such plant-to-grid coordination and the four electrification pathways has significant potential to facilitate rapid and deep decarbonization of the chemical industry sector.

chemical synthesis↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Modeling Study on Ammonia and Ammonia/Hydrogen Kinetics for Gas Turbine Engines

The use of ammonia as a fuel source in gas turbine engine power cycles represents an attractive means to decarbonize the energy sector due to higher energy density and achieving liquid state at far lower pressures compared to pure hydrogen. However, due to low flammability and a propensity for high NOx emissions, its use is not without challenge. Here, a number of 0D and 1D modeling tools were utilized to study the combustion characteristics of ammonia and ammonia/hydrogen mixtures, examining basic fundamental properties such as laminar flame speed, variability among existing chemical kinetic mechanisms, and considering the use of two-stage rich-lean combustion strategies to achieve low NOx emissions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2022

Design of Phase-Change Thermal Storage Device in a Heat Pump for Building Electric Peak Load Shaving: Preprint

Replacing carbon-intensive fossil fuel heating systems with electric heat pumps powered by renewables is a promising approach to decarbonize the building sector. However, one of the technical barriers of this approach is the large scale of heat demand, which will put excessive stress on the electricity grid. Integrating thermal energy storage (TES) into the heating systems can help alleviate this problem, by shifting thermal load and thus shaving peaks in the building electric load. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to design a thermal storage device in a heat pump for peak load shaving. In this study, we developed a numerical model for a cascaded vapor compression heat pump system integrating a phase change thermal storage device. This novel system can control the net thermal charging and discharging rate of the TES independently from the building's thermal load, which allows for precise control of electric power use. In the current study, we controlled the system to shave building electric peak load during a cold winter morning, and to charge TES during the relatively warm afternoon while still providing space heating. We used the model to evaluate the system performance with and without peak shaving. We also investigated the effect of PCM transition Tt on the peak reduction and electric energy saving potentials. The results show that peak shaving scheme effectively reduces the peak electric power consumption during a predefined discharge time window. When comparing to the no shaving case, for PCM Tt = 10 degrees C, the peak electric load reduction is 23.5%. When comparing to an air-source heat pump with back up electric heater, as Tt increases from 0 to 20 degrees C, the peak reduction increases from 46.1% to 50.9%. Integrating PCM Tt = 10 degrees C with peak shaving leads to the 45.5% of electric energy saving, which is the highest among the three transition temperatures.

electric energy saving↗

DOE OSTI2022

Same Goal, Different Pathways for Energy Transition: A More Holistic, Multisector, Community-Driven Approach

Low- and zero-carbon power systems are central to global decarbonization efforts. Costs for renewable energy (RE) and storage have fallen significantly, and advances in technologies and practices have improved the grid flexibility and stability needed to maintain the reliability of high-RE systems. Zero-carbon power systems, in turn, enable deep decarbonization through the electrification of other sectors, including transportation, buildings, and industry.

100% clean electricity↗

DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating advanced nuclear fission technologies for future decarbonized power grids

Advanced nuclear fission, which encompasses various innovative nuclear reactor designs, could contribute to the decarbonization of the United States electricity sector. However, little is known about how cost-competitive these reactors would be compared to other technologies, or about which aspects of their designs offer the most value to a decarbonized power grid. We employ an electricity system optimization model and a case study of a decarbonized U.S. Eastern Interconnection circa 2050 to generate initial indicators of future economic value for advanced reactors and the sensitivity of future value to various design parameters, the availability of competing technologies, and the underlying policy environment. These results can inform long-term cost targets and guide near-term innovation priorities, investments, and reactor design decisions. We find that advanced reactors should cost $\$5.7$–$\$7.3$/W to gain an initial market share (assuming 30 year asset life and 3.5 %–6.5 % real weighted average cost of capital), while those that include thermal storage in their designs can cost up to $\$6.0$/W–$\$7.7$/W (not including cost of storage). Since the marginal value of advanced fission reactors declines as market penetration increases, break-even costs fall ~32 % at 100 GW of cumulative capacity and ~51 % at 300 GW. Additionally, policies that provide investment tax credits for nuclear energy create the most favorable environment for advanced nuclear fission. In conclusion, these findings can inform near-term resource allocation decisions by stakeholders, innovators and investors working in the energy technology sector.

Capacity expansion↗

DOE OSTI2022

Conceptual Design of Pulverized Coal Electricity Generating Units for Flexible Operation

This National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) study addresses the conceptual design of greenfield pulverized coal (PC) plants intended for flexible rather than high capacity factor baseload operation. The United States has plentiful, low-cost natural gas resources - studies of aggressive decarbonization scenarios of the US energy sector suggest that the variability of carbon-free power can be economically addressed using dispatchable natural gas-fueled generation. Globally, natural gas resources are not as plentiful or low cost; consequently, some regions of the world are anticipated to continue to rely upon coal generation, even as they pursue decarbonization efforts. To support the increased utilization of variable renewable generation in these coal-dependent regions, plant designs must target low-capacity factor coal plants with increased emphasis on flexibility attributes such as start-up times, ramp rates, minimum load, and part-load heat rates. While much work has been performed on the improvement of the flexibility for existing coal plants originally designed for baseload service, little public literature exists on clean sheet design for flexible operation. This conceptual design study aims to define the features, performance characteristics, and costs for greenfield coal plants intended for flexible operation. Quantifying these characteristics provides critical information required by utility owners, grid planners, energy market modelers, and energy policy decision makers in coal-dependent regions of the world to better understand how coal-fired power plants can support a transition to low carbon generation.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2021

The Potential for Electrons to Molecules Using Solar Energy

Solar photovoltaics (PV) do and will continue to play an important role in the electric power sector and can potentially support other sectors that are in need of decarbonized energy sources. Chemicals such as hydrogen, ammonia, and hydrocarbons including ethylene are currently produced from natural gas and crude oil. Thus, processes to produce them emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases both directly and in upstream feedstock recovery processes. Electrons-to-molecules (E2M) technologies are being developed to convert carbon dioxide, water, and atmospheric nitrogen to desired chemical products and they are large electricity loads. Thus, they are emerging as a potential applications for PV. In its essence, they can act as electrochemical energy storage, thereby providing a means to further utilize the energy generated from PV and store it in molecular form. E2M systems offer an array of potential products and system designs that can be tailored to different end-uses and applications. It involves electrochemical conversion which uses electricity to break molecular bonds and produce new molecules. Various electrochemical conversion technologies split water into hydrogen and oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide into other hydrocarbon molecules, and several other possible combinations. While this Chapter does not attempt to provide an exhaustive summary or analysis of the potential products from E2M systems, it does provide an initial overview of the potential opportunities and challenges for PV and E2M systems in this space. This Chapter considers the potential for E2M to produce key chemicals and fuels that currently rely on hydrocarbons for production, either as a reactant or a source of high-grade heat.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Geophysical Constraints on Decarbonized Systems—Building Spatio-Temporal Uncertainties into Future Electricity Grid Planning

Future electricity grids will be characterized by the high penetration of renewables to support the decarbonization process. Yet, this transition will further expose grids to a broad spectrum of geophysical forces, such as weather and climate, land and space, minerals and materials. Understanding their role is thus important to support the grid decarbonization process. Here, we synthesize the current body of knowledge on the relationship between geophysical constraints and electricity grid planning. Additionally, we show that there have been promising advances in the data, methods, and modelling tools needed to incorporate the effect of geophysical constraints on demand, resource availability, and grid operations. There are, however, multiple research avenues that deserve further attention. More system-specific and finer-scale analyses are necessary to better understand how spatio-temporal variability---and associated uncertainty---in geophysical forces affect grid planning. Moreover, we need a broader focus on the multi-sectoral implications of grid decarbonization efforts, so as to limit the risk of unintended consequences. Importantly, all these efforts are challenged by the computational requirements of existing power system models, which often limit our ability to characterize uncertainty, scale analyses across larger domains, or study the multi-sector implications of grid expansion decisions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Power Technologies for Rail Decarbonization Workshop: Summary Report

Argonne National Laboratory organized the Power Technologies for Rail Decarbonization Workshop for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office. The workshop offered an inclusive venue for different stakeholders to convey their perspective on challenges and opportunities in decarbonizing the rail sector. The first day of the workshop focused on (1) rail decarbonization efforts in the DOE and collaboration opportunities, (2) technology pathways to decarbonize rail, and (3) prime mover and low-carbon options for rail. The second day was devoted to (1) prime mover and zero-carbon options for rail, and (2) rail logistics, infrastructure, and safety. Each day raised challenges and solutions through presentations from national leaders and discussions among panel members and the audience. Through this engagement with different stakeholders, we will produce a cross-disciplinary recommendation for the role of government agencies to contribute meaningful research to address current technology gaps. The workshop included up 139 active participants and featured keynote speakers and panelists from Association of American Railroads, Progress Rail Locomotive, Wabtec, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Amtrak, Caterpillar, Cummins, Renewable Energy Group-Chevron, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, California Air Resources Board, Federal Railroad Administration and multiple DOE national laboratories. This summary report presents highlights from participant discussions covering the topics of technology pathways to decarbonize rail, prime mover and low-carbon options, prime mover and zero-carbon options, as well as rail logistics, infrastructure, and safety. The variety of input gathered from the stakeholder attendees is vital, as it helps inform DOE on rail decarbonization challenges and opportunities. Stakeholder feedback is balanced against DOE strategic directions and priorities with consideration of the roles of government and industry.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear Energy in Long-Term System Models: A Multi-Model Perspective

Long-term energy system models–including electric sector capacity expansion models–are widely used tools for informing planning, technology assessment, and policy analysis. Recent decarbonization goals and rapid technological change have increased the need to appropriately represent economic characteristics and technical details of energy system resources, including variable renewable energy, energy storage technologies, carbon-capture-equipped capacity, and nuclear energy. Nuclear power represents about 20% of electricity generation and 50% of carbon-free electricity in the United States as of 2021. However, there are many perspectives on the role of existing and new nuclear in the future U.S. energy system, which is reflected in the broad range of potential contributions reported in the literature. This project aims to understand how issues central to nuclear energy are represented in long-term energy models. Building on earlier collaborations that focused on variable renewable energy and energy storage, this project convenes four modeling teams that use national-scale long-term energy system models from the Electric Power Research Institute, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to share methods and data, update models, run coordinated scenarios, and identify research needs. Improving tools can provide more insightful analyses and ensure that methods are more transparent.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Climate-Water-Electricity Interactions in the U.S. Under Alternative Decarbonized Futures

The U.S. electric sector is rapidly evolving, with widespread renewable energy deployment, building and transport electrification, and nuanced decarbonization policies. Climate change influences the supply and demand for electricity by altering water resources for cooling and hydropower, thermal plant efficiencies, and heating and cooling demand. This research combines global climate model data, asset-level water and streamflow modeling, and electric sector capacity expansion modeling to study climate-water-electricity interactions across myriad future climate and electricity scenarios that consider electrification and decarbonization using renewable, hydrogen, carbon capture, and nuclear technologies. Multi-model integration leads to insights into power-water sector interactions and their impacts on grid economics and environmental outcomes.

climate change↗

DOE OSTI2023

Grooved electrodes for high-power-density fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are leading candidates to decarbonize the transport sector, but widespread deployment will require improvements in lifetime, fuel economy and cost. Here we present the grooved electrode, an alternative electrode structure that enhances PEMFC performance and durability by coupling high ionomer (ion-conducting binder) content for improved H + transport with grooves for rapid O 2 transport. Grooved electrodes provide up to 50% higher performance than state-of-the-art conventional electrodes under standard operating conditions. Fuel cell diagnostics combined with multiphysics modelling demonstrate that grooved electrodes provide facile O 2 transport despite their high ionomer content, enabling improved reaction rate uniformity. Grooved electrodes also provide improved durability, with less performance loss after carbon corrosion compared with baseline electrodes. Machine learning analysis demonstrates the potential to further optimize grooved structures for next-generation PEMFCs with enhanced performance and durability, enabling smaller and cheaper fuel cell stacks with higher fuel efficiency.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Carbon Dioxide-Free Hydrogen and Solid Carbon from Natural Gas via Metal Salt Intermediates

Production of hydrogen with low emissions and low energy input is critical for the clean energy transition, enabling all sectors of the economy to decarbonize – from electricity generation to residential heating to industrial power. In this program, Johns Hopkins University in partnership with ETCH, INC translated a novel laboratory-scale chemistry to decompose methane to hydrogen and solid carbon into a pre-commercial system. Central to the process is a closed-loop thermocatalytic redox cycle without water consumption or carbon dioxide generation that can be implemented with low capital and operating costs. Techno-economic and lifecycle analysis suggests this approach will produce the lowest cost and lowest-emissions route to hydrogen production.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Decarbonized Electric Grid: Defining, Measuring, and Integrating Decarbonization into Electricity Sector Policy and Planning

Traditionally, electric grid planning seeks to maintain safe, reliable, efficient, and affordable service for current and future customers. As policies, expectations of the energy system, and the threat landscape evolve, additional objectives for power system planners are emerging, including decarbonization, resilience, and equity. Renewable and clean energy goals, especially in the context of deep decarbonization strategies, are changing the mix of resources on the electric grid and prompting new considerations for grid architecture. The increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events over the last two decades, coupled with cybersecurity concerns, have elevated resilience as a key system need. More recently, there has been greater focus on equity and energy justice in grid planning to ensure that disadvantaged communities are not adversely affected by grid modernization and have equal access to its benefits. In response, new thinking around multi-objective decision planning is exploring improvements in grid planning processes to better integrate approaches to meet decarbonization, resilience, and equity objectives. To provide a foundation for this work, a series of white papers was produced to summarize these emerging objectives.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗