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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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DOE OSTI2021

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 7. Distribution System Analysis

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter summarizes the growth in distribution-connected energy resources and provides a detailed review of impacts to the distribution grid of growth in customer electricity demand, solar, and storage, as well as required distribution grid upgrades and associated costs.

100% Renewable↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 9. Air Quality and Public Health

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter summarizes changes to air quality (fine particulate matter and ozone) and public health (premature mortality, emergency room visits due to asthma, and hospital admissions due to cardiovascular diseases), and the potential economic value of public health benefits.

100% Renewable↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 10. Environmental Justice

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter explores implications for environmental justice, including procedural and distributional justice, with an in-depth review of how projections for customer rooftop solar and health benefits vary by census tract.

100% Renewable↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 11. Economic Impacts and Jobs

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter reviews economic impacts, including local net economic impacts and gross workforce impacts.

100% Renewable↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100): Chapter 12. Synthesis

The City of Los Angeles has set ambitious goals to transform its electricity supply, aiming to achieve a 100% renewable energy power system by 2045, along with aggressive electrification targets for buildings and vehicles. To reach these goals, and assess the implications for jobs, electricity rates, the environment, and environmental justice, the Los Angeles City Council passed a series of motions directing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to determine the technical feasibility and investment pathways of a 100% renewable energy portfolio standard. The Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100) is a first-of-its-kind objective, rigorous, and science-based power systems analysis to determine what investments could be made to achieve these goals. The LA100 final report is presented as a collection of 12 chapters and an executive summary, each of which is available as an individual download. This chapter reviews high-level findings, costs, benefits, and lessons learned from integrating this diverse suite of models and conducting a high-fidelity 100% renewable energy study.

100% Renewable↗
DOE OSTI2021

Planned Relocation: A Pluralistic and Integrated Approach to Science and Governance

Planned relocation is an ambitious objective that occurs in complex governance settings rife with inequalities of power, discrimination, distrust, deep uncertainty, misalignment of incentives and authorities, and other challenges. Taking planned relocation from ambition to an equitable and effective portfolio of measures will require changes in science, governance and how they work together. Research will need to understand perverse incentives, conflicts, limits to risk perception, and other factors across individuals, communities, governance levels, and sectors. Knowledge to enable planned relocation will emerge not just from technical studies but from entwined processes of action, learning and capacity building. Science and governance must advance their collaboration to better support and learn from these tangled processes to identify adaptive pathways, build agency and implement strategies under deep uncertainty.

global environmental change, adapatation, decision↗
DOE OSTI2024

NREL Marine Energy Desalination Research and Development Portfolio: Preprint

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), has developed a unique R&D approach to advance marine energy desalination. Desalination is a foundational investment within WPTO's Powering the Blue Economy portfolio, and was the first investment within this portfolio. NREL's marine energy desalination spans techno-economic feasibility studies, numerical modeling, and laboratory testing at the component and subsystem level, as well as development of the Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC). This multilayered approach enables an innovative feedback loop where the data and lessons learned from laboratory and field experiments are used to refine modeling tools and analysis techniques, prioritize out-year activities, and refine strategic directions within NREL and across the WPTO portfolio. The primary objective of the NREL-led research is to identify key barriers associated with the commercialization of wave-powered desalination and develop solutions that can be adopted by the marine energy industry. In parallel, these R&D activities can help inform technical assistance and support of industry and academic technologies. These two tracks help build a common solver community approach, while also identifying key stakeholders, government agencies, and other organizations outside of the marine sector that will be necessary for developing a robust industry. For the Spanish version of this report, see NREL/CP-5700-88483 (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/88483.pdf).

analysis↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cartera de Investigacion y Desarrollo Sobre Desalinizacion de Energia Marina del NREL: Preprint (Spanish Translation)

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), has developed a unique R&D approach to advance marine energy desalination. Desalination is a foundational investment within WPTO's Powering the Blue EconomyTM portfolio [1], and was the first investment within this portfolio. NREL's marine energy desalination spans techno-economic feasibility studies, numerical modeling, and laboratory testing at the component and subsystem level, as well as development of the Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC). This multilayered approach enables an innovative feedback loop where the data and lessons learned from laboratory and field experiments are used to refine modeling tools and analysis techniques, prioritize out-year activities, and refine strategic directions within NREL and across the WPTO portfolio. The primary objective of the NREL-led research is to identify key barriers associated with the commercialization of wave-powered desalination and develop solutions that can be adopted by the marine energy industry. In parallel, these R&D activities can help inform technical assistance and support of industry and academic technologies. These two tracks help build a common solver community approach, while also identifying key stakeholders, government agencies, and other organizations outside of the marine sector that will be necessary for developing a robust industry. For the English version of this report, see NREL/CP-5700-86724 (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/86724.pdf).

analysis↗
DOE OSTI2025

Master Services Agreement - Flexible Feeder/Distribution System Support: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

PGE will engage NREL on a broad range of projects related to the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the utility's operations. This portfolio of work could include projects focused on DER adoption models, advanced distribution management system (ADMS) and distributed energy management system (DERMS) design, DER dispatch strategy development, and DER valuation framework development. Additional topics could include long-term energy planning, renewable energy, energy efficiency and demand-side management. As well as technology evaluations and design guidance for building retrofits and new construction projects, energy and energy infrastructure planning, policies, and markets (and their analysis), energy storage, energy security and resilience (including energy system-related cybersecurity), transportation and mobility, technology integration analysis. Additionally, other assistance as requested by PGE consistent with NREL’s expertise.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Distribution System Research Roadmap; Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

The scope of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) office covers a number of distributed energy resource (DER) technologies, including distributed photovoltaics, smart buildings, wind, water, behind-the-meter-storage, and electric vehicles. The impact of these technologies on the distribution system is often assessed with an individual technology focus. Similarly, different technology offices often leverage different sets of tools, leading to analyses that are not comparable. EERE sought the ability to assess the impact of integrating multiple DER technologies, and to comprehensively address DER integration challenges across the portfolio of EERE technologies. This project built on existing work understanding technical challenges, mapped out the key research questions, assessed relevant capabilities across the national laboratory network, identified key gaps, and produced a research roadmap to inform EERE investment decisions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Innovations in Building Energy Modeling: Research and Development Opportunities for Emerging Technologies

Building energy modeling (BEM) is a multipurpose tool for building energy efficiency (EE). The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office (BTO) seeks to expand the use and effectiveness of BEM in the design and operation of commercial and residential buildings with the goal of achieving lasting reductions in total and peak energy use. This report identifies gaps and outlines recommended initiatives to achieve this goal, based on a combination of technical analysis and stakeholder input. In addition to BTO, this report can benefit BEM professionals (architects, mechanical engineers, energy consultants, building auditors, equipment manufacturers, and BEM software vendors) and BEM clients (building owners and operators, EE program administrators, EE service providers, policymakers, and policy and code jurisdictions such as states and cities). This report was developed in two phases. In the first, BTO worked with a team from Navigant Consulting (now Guidehouse) to characterize objectives, opportunities, and current activities; identify gaps and barriers; and define initiatives. To collect input, Navigant conducted telephone interviews and workshops with industry experts. The initial phase produced a draft report, which was released for public review in 2016 and yielded over 400 comments. Based on these comments, BTO compiled a second draft report that addressed many of those comments while acknowledging changes that had occurred both at BTO and in the industry. Unlike the first draft report, the second focused much more heavily on BTO’s own role, portfolio, and activities. BTO is a direct player in the BEM field - it funds the development of several significant software packages that are embedded in commercial products - and transparency about its goals and future plans is requisite. BTO recognizes that a great number of other public and private organizations contribute to the BEM enterprise. With the second draft report, BTO did not attempt to produce a blueprint for the industry as a whole, but rather a working document BTO can use to iteratively solicit stakeholder input and synthesize it into a program. BTO released the second draft report for public review in 2019. The second round of review generated 83 pages of feedback and comments - almost exactly the length of the draft report itself - a significant portion of which was collected and synthesized by IBPSA-USA Advocacy Committee. This final report incorporates this feedback. This report does not address the use of BEM in support of building-based grid services, a recent BTO initiative called Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB). In 2019, BTO published a report that specifically addresses the role of BEM - and other “integration” technologies - in GEB.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Integrating air quality and health considerations into power sector decarbonization strategies

Climate change and public health are two interconnected societal challenges. Curbing fossil-based electricity generation reduces the emissions of both CO 2 and air pollutants, which brings tangible health benefits from improved air quality. The potential health benefits from decarbonizing the grid are enormous, immediate, and widespread. From renewable portfolio standards to carbon market, the health co-benefits from clean electricity policies often outweigh their policy costs. As climate action goes local, framing decarbonization around health benefits also makes it more personally relevant and economically attractive. Yet, to date, the health impacts have largely been viewed as ancillary benefits from decarbonization, rather than as a core consideration when energy strategies are formed, assessed and implemented. When strategic choices are made about retiring old infrastructure and building new ones, bringing public health to the center of the discussion can generate greater health benefits with more equitable distribution. Here we identify concrete ways to incorporate air quality and health considerations into power sector decarbonization strategies. We draw insights mainly from empirical and modeling evidence for the United States. These insights are generally applicable and could guide health-oriented decarbonization efforts in other countries as well.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evaluation of LLVM Flang for Production HPC Applications and Modern Fortran Features

In 2025, LLVM released its first Flang Fortran compiler version considered ready for widespread evaluation. We know of no published assessment of Flang compiling a workload- derived portfolio of high-performance computing (HPC) applications. We address this gap using workload data from the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), which supports more than 10,000 scientists on approximately 1,000 projects. The NERSC workload analyses identify many Fortran components in heavily used applications. We selected 10 such packages with available source code. We compiled them with Flang 22.1.3 on NERSC’s Perlmutter system. Six compiled without code modifications, though some required build-system changes. Three compiled after minor source edits, mostly to address Fortran standard violations. One built only without OpenMP enabled. We evaluated seven additional packages selected for their use of, or enablement of, standard Fortran parallel features: multi-image execution and do concurrent. Six such codes compiled with most or all unit tests passing.

Rasmussen, Katherine↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comprehensive Land Use and Environmental Stewardship

Comprehensive Land Use and Environmental Stewardship (CLUES) Report serves as a summary document of the land use and environmental stewardship activities occurring on the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site (Desert) and the Research and Education Campus (REC) within Idaho Falls. Land and facility use planning and decisions at the INL Site are guided by a comprehensive planning process in accordance with the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Order 430.1C, “Real Property Asset Management,” which states "Establish a data-driven, risk-informed, performance-based approach to the life-cycle management of real property assets that aligns the real property portfolio with DOE mission needs; acquire, manage, positively account for, and dispose of real property assets in a safe, secure, cost-effective, and sustainable manner; and ensure the real property portfolio is appropriately sized, aligned, and in the proper condition to support efficient mission execution." Land use planning, like Campus Master Planning and 5-Year Facility Planning, provides a means for better, more sustainable use of the INL Site in a coordinated effort to ensure current and future mission needs are met, including acquisition, recapitalization, maintenance, disposition, real property utilization and long-term stewardship. This document and all functions of INL are guided by the DOE Vision for INL and the INL Mission and builds on the baseline established in the FY 2015 CLUES Report. However, it delivers a revised structure with focus on new resource management zones, which provide organization of key management considerations and access restrictions to optimize land use and environmental stewardship. A new set of thematic Guiding Principles presented in this report provide the intent and sustainable management direction to protect the INL Site natural environment. They demonstrate that the mission and vision of DOE and INL can be realized with inclusion of first of a kind technology, private sector development, and globally recognized testing and demonstration. This CLUES Report encourages comprehensive management decision-making with additional resource discussions for sustainability, the built environment, and the ecological landscape at the INL Site. Enhanced resource considerations and trends emphasize the importance of air, land use, environmental, subsurface, and cultural resources. The INL Site supports exceptional and interdependent resources. A diversity of bat species are accommodated by culturally significant caves distributed around the Site. Big game species like elk, deer, and moose seek vegetation communities which are protected by long-term stewardship and monitoring programs.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparative Life Cycle Analysis of Scalable Single-Junction and Tandem Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) Systems

Efficient, low-cost solar cells based upon perovskites have the potential to transform the US and global energy portfolio and improve energy security if they can be manufactured in an environmentally sustainable manner. However, previous life cycle analyses (LCA) of perovskite solar cells (PSC) used lab recipes to project the environmental impact of industrial PSC production – using materials and processes that may not be representative of industrial productions due to high material waste and complex synthesis – and such studies were limited to a few single-junction technologies. Thus, the goal of this project was threefold: a) to review the most promising for industrial production single-junction and tandem PSC technologies, b) to build life-cycle materials inventories that reflect scalable production of these technologies, and c) to conduct comprehensive life-cycle analysis of these technologies and compare their environmental impact with those of established commercial technologies. In response, this project identified challenges for fabrication transitioning from laboratory to sustainable industrial production, developed life-cycle inventory (LCI) data for scaling to industrial production four promising single-junction and three tandem PSC systems and produced life-cycle-investigations using, as metrics, a complete spectrum of energy, environmental and ecological impact indicators. Special focus was given to the use of lead, silver and indium in PSC. The project used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology as standardized by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), ISO standards 14040 and 14044, and the International Energy Agency PVPS Task 12 LCA guidelines. LCA allows the calculation of a number of energy and environmental and impact categories, including energy cumulative energy demand (CED), global warming potential (GWP), human toxicity potential (HTP), eco-toxicity potential (ETP), abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP), acidification potential (AP), ozone depletion potential (ODP), photochemical oxidation potential (POP), eutrophication potential (EP). In addition to those, we calculated the Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT) and the Energy Return On Investment (EROI). We provide LCA impacts for complete perovskite PV systems – including balance of system components – installed at three irradiation levels and considering reference and future potential module efficiencies. Finally, a sensitivity analysis on perovskite lifetime has been performed, considering 10, 20 and 30 years. Contribution analysis of the impacts of each material and layer of PSC shows, that the use of Pb in metalorganic PSC does not result in significant environmental impacts as the major contributions to environmental indicators arise from the use of Ag and encapsulation materials. Solution-based PSC manufacturing was found to be less impactful to the environment than vapor-based fabrication, and roll-to-roll (RtR) printing uses less energy and generates the lowest emissions. PSC produced with RtR manufacturing could reach the same Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROI) as that of crystalline-Si PV within 12 years of life, whereas the most energy demanding spray coating on rigid substrates, would require a 20-yr life to match the EROI of 30-yr lasting silicon PV. This work lays the foundation for sustainability investigations in a comparative context of large-scale production and deployment of PSC. The results of this project have the potential to have a significant impact on the future of PV manufacturing, by providing industry, policy-makers, and academia with insights necessary to choose which, if any, lead-based solar cell life cycles are environmentally sustainable.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Potential Adoption and Benefits of Co-Optimized Multimode Engines and Fuels for U.S. Light-Duty Vehicles

Exploring a diverse portfolio of technologies for decarbonization is crucial to understanding the potential impacts of different technological solutions and their associated environmental implications. Using high-octane, high-sensitivity biofuel blends in co-optimized multimode engines can increase engine efficiency and reduce vehicle emissions. Here, the multimode engine research focuses on the benefits of light-duty vehicle engines, which can operate in multiple modes depending on the vehicle's load. Low-temperature combustion can improve efficiency and reduce emissions (such as those from oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter) during low-load operation, while spark ignition performance is maintained in high-load operation. These advanced engines can be optimized to run on blends of biobased fuels. This analysis models scenarios for potential market adoption of co-optimized multimode vehicles fueled by three different bioblendstocks: ethanol, isopropanol, and isobutanol. An integrated modeling approach is used to forecast the energy and environmental impacts of the deployment of co-optimized multimode vehicles and fuels in the light-duty sector over the 2020-to-2050 time horizon. The multidisciplinary approach combines vehicle sales modeling, system dynamics modeling of the biorefining industry, and life cycle assessment to estimate the emissions and energy benefits. The models consider market forces such as consumer preferences for vehicle attributes, biofuel supply and demand dynamics subject to biorefinery capacity build-out and bioresource constraints, and forecasted changes to the U.S. bulk energy system over time. Market adoption of co-optimized vehicles is evaluated across a wide parameter space for incremental vehicle cost and engine efficiency improvement. This analysis reveals that the deployment of co-optimized multimode fuels and vehicles results in up to a 5% reduction in annual sector-wide life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, relative to a business-as-usual scenario, but is also indicates environmental trade-offs, such as higher life cycle water-use. Emission benefits could potentially increase beyond 2050, as the new technologies penetrate the market and gain a foothold. Results also show that, under certain circumstances, vehicles with engines co-optimized for use with high-octane, high-sensitivity biofuel blends can be cost-competitive with conventional gasoline, while reducing GHG emissions. Our modeling results indicate that co-optimized multimode fuels and engines can be strategically leveraged in tandem with electrification to decarbonize the light-duty sector. Co-optimized vehicles could play a role in the early years of the time horizon, while electric vehicles (EVs) could become more competitive in the later years, highlighting the complementary benefits of these technologies for GHG reductions.

Oke, Doris↗
DOE OSTI2023

Ultrasonic waveguide reflectometry for quench detection (CRADA Final Report)

Early detection of thermal runaway (quench) is critical for safely operating high-temperature superconductor (HTS) magnets. Voltage-based techniques provide late detection of quenching in HTS, which can lead to magnet burnout and system damage. Various non-voltage quench-detection approaches are therefore investigated nowadays that are based on magnetic, acoustic, and optical sensing. LBNL has been actively developing the quench detection principle based on diffuse ultrasonic wave propagation since 2017 and has demonstrated the approach's viability with several peer-reviewed publications and a patent application. Over the last decade, Etegent, LBNL partner for this proposal and effort, has been developing a sensing technology that utilizes the propagation of stress waves through the solid metallic and nonmetallic waveguides (WG). The method is based on the dependence of materials' elastic properties and the speed of sound on temperature. Compared with optical analog, acoustic WG operates at much lower frequencies, eliminating the need for expensive, complex, highly sensitive receivers and data processing. Etegent proved this technology in many harsh environments, mainly concentrated high-temperature measurements. The initial contact between LBNL and Etegent started in 2020, aiming at combining our knowledge and effort toward developing a viable ultrasound-based quench detection technique for use with HTS magnets. A preliminary study conducted jointly in 2022 found no principle restrictions for expanding the WG technology toward cryogenic temperature operation. The present CRADA work aimed at designing, building, and testing ultrasonic waveguide temperature sensors at relevant cryogenic conditions, and demonstrating this technology's applicability to detecting heating and quenching in High Temperature Superconductor (HTS)-based cables and magnets. The technical objectives of the project included: (1) Design and fabricate ultrasonic WG sensors suitable for cryogenic operation, (2) Test ultrasonic WGs under cryogenic conditions, (3) Determining a suitable way of insulating WGs to prevent ultrasonic leakage while maintaining good thermal contact with the surrounding medium, (4) WG integration and cryogenic test with HTS conductors and HTS magnets, and (5) Design and basic prototyping of a standalone WG-based quench detection system. This project adds value to the present LBNL magnet diagnostics portfolio and enables a breakthrough in addressing the HTS magnet quench detection challenge.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Using National-Scale Data to Inform Coal Power Plant Redevelopment and Coal Community Revitalization Planning

In the United States, individual coal plants have high variation in their construction and operation. Coal plants commonly have multiple units, with different commissioning ages, operational position, and maintenance conditions – even multiple fuels. These units may be in changing states of utilization, with variation in productivity depending on economic contexts. Coal plants themselves may be temporarily offline, mothballed, retired, or decommissioned due to owner/operator portfolios or market conditions, and the current posture of the plant may be difficult to ascertain without local news sources (Tarekegne et al. 2021). Anticipated dates of plant closures are prospectively represented to regulators and to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), but may also experience uncertainty due to the engineering, environmental, economic and social complexity of closing a very large power plant. As noted in this report, closure of the first unit to the last within a single plant may span more than 20 years. Yet tracking and predicting the position of our nation’s coal fleets on a national scale is deeply important. In developing a case for federal datasets and an approach to building and curating these data, this report identified that data must have high fidelity at the plant-level to be meaningful in aggregate. Plant-scale detail is also a match for its application: national priorities in federal investment range from economic revitalization for coal plant communities to maintaining reliable electric grid operations. This document is organized into a statistical review of coal plant retirements, past and prospective, in the United States; trends in the relationship between closures and existing federal investment programs for community revitalization; and potential methods for accelerating site redevelopment through advanced geospatial analysis based on federal data.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗