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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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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

A Novel, Low-Cost, Portable Device for Counterfeit and Noncompliant Refrigerant Detection

The increasing prevalence of counterfeit refrigerants presents significant risks to Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems, including compromised equipment performance, safety hazards, and environmental non-compliance. This report details the development of a novel, cost-effective, and portable detection device designed to accurately identify counterfeit refrigerants. The device utilizes a controlled gas sampling and analysis system within a sealed chamber, ensuring precise measurements while maintaining safety through a purging mechanism. The system features a high-sensitivity sensor integrated with an onboard control module that analyzes gas composition in real-time, providing users with clear visual indicators for refrigerant authenticity.Laboratory validation demonstrated the device’s high accuracy (exceeding 95%) in detecting unauthorized refrigerant blends. Key advantages include affordability, ease of use, rapid response time, and compatibility with a wide range of refrigerants. This solution supports compliance with regulatory frameworks such as the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, enhances safety in HVACR operations, and mitigates the risks associated with counterfeit refrigerants. Future developments will focus on expanding refrigerant detection capabilities, integrating machine learning for enhanced accuracy, implementing cost-reduction strategies to improve accessibility and market adoption, and optimizing system packaging for enhanced field portability.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Novel, Low-Cost, Portable Device for Counterfeit and Noncompliant Refrigerant Detection

The increasing prevalence of counterfeit refrigerants presents significant risks to Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems, including compromised equipment performance, safety hazards, and environmental non-compliance. This report details the development of a novel, cost-effective, and portable detection device designed to accurately identify counterfeit refrigerants. The device utilizes a controlled gas sampling and analysis system within a sealed chamber, ensuring precise measurements while maintaining safety through a purging mechanism. The system features a high-sensitivity sensor integrated with an onboard control module that analyzes gas composition in real-time, providing users with clear visual indicators for refrigerant authenticity. Laboratory validation demonstrated the device’s high accuracy (exceeding 95%) in detecting unauthorized refrigerant blends. Key advantages include affordability, ease of use, rapid response time, and compatibility with a wide range of refrigerants. This solution supports compliance with regulatory frameworks such as the AIM Act, enhances safety in HVACR operations, and mitigates the risks associated with counterfeit refrigerants. Future developments will focus on expanding refrigerant detection capabilities, integrating machine learning for enhanced accuracy, implementing cost-reduction strategies to improve accessibility and market adoption, and optimizing system packaging for enhanced field portability.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Framework for Water Efficiency Measures

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Framework for Water Efficiency Measures: Guidance Designed for Federal Agencies (hereafter referred to as “this report”) provides a technical framework for federal agencies to conduct a life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) for water efficiency projects in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 8253. This report leverages insights from the 2023 report, PNNL-34006, Water and Wastewater Annual Price Escalation Rates for Selected Cities Across the United States: 2023 Edition (Unger et al. 2023). The primary objective of this report is to provide a framework to assist federal agencies with evaluating the full economic impact of water efficiency projects by assessing both initial investments and long-term operational benefits. An LCCA can provide a comprehensive view of all costs associated with a water efficiency project, including initial investment, ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M), and eventual disposal or replacement, ensuring the most cost-effective solution is selected. The LCCA methodology outlined in this report enables users to compare base case scenarios with potential alternatives using a standardized present value approach. It incorporates key cost components such as energy, water and wastewater, installation, O&M, and equipment replacement. Additionally, the framework introduces relevant evaluation metrics, such as the net savings and the savings-to-investment ratio, to ensure that water efficiency measures are economically justified over the lifespan of the project. To support practical application, this report also describes various water efficiency strategies that may be analyzed using an LCCA, including plumbing retrofits, irrigation upgrades, alternative water use, and cooling system improvements. By applying this framework, federal agencies can ensure compliance with regulatory mandates while maximizing the return on investment and contributing to resilient water management practices. The information provided in this report is aligned with the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) life-cycle cost (LCC) methodology, as conveyed in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 135 (Kneifel and Webb 2022). This report is intended to provide relatively high-level guidance, acting as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, that resource.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Theoretical Open Architecture Framework and Technology Stack for Digital Twins in Energy Sector Applications

Digital twin is often viewed as a technology that can assist engineers and researchers make data-driven system and network-level decisions. Across the scientific literature, digital twins have been consistently theorized as a strong solution to facilitate proactive discovery of system failures, system and network efficiency improvement, system and network operation optimization, among others. With their strong affinity to the industrial metaverse concept, digital twins have the potential to offer high-value propositions that are unique to the energy sector stakeholders to realize the true potential of physical and digital convergence and pertinent sustainability goals. Although the technology has been known for a long time in theory, its practical real-world applications have been so far limited, nevertheless with tremendous growth projections. In the energy sector, there have been theoretical and lab-level experimental analysis of digital twins but few of those experiments resulted in real-world deployments. There may be many contributing factors to any friction associated with real-world scalable deployment in the energy sector such as cost, regulatory, and compliance requirements, and measurable and comparable methods to evaluate performance and return on investment. Those factors can be potentially addressed if the digital twin applications are built on the foundations of a scalable and interoperable framework that can drive a digital twin application across the project lifecycle: from ideation to theoretical deep dive to proof of concept to large-scale experiment to real-world deployment at scale. This paper is an attempt to define a digital twin open architecture framework that comprises a digital twin technology stack (D-Arc) coupled with information flow, sequence, and object diagrams. Those artifacts can be used by energy sector engineers and researchers to use any digital twin platform to drive research and engineering. This paper also provides critical details related to cybersecurity aspects, data management processes, and relevant energy sector use cases.

Gourisetti, Sri, Nikhil Gupta (ORCID:0000000188778↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modelos de riesgo de colision: una herramienta para evaluar los riesgos para las aves rapaces en instalaciones de energia eolica (Spanish)

In January 2022, the International Energy Agency Wind Task 34 - Working Together to Resolve the Environmental Effects of Wind Energy (WREN) - organized a forum to discuss aspects of raptor collision risk with wind turbines. The forum included experts in raptor biology and physiology, collision risk modeling, wind energy development, and atmospheric scientists from seven countries. They represented a range of international stakeholder groups including academia, government agencies, national laboratories, and wildlife consultants. This educational brief summarizes the discussion during the forum and written comments from those who could not attend. Relevant literature was used to provide additional context when needed. For several species of raptors, such as golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) and white-tailed eagles (Haliaatus albicilla), collision risk with wind turbines continues to be a concern among stakeholders. These concerns include the potential population-level impact related to collisions, compliance with regulatory mechanisms for protected species, and the ability to generate renewable energy. To make siting and operational decisions, stakeholders require some level of certainty of the risk associated with a proposed project. Understanding this risk, in part, requires species-specific data on raptors and how they perceive and interact with wind farms or individual wind turbines. Collision risk models (CRMs) are a tool, often used in environmental impact assessments, that can provide estimates of risk relative to specific turbines or an entire wind farm. However, questions associated with the uncertainty in CRM estimates remain. This is the Spanish translation of NREL/FS-5000-84747, "Collision Risk Modeling - A Tool for Assessing Risks to Raptors at Wind Energy Facilities."

collision risk↗
DOE OSTI2025

A model to assess Zircaloy’s mechanical property changes following a transient beyond critical heat flux

Maintaining the integrity of nuclear fuel rods is essential for ensuring public health and safety in nuclear power generation. During reactor operation, this integrity is confirmed by demonstrating compliance with established regulatory acceptance criteria. For moderate-frequency events, such as limiting transients and anticipated operational occurrences (AOOs), the current fuel integrity criterion is based on preventing boiling transition. This criterion assumes that prevention of boiling transition will prevent excessive cladding heating and, thus, fuel failure during normal operations. While conservative, this approach places significant constraints on core design, fuel cycle economics, and a plant’s ability to perform major power uprates, leading to suboptimal fuel utilization and inefficient carbon-free energy production. A more efficient approach could be achieved by revising the failure criterion to a material-specific limit rather than strictly preventing the boiling transition, since boiling transition per se is not a cause of fuel cladding failure. Here, as a result, a new licensing framework based on material properties, termed time-at-temperature (t@T), is needed. This approach would allow for brief periods of post–critical heat flux operation during an AOO without compromising safety. Implementing the t@T licensing strategy requires a robust technical foundation in material properties, which must be established through comprehensive data collection on both unirradiated and irradiated fuel and cladding materials. This foundation would enable the development of a safety basis that ensures safe operation while providing greater flexibility and efficiency for reactor operation. This paper documents a thorough review of the available data to establish a baseline knowledge that can inform the development of cladding mechanical models, as well as identify experimental data gaps that need to be addressed in future research. Machine learning and data informatics were utilized to extract the importance of parameters on the t@T parameter. Industry tools were used to perform baseline analyses to define the relevant transient conditions for data analysis. The subsequent review successfully identified applicable experimental data, as well as sufficient data to evaluate changes in cladding mechanical properties following an AOO transient. Rather than developing new models, this work coupled existing irradiation annealing and recrystallization models to calculate changes in hardness, yield stress, and ultimate tensile stress following an AOO event. The findings from this review were summarized to highlight the experimental data needs required to fill remaining gaps and support the development of future t@T licensing methodologies.

Cladding performance↗
DOE OSTI2020

Safety Analysis Report for Packagings – Model 9979 Type AF Shipping Package

This Safety Analysis Report for Packaging (SARP) documents the performance of the Department of Energy (DOE) Model USA/9979/AF-96 shipping package and compliance with the regulatory safety requirements of Title 10 and Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The SARP is prepared in accordance with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 460.1D. The Model 9979 Type A Fissile shipping package replaces the Department of Transportation (DOT) UN1A2 Specification Packaging. Formerly, the UN1A2 was authorized under Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 173.417 (2004) for transport of Type A quantities of fissile material over public highways. In accordance with the Federal Register, final rule making issued on January 26, 2004, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in a joint effort with the Department of Transportation, initiated a planned phase out of multiple Specification Packagings from 49 CFR 173, the UN1A2 being one. The rulemaking mandated, by law, removal of these specification packagings from service no later than September 30, 2008. The 9979 is a Performance Packaging and replaces the UN1A2 Specification Packaging. The Packaging Technology and Transportation Engineering (PT&TE) organization of the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is the Design Authority and Design Agency for the 9979.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ultramicro to mesopore frameworks for selective separation and storage of noble gases

Methods and materials for the selective capture and storage of preselected materials from gas streams using metal organic framework (MOF) materials are described. In various embodiments preselected target material gases could include noble gasses such as Kr, Xe, Rn, Arultramicro to mesopore frameworks for selective separation and storage of noble gases, other gasses such as I2 or other particular isotopes either naturally occurring or man-made, or another preselected gas capture material such as a target material for legal, regulatory or treaty compliance, or a preselected material from a particular process such as a cleaning or etching agent from semiconducting or microelectronic manufacture, or a portion of an anesthetic gas such as nitrous oxide, isoflurane, sevoflurane or a fluorinated ethers.

Thallapally, Praveen K.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Regulatory Testing of WTP HL W Glasses for Compliance with Delisting Requirements, VSL-03R3780-1, Rev. 1

(Part of the data collected for this work and discussed in this report was subject to data quality and bias issues. All the affected tests have subsequently been repeated, as directed by the Waste Treatment Plant Project, and new statistical analyses have been performed on the revised data set. A subsequently-issued report supercedes this report and describes the revised data, together with the revised composition-property models (Kot et al. 2004). The reader should refer to the new report for discussion of the revised data set and composition-property (TCLP cadmium release) models. None of the data for the spike glasses, designed for Case 1 and Case 2 COPCs testing, were affected by this issue.)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Annual Status Report (FY 2024): Performance Assessment for the Integrated Disposal Facility

The purpose of this Annual Summary Report (ASR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is to evaluate the continued adequacy of the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) Performance Assessment (PA) and Disposal Authorization Statement (DAS). This report consolidates relevant monitoring data, modeling analyses, and regulatory reviews to demonstrate a reasonable expectation that the PA objectives and performance measures will be met, as required under DOE O 435.1. The ASR follows the guidance in DOE-STD-5002-2017, which provides a framework for maintaining the validity of the DAS through periodic assessment of facility performance and compliance with waste disposal requirements. The IDF is a near-surface disposal facility designed to receive and permanently dispose of low-level waste (LLW) and mixed low-level waste (MLLW) generated from Hanford Site operations. The facility consists of two double-lined disposal cells equipped with leak detection and leachates recovery systems to ensure environmental protection. Waste planned for disposal includes vitrified low-activity waste (LAW) and solid secondary waste (SSW) from the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). At the end of FY 2024, the IDF had not yet received any waste, as it remains in a pre-operational state. Disposal activities will begin with the hot commissioning of the WTP LAW Vitrification Facility using the Direct-Feed Low-Activity Waste (DFLAW) approach in Calendar Year (CY) 2025. This ASR justifies the continued adequacy of the PA and DAS by reviewing key documents and data sources. these sources are listed in Table A-2 in Appendix A.4): The Operating Disposal Authorization Statement (ODAS) for the IDF (DOE-EM, 2021) remains in effect, with no outstanding conditions or key issues affecting its implementation. Based on the comprehensive review of PA analyses, monitoring data, and regulatory compliance activities, this ASR concludes that the IDF remains in compliance with DOE O 435.1, and there is reasonable assurance that the PA performance objectives will be met once disposal operations commence in CY 2025.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

LLNS Request for Variance from 10 CFR 851 for Construction of LLNL Digital Infrastructure Capabilities Expansion Project

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) requests variance to 10 CFR 851 (the Rule) for the construction of the Digital Infrastructure Capabilities Expansion (DICE) project. The request isin continued support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “pilot” to streamline the delivery of commercial-like line-item construction projects under $50 million. This pilot is aligned with the approved NA-50 safety approach. Experience gained in the construction of the new Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Emergency Operations Facility (EOC) under the variance granted in June 2020 is very encouraging. While detailed analysis will be forthcoming after that project is completed, there are strong indicators that a benefit has been realized by the subcontractors executing the work. The variance has permitted local/regional construction businesses contracted to Management & Operation contractor operated facilities and lower tier subcontractors to bid, operate, execute, and comply with safety and health standards they utilize in their business outside of the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex. While compliance to standards that are as safe and healthful as those in 10 CFR 851: confusion, additional cost, and inefficiencies associated with the burden of compliance to an unfamiliar regulatory spectrum has been avoided. Safety and health performance on the EOC construction project including the number of inspection and surveillance issues is comparable to other subcontractors and projects at LLNL executed under 10 CFR 851.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

LLNS Request for Variance From 10 CFR 851 for Construction of LLNL Emergency Operations Center

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) is submitting the following variance application requesting the use of the State of California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) Regulations in lieu of Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 851 (10 CFR 851, the Rule), Worker Safety and Health Program, Subpart B (Program Requirements), Subpart C (Specific Program Requirements), and Appendix A (Worker Safety and Health Functional Areas), solely with respect to the construction of the new Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Emergency Operations Center (EOC) facility. The request is in support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) “pilot” to streamline the delivery of commercial-like line item construction projects under $50 million. This pilot is aligned with the approved NA-50 safety approach for the projects in the pilot. This pilot is to test and demonstrate innovation leading to a reduced cost of construction for building commercial type structures at Department of Energy (DOE)/NNSA facilities. The variance proposes to permit local/regional construction businesses contracted to Management & Operation contractor operated facilities to bid, operate, execute, and comply with safety and health standards they utilize in their business outside of the DOE Complex. This will permit compliance to standards that are as safe and healthful as those in 10 CFR 851 without confusion, additional cost, and inefficiencies associated with the burden of compliance to an unfamiliar regulatory spectrum.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

LLNS Request for Permanent Variance from 10 CFR 851 for Construction

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS) requests variance from 10 CFR 851 (the Rule) for construction work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The request is based upon successful application of similar variances granted to LLNS in continued support of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) initiative to streamline the delivery of line-item construction projects under $50 million. This request is aligned with the approved NA 50 safety approach. Experience gained in the construction of the new LLNL Emergency Operations Center (EOC) under the variance granted in June 2020 and construction preparations to date on the Digital Infrastructure Capabilities Expansion (DICE) under the variance granted April 2022 is very encouraging. There are strong indicators that a benefit has been realized by both the subcontractors executing the work and the Laboratory. The variance has permitted local/regional construction businesses contracted to Management & Operation Contractor operated facilities and lower tier subcontractors to bid, operate, execute, and comply with safety and health standards they utilize in their business outside of the Department of Energy (DOE) Complex. While compliance to standards that are as safe and healthful as those in 10 CFR 851: confusion, additional cost, and inefficiencies associated with the burden of compliance to an unfamiliar regulatory spectrum has been avoided. Safety and health performance on the construction project including the number of inspection and surveillance issues is comparable to other subcontractors and projects at LLNL executed under 10 CFR 851. This variance application was prepared according to the requirements in 10 CFR 851, Subpart D – Variances, § 851.31 Variance Process. This request is limited to subcontractor executed construction at LLNL.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

PV Stormwater Management Research and Testing (PV-SMaRT) (Final Technical Report)

The objective of the Photovoltaic Stormwater Management Research and Testing (PV-SMaRT) project was to develop and disseminate research-based, solar-specific resources for estimating stormwater runoff at ground-mounted PV facilities and detail stormwater management and water quality best practices. The intended use of stormwater management and water quality best practices and stormwater runoff estimation resources is to reduce balance of system soft costs associated with stormwater infrastructure requirements and improve water quality through research-tested best practices. Currently, stormwater regulations and guidelines vary by jurisdiction and can lead to regulatory uncertainty and increased compliance costs for managing stormwater runoff at solar sites. To address these concerns, the NREL team and its partners (University of Minnesota, Great Plains Institute, and Fresh Energy) established and engaged an advisory Water Quality Task Force (WQTF); conducted field research on stormwater infiltration and runoff at five ground-mounted PV sites; validated a 3-D hydrologic model to predict water runoff and generate stormwater runoff coefficients for a range of site conditions and PV designs; developed a stormwater management and water quality best practices document; and engaged with local jurisdictions and other stakeholders to disseminate best practices, stormwater runoff coefficients, and other tools. Key outputs of this project were a PV-SMaRT Runoff Calculator developed by University of Minnesota, a webinar detailing project outcomes and how to use the PV-SMaRT runoff calculator, and a document on Best Practices for regulators and developers regarding stormwater runoff at PV sites.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Regulatory Testing of RPP-WTP HLW Glasses to Support Delisting Compliance, VSL-04R4780-1, Rev. 0 (Sep 2004)

The primary goal of the testing described in this report was to collect data to demonstrate compliance of the immobilized high-level waste (IHLW) glasses with delisting requirements. The collected data will be used to support a petition to delist the IHLW glasses destined for the national disposal facility. The Delisting Data Quality Objectives (DQO) (Cook and Blumenkranz 2003) identified a list of (16) inorganic constituents of potential concern (COPCs) and their associated limits for delisting. These COPCs can be divided into three groups, Cases 1, 2, and 3, based on their Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) responses versus their respective delisting limits. To briefly summarize, Case 1 COPCs are those that, when loaded at their highest expected concentration in Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) glasses, are not expected to leach at their respective delisting limits when the glasses are exposed to the TCLP. Case 2 COPCs may reach the delisting limits in TCLP leachates of WTP glasses if loaded to concentrations near their maximum expected concentrations in glass. Finally, Case 3 COPCs are components that are likely to be present in concentrations sufficient to exceed their respective delisting limits in TCLP leachates of some possible glasses. The test objective was to show that, for (i) the expected range of inorganic contents in the waste feed to the Hanford WTP high level waste (HLW) vitrification facility, (ii) the expected range of glass product compositions, and (iii) the Case 1 and Case 2 COPCs identified by the DQO, the IHLW glasses meet all the relevant requirements for delisting. For Case 3 COPCs (i.e., Cd), the testing was to demonstrate the relationship between glass composition and TCLP cadmium (Cd) release, and then employ the results to develop TCLP-composition response models. During WTP operations, TCLP-composition models can be used to predict, within the required statistical uncertainties, TCLP responses of IHLW production glasses that are within the compositional region used to develop the model.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Examination of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process

Site-permitting and regulation are necessary to ensure hydropower projects (both original and relicensed) comply with statutory requirements and address multiple stakeholder priorities that consider a range of factors, including water quality, species protection, cultural resource impacts, and recreation. However, the time involved in acquiring a license for an individual hydropower project can be highly variable by project, leading to increased project costs, financial risks, and uncertainties. In part, this variability is the result of a regulatory structure that has evolved over time to include multiple approvals and compliance requirements administered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), federal land management agencies, federal and state resource agencies, and Indian Tribes. Ultimately, the time, benefits, costs, and risks to developers associated with hydropower regulatory processes and/or the preparation (e.g., studies) required for regulatory agency review are not well documented or synthesized in the public domain, which may increase uncertainty and variability within the process. This report addresses these needs by presenting results of a comprehensive examination of hydropower licensing including quantitative and qualitative analyses of timelines, causal factors, and their combined effect on risk and costs to developers.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Regulatory Spike Testing of RPP-WTP LAW and HLW Glasses for Compliance with Land Disposal Restrictions, VSL-03R3760-1, Rev. 1

The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Hanford site is the current location of storage of about 50 million gallons of mixed waste. This waste is stored in underground tanks at the Hanford site and is both a listed and characteristic waste, as defined in 40 CFR Part 261, and a dangerous waste according to Chapter 173-303 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). The waste is also subject to the Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) (40 CFR Part 268 and WAC 173-303-140). The River Protection Project - Waste Treatment Plant (RPP-WTP) will provide DOE with a means for treating this waste by vitrification (for subsequent disposal). The tank waste will be partitioned into low and high activity fractions, which will then be vitrified respectively into Immobilized Low Activity Waste (ILAW) and Immobilized High Level Waste (IHLW) products. The ILAW product will be disposed of in an engineered facility on the Hanford site while the IHLW product will be directed to the national deep geological disposal facility for high level nuclear waste. The ILAW and IHLW products must meet a variety of requirements with respect to protection of the environment.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Greenhouse gas emission reduction and cost from the United States biofuels mandate

The United States biofuel mandate might be the largest operating program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Our paper uses regulatory information about abatement and compliance cost estimates to measure the greenhouse gas abatement cost curve of the mandate. Historical compliance costs per unit of biofuel appear readily available, yet findings here show that using these data along with observed biofuel quantities biases biofuel mandate abatement cost estimates upward. Unbiased estimation requires that related biofuel mandate costs and emissions are estimated along with associated market effects, including on fuel use, using an economic model. Moreover, this approach relates greenhouse gas abatement to the implications for crop prices and land use, taking account of interactions within the crop sector. Results show that the United States biofuel mandate causes up to 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent abatement for compliance costs that are equivalent to carbon prices ranging up to $20 per ton, with a large part coming from reductions in petroleum product use as the mandate encourages substitution to biofuels. Abatement costs are reduced if ethanol is made at new facilities with fewer emissions or if petroleum output expansion causes greater emissions than the historical average. Results also indicate that GHG abatement via the mandate is initially costly due to the nature of biofuel demand, there can be a trade-off between corn price increase and GHG reduction, and the increase in total area planted to crops in the U.S. is less important than the reallocation of land among crops.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗