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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 OSTI2020

2020 State of the Science Report, Chapter 6: Changes in Benthic and Pelagic Habitats Caused by Marine Renewable Energy Devices

Most marine renewable energy (MRE) devices must be attached to the seafloor in some way, either through gravity foundations, pilings, or anchors, and with mooring lines, transmission cables, and devices themselves in the water column. Physical changes in benthic and pelagic habitats have the potential to alter species occurrence or abundance at a localized scale, lead to some level of habitat loss, provide opportunities for colonization by non-native species, alter patterns of ecological succession, modify ecosystem functioning, and affect behavioral responses of marine organisms. The transformation of the seafloor and/or water column habitat to new hard substratum because of the presence of the MRE devices may also lead to artificial reef effects or changes in animal behavior. While there is no indication that MRE devices affect marine habitats differently than other structures currently and historically placed in the ocean, regulators and stakeholders may continue to have concerns. https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/state-of-the-science-2020-chapter-6-habitat-changes

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

2020 State of the Science Report, Chapter 12: Adaptive Management Related to Marine Renewable Energy

As the marine renewable energy (MRE) industry is rapidly ramped up from single devices to commercial-scale deployments, developers and regulators will need evidence of the environmental effects of MRE to inform project development and consenting/permitting (hereafter consenting) processes. Uncertainty surrounding the potential impacts of novel RE technologies on sensitive marine animals, habitats, and ecosystem processes means that even robust baseline environmental information cannot comprehensively address all pre-deployment knowledge gaps. Tools and practical approaches are needed to help with the sustainable development of the industry. Adaptive management (AM), also referred to as learning by/while doing, enables projects to be deployed incrementally, despite uncertainty, in a way that prevents unacceptable harm to the marine environment. If rigorously implemented, this approach may provide a reliable mechanism for closing knowledge gaps, thereby retiring risks for future MRE developments. This chapter explores and suggests a pathway for applying a passive approach to AM for the consenting of single devices and array-scale MRE projects. Complementary information is available online at https://tethys.pnnl.gov/state-of-thescience-2020 -supplementaryadaptive-management. https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/state-of-the-science-2020-chapter-12-adaptive-management

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2022

Weatherization Updates From the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides technical assistance and research to support high-quality work and highly qualified workers in the weatherization and home performance industry. NREL staff will provide updates on their work on the Standard Work Specifications, Home Energy Professional Certifications, Continuous Improvement Workshops, workforce training and research, and other topics.

continuous improvement↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Safe Response to Renewable Energy Hazards

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and Underwriters Laboratories, LLC (UL) in conjunction with UL Solutions initiated a joint project in 2022 under an agreement with the United States Department of Energy-Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE-EERE). This project focused on two separate and important initiatives related to energy efficiency in residential buildings. Initiative 1: Fire Performance on Energy Efficient Exterior Walls. Initiative 2: Firefighting Tactics in Residential Properties with Building Energy Storage Systems (BESS). The project’s first initiative addresses concerns surrounding new technologies with enhanced, energy-efficient exterior walls installed on residential properties. The concerns of fire rapidly traveling vertically up the exterior of these walls were examined. This addressed a growing concern from the first responder community that many times, the fires on the exterior of residential buildings have already evolved into an attic fire by the time of arrival – making it problematic to address the fire scenario. The test plan for Initiative 1 incorporated a modified version of an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) test method, ASTM E2707, Standard Test Method for Determining Fire Penetration of Exterior Wall Assemblies Using a Direct Flame Impingement Exposure, as the foundation of the research. The test method involved a wall structure intended to represent retrofit construction to evaluate how fire would spread vertically or laterally. The second aspect of the UL-IAFF Project focuses on the fire service response to Residential Battery Energy Storage System (RBESS) incidents. These simulation tests were constructed in the large-scale fire test facility at UL Solutions’ Northbrook, IL campus. A baseline test was conducted that involved a test structure with no batteries—shelving units populated with standardized commodities, representing a typical garage with cellulosic and plastic contents. Three additional tests have been conducted to generate data with the contribution of energy storage system (ESS) batteries to compare fire and explosion hazards against the baseline test. Through this work, fire service tactical considerations can be explored. From the data, the team can determine 1) the visual indicators of a residential fire that has involved an RBESS (or, potentially, other large batteries) and 2) the impact of fire service-initiated ventilation of the structure on the fire conditions and explosion risks.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Toward sustainable electrochemically mediated separations driven by renewable energy

Environmental pollution, water scarcity, resource shortage, and fossil fuel reliance have all represented threats to a sustainable future. Separation processes play a pivotal role in improving sustainability in fields such as industrial processes, resource recycling, wastewater treatment, and water desalination, among others. Electrochemical systems have gained increased attention as effective separation platforms, not only in performance but also as a potentially energy-efficient approach. However, the reliance on non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels, for electricity generation limits the advancement toward a fully sustainable separation process. Integration of separation processes with eco-friendly renewable energy sources can increase overall sustainability and decrease carbon footprint. Here, in this review, we provide an overview of electrochemical separations and recent efforts to integrate them with renewable energy sources such as heat and solar energy. We discuss electrochemical separations, including electrosorption and electrodialysis, and research to transition these processes to thermoelectrochemical (TEC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) platforms. Finally, we discuss current challenges and future prospects in direct integration of renewable energy sources with separation processes.

electrochemistry↗
DOE OSTI2021

Powering the Blue Economy: Economics of Marine Renewable Energy Systems

This presentation, part of the Policy and Innovation Drivers Shaping the Market for Marine Renewable Energy panel of the 2020 Marine Renewable Energy Conference: On and Off the Grid, moderated by Leslie-Ann McGee, Assistant Director of the Consortium for Marine Robotics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Program Manager, Cape Cod Blue Economy Foundation, delves into government policies incentivizing technological advances, collaborative models for technology development, market trends, and permitting hurdles. Panelists include: Jennifer Garson, Senior Advisor, U.S. Dept. of Energy Lead for the Powering the Blue Economy Initiative; Henry Jeffrey, Chairman of the Technology Collaboration Programme for Ocean Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh; Alf Carroll, SBIR Blackbelt and Ocean Energy SME, Raytheon Technologies; Walter Schurtenberger, Founder, Hydrokinetic Energy Corp.; and Dale "Scott" Jenne, Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

50 EE - Wind and Water Power Program - Water (EE-4↗
DOE OSTI2020

How Local Governments Can Buy Renewable Energy and Support Market Development

This webinar covers strategies local governments can consider to procure renewable energy and support renewable energy market development, including power purchase agreements (PPAs), virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs), community solar, and more. This webinar also covers how the regulatory landscape impacts the RE purchasing options available to a particular community and highlight case studies from local governments across the U.S. that have successfully implemented these strategies, including Arlington, Virginia and Denver, Colorado. This webinar provides one AICP CM continuing education credit. Who: Chad Laurent, Esq., Principal, Cadmus Group; Jonathan Rogers, Renewable Energy Specialist, Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, Resiliency at the City and County of Denver; John Morrill, Energy Manager, Office of Sustainability & Environmental Management, Arlington County Department of Environmental Services

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Probabilistic Modeling of Climate Change Impacts on Renewable Energy and Storage Requirements for NM's Energy Transition Act (SAND Report)

This report provides a study of the potential impacts of climate change on intermittent renewable energy resources, battery storage, and resource adequacy in Public Service Company of New Mexico’s Integrated Resource Plan for 2020 – 2040. Climate change models and available data were first evaluated to determine uncertainty and potential changes in solar irradiance, temperature, and wind speed in NM in the coming decades. These changes were then implemented in solar and wind energy models to determine impacts on renewable energy resources in NM. Results for the extreme climate-change scenario show that the projected wind power may decrease by ~13% due to projected decreases in wind speed. Projected solar power may decrease by ~4% due to decreases in irradiance and increases in temperature in NM. Uncertainty in these climate-induced changes in wind and solar resources was accommodated in probabilistic models assuming uniform distributions in the annual reductions in solar and wind resources. Uncertainty in battery storage performance was also evaluated based on increased temperature, capacity fade, and degradation in round-trip efficiency. The hourly energy balance was determined throughout the year given uncertainties in the renewable energy resources and energy storage. The loss of load expectation (LOLE) was evaluated for the 2040 No New Combustion portfolio and found to increase from 0 days/year to a median value of ~2 days/year due to potential reductions in renewable energy resources and battery storage performance and capacity. A rank-regression analyses revealed that battery round-trip efficiency was the most significant parameter that impacted LOLE, followed by solar resource, wind resource, and battery fade. An increase in battery storage capacity to ~25,000 – 30,000 MWh from a baseline value of ~14,000 MWh was required to reduce the median value of LOLE to ~0.2 days/year with consideration of potential climate impacts and battery degradation.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Renewable energy analysis in indigenous communities using bottom-up demand prediction

This paper provides a methodology for the holistic analysis of hybrid renewable energy systems in rural communities. Electric demand is an important component for modeling and analysis of renewable energy systems. Typically, electric demand data is not available due to the internal privacy policies of utility providers. Therefore, this study proposes the use of bottom-up approaches for the development of the electric demand profile, considering the general homogeneity of residential and commercial buildings in rural communities. As a test case, this study develops the electric demand profile and investigates the technical and environmental feasibility of a hybrid renewable energy system for the New Town community on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (FBIR) in North Dakota. This study conducts the hybrid renewable energy system’s analysis by developing scripts in the LK scripting language and integrating System Advisor Model software’s open-source modules for modeling of renewable energy systems. Here, the results for the validation testbed of this study show that hybrid renewable resources have higher ratios of energy used for self-consumption to the total energy generated compared to stand-alone wind and PV farms.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Monitoring of Photovoltaic (PV) Performance and Degradation: Integrated Renewable Energy Systems (IRES) - PV Monitoring Task

The Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) testbed demonstration at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Sequim campus includes development of a suite of capabilities for tracking the performance of photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy components located on a floating platform (floating PV) and on a shoreline building rooftop. The marine environment represents potentially harsh and corrosive conditions for PV modules. Compared to terrestrial PV, potential concerns for offshore PV arising from high humidity and occasional contact with saltwater, marine wildlife, and aquaculture. These environmental factors can reduce electricity generation efficiency and increase the risk of electrical faults, polymer insulation or jacketing degradation and hydrolysis of the PV cell encapsulant materials. Offshore PV modules may also be exposed to lower temperatures and buoyant and vibrating motions with a floating platform. It is not clear how the long-term performance of floating PV will be affected by these factors. To understand expected energy generation through solar cells on a floating platform, monitoring of the performance of PV modules in the marine environment is needed. This report outlines a plan for long-term testing of IRES PV components utilizing resources of the PNNL Material Aging and Detection (MAaD) Science team and the Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory (MCRL). Equipment applicable for onsite testing and real-time monitoring of the PV performance associated with environmental conditions including temperature, solar irradiance, shading and soiling is included. In case of performance loss, equipment for fault detection, failure analysis, material testing, and further troubleshooting are also available. Through establishment of this capabilities, the enabling IRES project sets the stage for future research to advance off-shore and near-shore energy options for businesses and communities.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Renewable Energy Potential Model: Geothermal Supply Curves

The Renewable Energy Potential (reV) model is a geospatial platform for estimating technical potential and developing renewable energy supply curves, initially developed for wind and solar technologies. The model evaluates deployment constraints, considering land use, environmental, and cultural factors, and estimates the distance to existing grid features to connect future plants (Maclaurin et al., 2021). A pressing deficiency in the reV model, however, is representation of geothermal electricity generation technologies. To address this gap, we developed a novel geothermal generation module for reV that allows for representation and analysis at the same level of detail as other renewable technologies. The included paper describes our process for evaluating data sources for the modeling, and presents five preliminary reV geothermal results. More specifically, we present two sets of resource data that represent upper and lower bounds for geothermal potential. We then present several sensitivity runs using the upper bound resource data; the results are encouraging that levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) can be reduced by optimizing the location and estimated capacity of the spatially diverse geothermal resource while considering the distance to existing grid infrastructure. Our preliminary supply curves and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) results provided here should be considered with care due to the high uncertainty in geothermal resource potential data. We present median LCOE values for the conterminous U.S. for three scenarios: two hydrothermal (3.5km depth, USGS heat flow & SMU temperatures respectively) and one EGS (4.5km depth, SMU temperatures). The capital and operating costs for each respective technology are modeled. We also compare results using two different resource data sources.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

2020 State of the Science Report, Chapter 7: Changes in Oceanographic Systems Associated with Marine Renewable Energy Devices

Oceanographic processes define the marine environment: the flow of water determines the concentrations of dissolved gases and nutrients, transports sediments, and maintains the habitats and water quality that support marine organisms and healthy ecosystems. Important physical processes in the ocean include, but are not limited to, tidal circulation and basin flushing, wave action, local and basin-scale ocean currents, temperature and salinity gradients, sediment transport forming and shaping coastlines, and the exchange of heat and dissolved gases at the air-water interface. Harnessing energy with marine renewable energy (MRE) devices has the potential to affect these processes in both the nearfield (within a few device lengths) and the farfield (farther from the device, from the scale of multiple devices to the scale of an enclosed basin) by removing energy from the system, changing natural flow patterns around devices, and/or decreasing wave heights. https://tethys.pnnl.gov/publications/state-of-the-science-2020-chapter-7-oceanographic-systems

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Tribal Renewable Energy: Bishop Paiute Tribe, Residential Solar Program Phase II (Final Report)

The project consisted of the design, installation, inspection, and interconnection of 35 grid-tied, solar electric systems, totaled 123 kW rated capacity, on qualified existing low-income single-family homes located within the Bishop Paiute Reservation, which provide at least 65-79% savings in displaced electricity. Tribal job trainees were hired for each installation, gaining valuable job experience. Additionally, each homeowner was educated on energy efficiency and renewable energy. The overall project goal was to deploy clean energy systems in order to achieve the Bishop Paiute Tribe’s long-term goals of energy self-sufficiency, environmental protection, and better lives for our Tribal members and community. The energy displaced was 82.4 percent of total electricity used (exceeding estimated 65-79%)or over 170,000 kWh/year generating approximately $1.29 million worth of power for low-income families over their lifespans, while eliminating an estimated 2,640 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. This reduction makes a significant difference on the reservation giving more families money to spend on other essential items, while reducing their carbon footprint in this beautiful mountain community. Also, implementing these 35 systems provided a approximately 132 hours of paid solar installation work for tribal members. Training and good paying jobs are scarce on the reservation and solar is the fastest growing industry in CA and this training offered our members a real chance to learn and then get paid. The program is very significant to the family who qualified, as most families fall below the federal poverty guidelines, and many are living paycheck to paycheck. Overall, the triple impact of the Bishop Paiute Tribe Residential Solar Program Phase II— affordable energy for low-income families, on-site clean energy production, and hands-on solar installation jobs for local workers—these all help build the Tribe’s energy, economic, environmental, and social self-sufficiency and sovereignty amongst the most needy on the Reservation

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Renewable Energy Systems in the Transition of North America to Net Zero Emissions

The North American transition to low-carbon energy sources depends on the technology decisions of its diverse communities and stakeholders. Each region and industry will have its own portfolio of renewable energy technologies to meet the common goal of net zero emissions. Our presentation will share integrated renewable energy solutions being explored at scale by major U.S cities, rural regions dependent on oil and gas, and industries redefining their infrastructure and their missions. Case examples will be presented on: the Los Angeles 100% renewable energy goals; challenges and opportunities of decarbonizing and reducing emissions from the oil and gas industry; repurposing oil and gas infrastructure such as using pipelines for hydrogen blends and renewable natural gas and idle wells for geothermal energy and energy storage; treatment of produced water using renewable energy for agriculture applications; and the preserving water and agricultural resources in the transition to renewable energy. Key challenges will also be discussed, including resilience to increasing disasters, stranded assets, unequal community impact, and meeting the last 5-20% of energy with renewable energy.

challenges↗
DOE OSTI2022

Addressing Market Issues in Electrical Power Systems with Large Shares of Variable Renewable Energy

This paper reports recent findings from IEA Wind TCP Task 25, which compiles international experiences and research related to large-scale integration of wind and other renewable energy. In the paper, we address the main challenges for market integration of variable renewable energy, relating to price formation, cost recovery, balancing and other grid services. The paper gives an overview of recent scenario studies on electricity price impacts of (1) various generation, energy storage and demand types in different markets, and (2) different market designs and energy/climate policies. Studying markets with very high shares of variable renewable energy requires an improved set of analysis tools for forecasting market outcomes, estimating flexibility needs and sources, and assessing resource adequacy. Key market features need to be investigated within these improved analytical capabilities for systems transitioning to high shares of variable renewable energy, storage and flexible demand. System services that can be supported by markets will likely need to be revisited. Finally, this paper identifies open questions and suggested future market design work for supporting systems with very high shares of variable renewable energy, which are to be addressed in follow-up work of Task 25 collaborative research.

cost recovery↗
DOE OSTI2024

Powering Data Centers with Clean Energy: A Techno-Economic Case Study of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Dependability

Rising data demands from artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) generating images, videos, and text have prompted increased need for larger and more robust data centers in the United States. Major companies interested in these larger data centers face the choice of linking them to existing regional grids, building stand-alone power supplies onsite, or a combination of both. The request, review, and approval process for new transmission lines to grids in the United States, however, has grown in recent years to times spans rivaling those of new construction for nuclear power plants. Building an islanded power supply for each data center is therefore becoming a prominent option. In this case study, several technologies are modeled in techno-economic simulations for long-term system costs subject to fixed electricity demand from a singular data center. A 250 MWe data center is assumed with additional 50 MWe for resiliency. Techno-economic simulations are conducted using the Holistic Energy Resource Optimization Network (HERON) software, which is a part of the Framework for Optimization of Resources and Economics (FORCE) tool suite. Technologies considered include solar, wind, lithium-ion batteries, and several types of nuclear reactors: large-scale reactors, small modular reactors, and microreactors. A low- and high-cost estimate for each technology is assumed to develop a range of expected economic performance. Low-cost estimates included several clean energy production tax credits. Different combinations of renewable energy generators with nuclear reactors are considered, ranging from a fully renewable-powered data center to a fully nuclear-powered data center. Historic time series of wind and solar availability from the Texas grid are used to train a reduced order model; this model then generates unique time series with similar characteristics of the training dataset. Multiple scenarios of weather and subsequent operations are simulated for each renewable-nuclear combination to determine total costs throughout the project lifetime. Fully renewable-powered configurations required large amounts of installed capacity (GW scale) in the simulations to meet the fixed demand of the data center. This is due to some scenarios in the historical dataset which captured low-wind and low-solar days, requiring over-building of these technologies as well as batteries to compensate for the low amounts of electricity generation. Fully nuclear-powered configurations outperformed the fully renewable and mixed renewable-nuclear configurations in terms of cost, with ranges between $1B and $10B in 2023 USDs compared to $40B+ for fully renewable configurations. Of the nuclear technologies, small modular reactors performed better economically than large-scale nuclear models due to lower projected capital costs, and both performed better than the microreactor models. These results demonstrate the applicability of firm, dispatchable electricity resources from baseload generators like nuclear power plants for operating facilities that run at constant power without daily variability.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

2024 OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report, Chapter 9: Beyond Single Marine Renewable Energy Devices: A System-wide Effects Approach

Global expansion of renewable energy, including marine renewable energy (MRE) technology development is necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change, facilitate a sustainable transition from carbon-based energy sources, and satisfy national energy security needs using locally produced electricity (European Commission 2022; IPCC 2023; IRENA 2020). As MRE engineering and research continue to focus on designing devices for deployment in nearshore and offshore waters around the world, researchers are also examining potential environmental effects on marine animals, habitats, and ecosystem processes. To date, the focus has been on interactions between small numbers of MRE devices (1-6) and the environment, such as collisions between animals and turbine blades, the effects of underwater noise and electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions, changes in habitats and oceanographic processes, risk of entanglement of animals, and displacement of animals (Boehlert & Gill 2010; Copping & Hemery 2020) (see Chapter 3).

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗