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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Current Status and Prospects of Solid-State Batteries as the Future of Energy Storage

Solid-state battery (SSB) is the new avenue for achieving safe and high energy density energy storage in both conventional but also niche applications. Such batteries employ a solid electrolyte unlike the modern-day liquid electrolyte-based lithium-ion batteries and thus facilitate the use of high-capacity lithium metal anodes thereby achieving high energy densities. Despite this promise, practical realization and commercial adoption of solid-state batteries remain a challenge due to the underlying material and cell level issues that needs to be overcome. This chapter thus covers the specific challenges, design principles and performance improvement strategies pertaining to the cathode, solid electrolyte and anode used in solid state batteries. Perspectives and outlook on specific applications that can benefit from the successful implementation of solid-state battery systems are also discussed. Overall, this chapter highlights the potential of solid-state batteries for successful commercial deployment in next generation energy storage systems.

Dixit, Marm↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Future of Energy Efficiency for U.S. Buildings - Drivers and Market Scenarios

This paper identifies likely drivers of building efficiency over the next ten years and expectations for how efficiency markets may evolve over this period. To prepare these predictions, we conducted an extensive literature review, interviewed 22 experts, reviewed legislation and executive orders in 12 states, and implemented a detailed questionnaire completed by 41 efficiency practitioners. The two most important drivers revealed by our research are (1) public policies and regulations, particularly those associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation and (2) the cost of energy relative to the cost of delivering efficiency. Other important drivers are technology changes, economic conditions, social priorities, and industry (including utility) business practices for increasing the uptake of efficiency in buildings. Our research indicates that efficiency markets will increasingly focus on supporting building decarbonization and enabling demand flexibility through the use of controls in grid-interactive efficient buildings and communities. Efficiency improvements for specific technologies (e.g., heat pumps, controls, and windows) and technological advances not specific to energy technologies (e.g., interoperability, artificial intelligence, and universal internet access) will improve the efficacy of efficiency measures and actions. Marketing of efficient products and services will increasingly focus on grid services, decarbonization, non-energy benefits for consumers, and integration with other distributed energy resources (DERs). We anticipate increased investment in disadvantaged and historically underserved communities, recognizing the social, health, and safety benefits of efficient energy usage and remediating historical biases. Lastly, we predict that while state and local government actions will vary, jurisdictions will increase their efficiency goals overall.

Schiller, Steven R↗
DOE OSTI2020

Flexible Nuclear Energy for Clean Energy Systems

Clean low-emission energy systems will increasingly need flexible energy technologies tailored for an individual country's energy resources, infrastructure, and social objectives. While solutions may be unique, the diversity of experience from various countries can help create innovative approaches. Hybrid renewable and flexible nuclear energy systems are a solution explored by the countries and organizations of the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial. We found that operational, product, and deployment flexibility could help expand clean energy systems globally.

Clean Energy Ministerial↗
DOE OSTI2024

Agrivoltaics: Solar Farming for a Greener Future

Resilient, secure, diversified, and disaster-hardened energy systems are critical to Puerto Rico's clear energy future. This presentation builds on NREL's PR100 One Year Progress Summary Report, discussing the intersection of land availability, PV capacity growth, and the potential role of agrivoltaics in contributing to Puerto Rico's 100% renewable energy goal and agricultural sector resilience. An overview of the state-of-the-science in agrivoltaics is provided, including the NREL InSPIRE Puerto Rican pilot project on hurricane-resistant, shade-grown agrivoltaic coffee. Agrivoltaics is discussed in the context of food-energy resilience for island nations, and future research & development needs are highlighted.

agrivoltaics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Survey and Assessment of the Ocean Renewable Energy Resources in the US Gulf of Mexico

This study was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). It provides a comprehensive feasibility assessment of multiple offshore renewable energy technologies in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) to inform BOEM's strategic plans related to possible Outer Continental Shelf alternative energy leasing activities in the GoM. In coordination with Gulf Coast states, the study includes some information on offshore renewable energy potential in state waters for future energy planning. The goal of the study is to survey potential offshore renewable energy sources in the GoM and quantify their feasibility relating to resource adequacy, technology maturity, and the potential for competitive cost. The study provides a review of available technologies and concepts for generating offshore renewable energy, including a high-level assessment of the current state of each technology and its potential for future advances. It provides a breakdown of resource capacity for each renewable energy technology and a recommendation that offshore wind be pursued for future study as the most promising technology. The renewable technologies that were considered include offshore wind, wave energy, tidal energy, ocean current energy, offshore solar energy, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), cold water source cooling, and hydrogen (as a storage medium to utilize existing pipeline infrastructure). The resource capacity for each of these renewable energy sources was quantified for both the gross resource capacity potential (gross resource) and the technical resource capacity potential (technical resource) using the methodology described in an earlier NREL report. Many of these sources are very immature from a commercial perspective, which makes some of the comparisons difficult. In many cases, new methods were developed to estimate nominal power density for each technology type, which were necessary to convert the resource areas into deployable gross and technical resource capacity potentials.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Actions to Enable Flexible Nuclear Energy

This fact sheet includes key findings and possible actions identified by the Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative’s Flexible Nuclear Campaign (FNC).

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multifaceted drivers for onshore wind energy repowering and their implications for energy transition

Wind energy is anticipated to become a backbone of the future energy system. Ageing wind turbine fleets, increasing land-use constraints and rising relevance of societal factors make the deployment of land-based (onshore) wind energy ever more complicated. Consequently, repowering is expected to become a rapidly growing point of focus for the wind industry. Here we propose a more holistic and socially informed project-level approach to analyse repowering activity that enables a more robust understanding of the process and potentials. We demonstrate that for wind pioneer in Denmark, only 67% of the capacity removed in repowering projects was related to the physical space needed for a new turbine. Other factors that drive repowering include regulation (for example, noise-related, 8–17%), development principles (for example, aesthetics, 7–20%) and political bargaining (4–13%). The recognition of repowering as a negotiated process between host communities and wind developers will probably be critical to unlock the full potential of wind energy in the future.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Factors Impacting Nuclear Energy Share in U.S. Energy Markets

The purpose of this report is to collate information and findings from recent studies conducted by national and international bodies/institutes to identify approaches for maintaining/enhancing the role of nuclear energy in the current and future energy mix of the United States. This report shows how nuclear generation grew quickly to provide 20% of U.S. electricity, sustaining that level for three decades without the benefit of new construction, but is now projected to decline going forward. Nuclear construction costs in the U.S. spiraled out of control, ending construction for two decades and the recent resumption of construction has continued the pattern of schedule delays and cost overruns. However, nuclear operations exhibited strong learning, achieving and sustaining the highest capacity factor of any electricity generation technology and license extensions and uprates have sustained nuclear market share. The share of nuclear energy in the U.S. electricity market is projected to decline by ~1/3rd over the next 30 years The report provides an overview of how the markets work in theory and in practice. It indicates how market deregulation and clean energy policies have created conditions where nuclear plants are being retired for economic rather than technical reasons. The report also shows how many of the markets do not in practice have free competition but instead have outcomes that are being determined more and more by policy instead of market forces. While electricity costs from existing nuclear plants are low, electricity from new builds is projected to be too expensive to be competitive head-to-head with natural gas, even for nth-of-a-kind costs. Wind and solar energy have enjoyed an extended period of sustained subsidy. This protected environment has resulted in a sustained reduction in plant level costs to the point that some of these Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) technologies are becoming competitive even if their direct subsidies are removed. But plant level costs underestimate total VRE costs which include a number of system-level externalities. The incremental system value of additional VRE capacity was shown to decline as market share increases, with solar value declining more quickly than wind. The report closes with examination of a possible future for nuclear generation as part of deep decarbonization of the electricity sector. This approach avoids direct competition with natural gas. The two options for achieving 100% decarbonization are to use only renewables or to use all zero emissions technologies, and the report shows the second approach is much less expensive than the first.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Advancing Construction through the Buildings Workforce: Preprint

Buildings are America's energy hogs, consuming over 70 percent of all electricity and over 50 percent of all natural gas produced across the country. Achieving a clean energy future requires us to reinvent how buildings manage energy resources and how consumers demand it. The U.S. Department of Energy is investing in a range of technological advancements that are paving the way to a future where buildings are no longer simply energy consumers, but rather are part of an integrated system that help manage energy resources in a way that supports the electricity grid. This paradigm shift presents an opportunity to increase the efficiency of the built environment, but will only be realized if we build a knowledgeable workforce to design, construct, and operate these high-performance buildings in step with the rate of technological advancement.

ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Case Study - Intentional Inclusion: How embedding inclusion into the fabric of Idaho National Laboratory positioned the organization for a sustainable future

Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy national laboratory headquartered in Idaho Falls, Idaho, set out to embed inclusion into every aspect of its organization. The goal was to ensure the laboratory is a place where everyone feels they are valued, belong and can bring their best selves to work each day. The laboratory viewed inclusion as a journey in which a consistent, collective commitment to intentional decision-making and incremental progress ultimately achieves amazing results. INL’s intentional inclusion strategy has allowed the organization to: • Retain and build a next-generation workforce to transform the world’s energy future and secure the nation’s most critical infrastructure. • Lead inclusively through individual, team-based, and labwide actions that elevate organizational effectiveness. • Grow laboratory cultural acumen by establishing a clear connection between inclusion and mission success. This case study shares how INL brought employees along on the inclusion journey and inspired everyone to keep moving forward together.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Accelerating Optimal Integration of Energy Efficiency Strategies with Industrialized Modular Construction: Preprint

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Industrialized Construction Innovation team first introduced the Industrialized Construction Assessment Framework to achieve affordable, net-zero energy (NZE) modular multifamily buildings in the 2020 ACEEE paper "Integrating Energy Efficiency Strategies with Industrialized Construction for our Clean Energy Future." Since then, NREL has continued to drive the ambitious plan to accelerate optimal integration of energy efficiency strategies during industrialized construction with little or no additional cost, labor, and production time. This follow-on paper introduces the Energy in Modular (EMOD) buildings method and presents NREL's research efforts over the last two years in collaboration with industry, including affordable housing partners. NREL has developed an idealized NZE modular multifamily building design that incorporates five energy efficiency strategies well suited for industrialized construction in factories: (1) envelope thermal control, (2) envelope infiltration control, (3) mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, (4) smart controls, and (5) solar plus storage. This paper highlights results from leveraging design for manufacturing and assembly principles, testing, and validation pilots with factory partners; demonstrating pod prototypes in test stand at NREL; and performing simulations. Overall, these research efforts address barriers to whole-building system integration, such as poor installation quality of thermal and air barriers; lack of unitized systems for space conditioning, energy recovery and ventilation, and water heating; problematic on-site installation, commissioning, and configuration of controls; and lack of cost-effective integration for grid-friendly design and emerging technologies. Conclusively, the paper delineates next steps for future work with NREL's partners toward developing a transformational pathway for our clean energy future.

affordable housing↗
DOE OSTI2022

Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study (PR100): Six-Month Progress Update [Slides]

Puerto Rico has committed to meeting its electricity needs with 100% renewable energy by 2050, along with realizing interim goals of 40% by 2025, 60% by 2040, the phase-out of coal-fired generation by 2028, and a 30% improvement in energy efficiency by 2040, as established in Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act (Act 17). Since hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, DOE and its national laboratories have provided Puerto Rico energy system stakeholders with tools, training, and modeling support to enable planning and operation of the electric power grid with more resilience against further disruptions. On February 2, 2022, DOE, FEMA, and six national laboratories launched the two-year Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study (PR100) to conduct comprehensive analysis of stakeholder-driven pathways to Puerto Rico's energy future. The robust and objective energy analysis entails five activities, with an emphasis on power system reliability, resilience, and generation planning. This presentation provides a six-month progress update on the study, including presentation of four initial scenario frameworks defined with extensive stakeholder input.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study (PR100) (Six-Month Progress Update) [Slides]

Puerto Rico has committed to meeting its electricity needs with 100% renewable energy by 2050, along with realizing interim goals of 40% by 2025, 60% by 2040, the phase-out of coal-fired generation by 2028, and a 30% improvement in energy efficiency by 2040, as established in Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act (Act 17). Since hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, DOE and its national laboratories have provided Puerto Rico energy system stakeholders with tools, training, and modeling support to enable planning and operation of the electric power grid with more resilience against further disruptions. On February 2, 2022, DOE, FEMA, and six national laboratories launched the two-year Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study (PR100) to conduct comprehensive analysis of stakeholder-driven pathways to Puerto Rico's energy future. The robust and objective energy analysis entails five activities, with an emphasis on power system reliability, resilience, and generation planning. This presentation was delivered in a public webinar on July 21, 2022, providing a high level summary of the progress in the first six months of the study, including presentation of four initial scenario definitions based on extensive stakeholder input.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

2023 Critical Materials Strategy

The global effort to curb carbon emissions is accelerating demand for clean energy technologies and the materials they rely on. Demand for these materials will only continue to grow, especially as some nations aim to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. While some major materials like steel, copper, and aluminum are already powering the fossil fuel economy, others are more minor materials with potential supply risks. These risks could jeopardize the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the desirable timeframe to avoid significant climate change. In some cases, it may be necessary to take action to improve the resilience of material supply chains and mitigate supply risks. Understanding the importance of individual materials to clean energy and the supply risks associated with them is necessary to identify which materials may serve as potential roadblocks to a clean energy future. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a series of 13 supply chain deep dive assessment reports on various energy technologies in 2022 in response to President Biden’s Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains (E.O. 14017). These reports emphasized that supply chain bottlenecks can occur at any stage of the value chain from mining and refining to component and even sub-system manufacturing. The bottlenecks are a combination of factors such as material availability, equipment availability, work force availability and quality, logistics, regulatory framework, and market conditions. These bottlenecks were worsened during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Its lingering impacts have hindered capacity expansion for material supply chains and prevented product lead-time recovery. One approach to reduce supply chain risks for the United States is to have a strong domestic manufacturing sector with a diverse set of producers. Boosting responsible domestic production would require leveraging the latest science not only in material extraction but also in developing substitutes, recycling, reuse, and remanufacturing. This report is an updated analysis of previous Critical Materials Strategy (CMS) reports published by the DOE in 2010, 2011, and 2019 based on national and global priorities, technology advancement, and technology adoption trends. Like the CMS reports, this analysis presents the results of a formal material criticality assessment to identify which materials are critical to the continued deployment of clean energy technologies globally. The analysis in this report leveraged the DOE supply chain deep dive assessments to develop the initial list of materials to evaluate. This DOE Critical Materials Assessment (CMA) is conducted independently of criticality assessments performed by other U.S. government agencies, such as that conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This analysis complements the USGS critical minerals determination in three aspects. First, the DOE assessment is performed from a global perspective, while the USGS analysis focusses on the importance of minerals to the U.S. economy. Second, this report focuses on the importance of materials to clean energy technologies, rather than to the economy in general. Lastly, this study is forward looking to 2035 based on clean energy deployment scenarios, whereas the USGS assessment is retrospective. Materials evaluated in this report that do not appear in the USGS Critical Minerals List include copper, uranium, electrical steel, and SiC. A draft version of this report received ~80 public comments related to supporting data and methodological improvement. Those comments have been incorporated as much as possible where appropriate. Highlights of findings from this 2023 CMA include: Rare earth materials (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium) used in magnets in electric vehicle (EV) motors and wind turbine generators continue to be critical. While dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) are both heavy rare earth elements that serve the same function in magnets, the criticality of Tb is slightly lower than that for Dy in the short term due to the widespread use of Dy in high-grade magnets and Tb’s present role as a substitute. Similarly, praseodymium (Pr) is critical in the medium term but only near critical in the short term because it is more substitutable in magnets than neodymium (Nd); Materials used in batteries for EVs and stationary storage are now considered to be critical. While cobalt (Co) was found to be critical in this and previous reports, lithium (Li) becomes critical in the medium term due to its broader use in various battery chemistries and the rampant growth of the EV industry. Natural graphite is a new addition in this assessment and is also found to be critical; Platinum group metals used in hydrogen electrolyzers, such as platinum (Pr) and iridium (Ir), are critical due to an increased focus on hydrogen technologies to achieve net zero carbon emissions, while those used in catalytic converters, such as rhodium (Rh) and palladium (Pd), were screened out due to the decreased importance of catalytic converters in the medium term; Gallium (Ga) continues to be critical due to its use in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In addition, the use of Ga has increased in magnet manufacturing and in semiconductor in forms such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) or gallium nitride (GaN); Major materials like Aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and silicon (Si) move from noncritical in the short term to near critical in the medium term due to their importance in electrification; Electrical steel is near critical due to its use in transformers for the grid and electric motors in EVs.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Energy Master Planning for Resilient Public Communities—Best Practices from U.S. Military Installations

Until recently, most planners at military installations addressed energy systems for new facilities on an individual facility basis without consideration of community-wide goals relevant to energy sources, renewables, storage, or future energy generation needs. Building retrofits of public buildings typically do not address energy needs beyond the minimum code requirements making it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve community-level targets on a building-by-building basis. Planning on the basis of cost and general reliability may also fail to deliver community-level resilience. For example, many building code requirements focus on hardening to specific threats, but in a multi-building community, only a few of these buildings may be mission-critical. Over the past two decades, the frequency and duration of regional power outages and water utility disruptions from weather, man-made events, and aging infrastructure have increased. Major disruptions of electric and thermal energy have degraded critical mission capabilities and caused significant economic impacts. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense issued guidance that each Service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) complete comprehensive energy plans for the installations that consumed 75% of total building energy. Guidance was updated in 2017 to include metrics for energy resilience, and in some cases, water. This paper describes how community level quantitative and qualitative resilience analysis and metrics have been incorporated into community energy and water planning best practices for military installations in three geographically diverse locations. It is based on research performed under the International Energy Agency’s “Energy in Buildings and Communities Program Annex 73,” focusing on development of guidelines and tools that support the planning of Net Zero Energy Resilient Public Communities as well as research performed under the Department of Defense Environmental Security Technology Certification Program project EW18-D1- 5281, “Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low- Energy Military Installations.” The first case study reviews progress made on an energy and water planning study conducted at Fort Bliss, Texas. The second and third describes planning conducted at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the Joint Region Marianas, Guam, respectively, under the updated guidance from 2017 regarding energy and water resilience. Analysis methods, key metrics, and key infrastructure and operational constraints are described, as well as technical, economic and business concepts used during the planning process.

Urban, Angela B.↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Study of Lightbridge Metallic Fuel Rods in MOOSE for Meshing Capabilities and Studying Lightbridge Metallic Fuel Rods with MOOSE

Supporting INL’s mission to transform our nation’s energy future, notably through innovative nuclear energy solutions, this project focuses on modeling accidental tolerant fuel. In collaboration with MIT, we modeled with MOOSE-based tools the Lightbridge metallic fuel design. Lightbridge fuel is envisioned to enable higher power output and larger safety margins for both current and advanced nuclear reactors. We present here the advanced meshing capabilities developed and preliminary physics results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1983

Solar thermal technology development: Estimated market size and energy cost savings. Volume 1: Executive summary

Estimated future energy cost savings associated with the development of cost-competitive solar thermal technologies (STT) are discussed. Analysis is restricted to STT in electric applications for 16 high-insolation/high-energy-price states. The fuel price scenarios and three 1990 STT system costs are considered, reflecting uncertainty over future fuel prices and STT cost projections. STT R&D is found to be unacceptably risky for private industry in the absence of federal support. Energy cost savings were projected to range from $0 to $10 billion (1990 values in 1981 dollars), dependng on the system cost and fuel price scenario. Normal R&D investment risks are accentuated because the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel can artificially manipulate oil prices and undercut growth of alternative energy sources. Federal participation in STT R&D to help capture the potential benefits of developing cost-competitive STT was found to be in the national interest.

Gates, W. R.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Role of Elemental Substitution on Hydrogen Incorporation in Characteristic Ti/Fe-Based Oxides

Elemental substitution is well-known to benefit hydrogen storage in the intermetallic compound TiFe; however, the impact of these substituents on the native and passivating surface oxide has not been well-established. Here, we perform density functional theory calculations on several characteristic oxides that are likely to form on exposed TiFe surfaces, specifically, TiO 2 , FeO, TiFeO 3 , and Ti 4 Fe 2 O. In TiO 2 and TiFeO 3 , additional acceptor species substituting for Ti can increase the solubility of protonic hydrogen (H i + ), likely enhancing hydrogen permeation of the oxide layer. In FeO, few dopants will act as acceptors, and hydrogen will incorporate as substitutional H O + , which is likely to be less mobile and will hinder hydrogen permeation. Finally, we find that Ti 4 Fe 2 O, which is thermodynamically metastable, may be stabilized by defects under O-poor conditions, although the presence of certain substitutional elements can destabilize it. In general, Mn, V, and Cr are among the best substituents for enhancing hydrogenation through the oxide layer. In conclusion, our results help to explain what features make additional elements particularly effective for enabling reversible hydrogen storage in TiFe, and they can guide further technological development of high-performing TiFe-based alloys for future energy applications.

organic↗