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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Innovations in Renewable Energy Technologies, Systems, and Energy Analysis

Costs for renewable energy technologies have declined rapidly in the past decade and their use for residential, commercial, and utility scale electricity has therefore grown exponentially. As the energy mix diversifies, energy analysis becomes increasing important, requiring renewable energy to integrate with other reduced emission energy sources, such as small modular nuclear reactors and carbon capture and utilization. Energy analysis can also explore the expansion of clean energy into new sectors, such as industrial processes and electrification. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA), which is a partnership of NREL and universities, study the integration and application of clean energy technologies into existing and new sectors. This presentation includes an overview of NREL and JISEA and summarizes innovations in renewable energy technologies and energy systems analysis.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Analysis: Ways to Save Energy and Reduce the Emissions in Wastewater Treatment Plants

The key of this study is to explore the primary energy consumers in wastewater treatment plants, which is considered as one of the major energy consumers, and introduces the best solution to save energy and reduce emissions in these facilities. This study is based on the energy assessment and analyses of eleven wastewater treatment plants. Through the investigation, it was found that plants can save up to 44,158 MWh of the energy consumption which is 47% from the total electricity consumption with a 17% reduction in the total utility bills and that about 2.5 million dollars cost savings after reviewing the currently facilitated energy system. Additionally, an average of five years' payback period resulted in most energy-saving recommendations. A vast potential of greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced with a total range reduction between 13 to 35 million kg of CO 2 based on the speed reduction percentage.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

Evaluation of Global Climate Models for Use in Energy Analysis

The interplay between energy, climate, and weather is becoming more complex due to increasing contributions of renewable energy generation, energy storage, electrified end uses, and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Energy system analyses commonly rely on meteorological inputs to estimate renewable energy generation and energy demand; however, these inputs rarely represent the estimated impacts of future climate change. Climate models and publicly available climate change datasets can be used for this purpose, but the selection of inputs from the myriad of available models and datasets is a nuanced and subjective process. In this work, we assess datasets from various global climate models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We present evaluations of their skills with respect to the historical climate and comparisons of their future projections of climate change for two climate change scenarios. We present the results for different climatic and energy system regions and include interactive figures in the accompanying software repository. Previous work has presented similar GCM evaluations, but none have presented variables and metrics specifically intended for comprehensive energy systems analysis including impacts on energy demand, thermal cooling, hydropower, water availability, solar energy generation, and wind energy generation. We focus on GCM output meteorological variables that directly affect these energy system components including the representation of extreme values that can drive grid resilience events. The objective of this work is not to recommend the best climate model and dataset for a given analysis, but instead to provide a reference to facilitate the selection of climate models and scenarios in subsequent work.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Leading Energy Analysis: Data-Driven Insights That Power Our Energy Future

Energy analysts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) use a broad set of expertise and cutting-edge tools to capture the complexities of our interconnected energy system. Decision-makers rely on these insights to drive cost savings, enhance grid reliability, support long-term innovation, and bolster America's energy workforce and global competitiveness. This fact sheet highlights some of NREL's high-impact analyses, data, and tools, largely focusing on power grid analysis.

data↗
DOE OSTI2021

Task 12 Sustainability - Methodological Guidelines on Net Energy Analysis of Photovoltaic Electricity (2nd Edition)

Net Energy Analysis (NEA) is a structured, comprehensive method of quantifying the extent to which a given energy source is able to provide a net energy gain (i.e., an energy surplus) to the end user, after accounting for all the energy losses occurring along the chain of processes that are required to exploit it (i.e., for its extraction, processing and transformation into a usable energy carrier, and delivery to the end user), as well as for all the additional energy 'investments' that are required in order to carry out the same chain of processes. However, this general framework leaves the individual practitioner with a range of choices that can affect the results and thus, the conclusions of a NEA study. The current IEA PVPS guidelines were developed to provide guidance on assuring consistency, balance, and quality to enhance the credibility and reliability of the results from photovoltaic (PV) NEAs. The guidelines represent a consensus among the authors - PV NEA experts in North America and Europe - for assumptions made on PV performance, process inputs and outputs, methods of analysis, and reporting of the results. Guidance is given on photovoltaic-specific parameters used as inputs in NEA and on choices and assumptions in inventory data analysis and on implementation of modelling approaches. A consistent approach towards system modelling, the functional unit, the system boundaries and allocation aspects enhance the credibility of PV electricity NEA studies and enables balanced NEA-based comparisons. Specifically, "apples-to-oranges" comparisons of different energy carriers (e.g., fuels vs. electricity) are not methodologically sound and are to be avoided in all cases; also, any comparison across renewable and non-renewable electricity generation technologies must clearly point out the intrinsically short-term nature of the NEA viewpoint, which does not capture the long-term sustainability implications of renewable vs. non-renewable primary energy harvesting and use: non-renewable primary energy resources are depleted and finally exhausted (irrespective of the size of the EROI), while renewable primary energy resources are not. This document provides an in-depth discussion of a common metric of NEA, namely the energy return on investment (EROI), and how this is to be interpreted vis-a-vis the deceptively similar-sounding metrics in the field of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): cumulative energy demand (CED) and non-renewable cumulative energy demand (nr-CED) per unit output. Specifically, a number of key differences are highlighted between these metrics as applied to electricity production systems, which are listed in Table S-1.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
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 OSTI2025

Extended dark energy analysis using DESI DR2 BAO measurements

We conduct an extended analysis of dark energy constraints, in support of the findings of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) second data release cosmology key paper, including DESI data, Planck cosmic microwave background observations, and three different supernova compilations. Using a broad range of parametric and nonparametric methods, we explore the dark energy phenomenology and find consistent trends across all approaches, in good agreement with the 𝑤 0⁢ 𝑤 𝑎⁢ CDM (cold dark matter) key paper results. Even with the additional flexibility introduced by nonparametric approaches, such as binning and Gaussian processes, we find that extending Λ⁢ CDM to include a two-parameter 𝑤⁡(𝑧) is sufficient to capture the trends present in the data. Finally, we examine three dark energy classes with distinct dynamics, including quintessence scenarios satisfying 𝑤 ≥ −1, to explore what underlying physics can explain such deviations. The current data indicate a clear preference for models that feature a phantom crossing; although alternatives lacking this feature are disfavored, they cannot yet be ruled out. Our analysis confirms that the evidence for dynamical dark energy, particularly at low redshift (𝑧 ≲ 0.3), is robust and stable under different modeling choices.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis

This fact sheet provides an overview of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, including its approach, exploratory areas, notable successes, and ways to partner.

agricultural decarbonization↗
DOE OSTI2026

Building Energy Analysis of Manufactured and Multifamily Housing Types in Juneau, Alaska

This report details the results of building energy modeling analysis evaluating the potential energy savings, economic outcomes, and grid-level electricity reduction associated with cold climate air source heat pump (ccASHP) adoption across multifamily and manufactured housing (MMFH) building typologies in the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ). Three building archetypes were evaluated: multifamily 4-plex apartments, multifamily 8-plex apartments, and manufactured housing units. Building energy models were developed using OpenStudio-HPXML and calibrated to actual utility consumption data and local meteorological data from the Juneau International Airport weather station using an automated calibration tool following the BPI-2400-S-2015 v.2 standard for model calibration. Occupant behaviors present the greatest variability in successful calibrations. Calibrated models were benchmarked against a baseline electric resistance heating condition, with the selected ccASHP modeled as the retrofit condition and typical meteorological year weather data for all results generation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Superconductivity out of a non-Fermi liquid: Free energy analysis

In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of the condensation energy E c for a superconductor in a situation when superconductivity emerges out of a non-Fermi liquid due to pairing mediated by a massless boson. This is the case for electronic-mediated pairing near a quantum-critical point in metal, for pairing in SYK-type models, and for phonon-mediated pairing in the properly defined limit, when the dressed Debye frequency vanishes. We consider a subset of these quantum-critical models, in which the pairing in a channel with a proper spatial symmetry is described by an effective 0 + 1 dimensional model with the effective dynamical interaction V(Ω m ) = g¯ γ /|Ω m | γ , where γ is model-specific (the γ model). In previous papers, we argued that the pairing in the γ model is qualitatively different from that in a Fermi liquid, and the gap equation at T = 0 has an infinite number of topologically distinct solutions, Δ n (ω m ), where an integer n, running between 0 and infinity, is the number of zeros of Δ n (ω m ) on the positive Matsubara axis. This gives rise to the set of extrema of E c at E c,n , of which E c,0 is the global minimum. Here, the spectrum E c,n is discrete for a generic γ < 2 but becomes continuous at γ = 2–0. Here, we discuss in more detail the profile of the condensation energy near each E c,n and the transformation from a discrete to a continuous spectrum at γ → 2. We also discuss the free energy and the specific heat of the γ model in the normal state.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Development of a dynamical model and energy analysis for wheel loader

The objective of this paper is to develop a fully integrated model for the wheel loader, including the subsystem dynamics of the engine, drivetrain, working circuit, steering circuit, and vehicle. It leads to a high-order strongly nonlinear system, and all state variables are coupled together to form a Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) system. A control architecture is proposed to decouple the MIMO system into several Single-Input and Single-Output (SISO) systems. Here, a tracking problem has been formulated to validate this fully integrated model with the field test data. The accuracy of the model is verified by the 2.3% difference between the measured and simulated fuel consumption. Meanwhile, an energy distribution analysis is conducted to reveal the energy consumption and energy loss of each portion of the wheel loader. Such a model can be used to plan the working pattern, guide the driving habits of human operators, or refine the underlying architecture, leading to the ultimate goal of reducing total fuel consumption and improving productivity.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Saving Analysis Using Energy Intensity Usage and Specific Energy Consumption Methods

This study presents the energy saving analysis reached through employing the energy intensity usage and specific energy consumption method. The energy analyses conducted in this study are used for implementing a new technology. However, they are additionally used to evaluate the latest concepts, techniques, processes, and uses for technologies, which are aimed at improvement of energy savings. This study shows the correlation between energy consumption, potential energy savings, and the impact of the energy assessment in different industrial sectors. The correlation is found by using two indicators: (1) the energy intensity usage (EIU) and (2) the specific energy consumption (SEC). The data analysis in this study considers the assessments for 67 industries from 2015 to 2019 and classifies those assessments using the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. The results show that energy savings and energy consumption are linearly related. Also, the energy assessment improves energy performance in a more significant way for smaller companies than for larger industries. Furthermore, these results can be extrapolated by identifying the potential benefits of the energy management system (EMS) implementation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Large scale energy analysis and renovation strategies for social housing in the historic city of Venice

Social houses built after the Second World War to accommodate workers and low-income families represent one of the major energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters in the residential sector. Plans for their renovation are underway in all European countries, and the process is more complicated for Italian cities due to the lack of space and the large number of historical buildings. This study addresses this challenge by proposing a methodology to renovate a low-income district in the city of Venice using CityBES to model and evaluate energy conservation measures. CityBES is a web-based tool that allows users to employ urban building energy modeling for large-scale energy and retrofit analyses of building stocks. In the case study conducted for Venice's Santa Marta district, due to the particular context, four common energy conservation measures covering both the building envelope and heat generation boilers have been applied. The evaluation of energy-saving performances at the district level showed that the four measures together achieved 67% energy savings, an abatement in energy cost equal to 67%, and annual carbon dioxide emissions reduction of 1.1 MtCO 2 . Furthermore, the case study demonstrates a method and workflow replicable for energy retrofit analysis of building stocks in other historical districts.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Northwest Colorado Local Energy Analysis: October 2025 Results

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) provided customized technical assistance to the Northwest Colorado region to assist in developing strategies that facilitate long-term economic benefits through locally driven energy planning and development. The region sought technical assistance to model alternatives energy projects in response to the expected retirement of coal-fired powers plant and associated coal mines by 2030. Northwest Colorado faces a potential economic gap due to the loss of tax revenue, labor income, and jobs within the region due to the impending closure of the Craig and Hayden Power Stations and related mining operations at Trapper and Colowyo mines.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Low Energy Analysis of NuclEar Reactions v0.0.1

This is a lightweight, easy to use Python analysis package for analyzing public low-energy nuclear reaction data relevant to understanding basic nuclear processes, often of relevance to Solar Fusion, to improve our theoretical understanding of them, and enable connections with input from lattice QCD. It performs the analysis in a Bayesian Framework and supports Bayesian Model Averaging to provide a robust uncertainty quantification.

Walker-Loud, André↗
DOE OSTI2020

Multi-Modal Energy Analysis for Freight

This project addresses the impact of emerging technologies on inter-city freight energy demand, shipping time, and cost. Technologies addressed include electrified long-haul trucks, connectivity and efficient operations, and platooning. The research questions are addressed using national level analysis, a multi-modal inter-city freight energy model, and development of a Freight Mobility Energy Productivity (F-MEP) metric. This project improves on prior analysis and modeling by increasing the geographic and temporal resolution of freight flows. The inter-city freight energy model uses a bi-level optimization approach to minimize total network cost (lower level) and energy (upper level). Two new F-MEP frameworks are presented, one for intra-city freight mobility and one for inter-city freight mobility.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-Fidelity Building Emulator for Integrated Comfort and Energy Analysis using EnergyPlus and Radiance

The growing need for smart, energy-efficient, and occupant-centric buildings has created a demand for advanced control systems that can optimize building operations to balance energy savings, demand flexibility, and comfort. However, current building energy simulation tools, such as EnergyPlus, have limitations that hinder the development and evaluation of these complex control systems. To address this challenge, we introduce a high-fidelity building emulator that dynamically couples EnergyPlus with Radiance for enhanced daylight modeling. The introduced workflow allows researchers and practitioners to rapidly develop and evaluate innovative control solutions. An example study looking at a south-facing office zone revealed up to 67% deviation in predicted light levels, which can significantly impact building assessment.

Yu, Tammie↗