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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 OSTI2021

Examination of the Extreme Cold Weather Event Affecting the Power System in Texas - February 2021 [Slides]

This presentation examines the extreme cold weather event that affected the power system in Texas in February 2021. The Texas load-shedding events were caused by a combination of record-high demand and cold weather issues that reduced the output from all types of generation. While some wind turbines were shutting down due to cold temperatures and icing and a lack of cold-weather packages, hourly wind output was accurately predicted. Extreme weather events historically drive grid reliability. Additional examination of more extreme events is needed to understand their impacts on the power system. As a national lab, NREL has the capabilities and facilities to help the industry address these types of challenges. NREL also has significant simulation and analysis capabilities (such as NAERM) that can help understand the impacts of extreme events. NREL also developed the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Research Platform, which enables evaluation of technologies that smooth grid operations during events like this.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure Assessment in Cold-Weather Climates: A Case Study of Fairbanks, Alaska

The purpose of this report is to determine the effects that extreme cold temperatures have on electric vehicles (EVs) and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). The adoption of EVs in extreme cold weather presents challenges that require careful analysis of efficiency and charging infrastructure. This report, "Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure Assessment in Cold-Weather Climates: A Case Study of Fairbanks, Alaska," explores how EVs and EVSE perform in temperatures as low as -40 degrees C (-40 degrees F), focusing on real-world data from Teslas in Alaskan winter conditions. The findings indicate that EVs can successfully function in extreme cold, though efficiency is significantly affected. Vehicles stored in heated environments outperformed those stored outdoors, with efficiency dropping by up to 69% for outdoor storage. Despite these challenges, none of the vehicles experienced failures that prevented travel. Storing EVs indoors led to benefits such as faster preconditioning and improved efficiency, while charging in extreme cold, though slower, remained functional. Ultimately, the report concludes that with proper precautions and best practices, EVs are viable transportation solutions in cold climates. Investing in enclosed, heated storage is recommended to maximize efficiency and minimize battery strain. As advancements in battery chemistry and thermal management progress, EV adoption in extreme climates is expected to become even more feasible.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cold Weather Impacts on Electric School Bus Performance in Aurora, Colorado

This brief highlight details the key takeaways from a project that utilized NLR's Fleet Research, Energy Data, and Insights (FleetREDI) data analysis pipeline related to electric school bus (ESB) operation. ESBs using battery energy as their primary heating source have a higher energy consumption rate in cold weather, which fleet managers can account for when planning ESB purchases and making dispatching and charging decisions. Researchers found that electric school buses operate 2-5 times more efficiently than conventional buses, on average. Cold weather can double electric school bus energy demands, but strategies such as thermal pre-conditioning significantly reduce this effect. Understanding these impacts can help fleets plan charging, dispatching, and purchase decisions.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cold Weather Impacts on Electric School Buses

School bus fleets considering electric school buses (ESBs) can start here to learn how cold weather impacts ESBs and considerations for optimizing bus performance when temperatures drop.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Analysis of Correlation between Cold Weather Meteorological Variables and Electricity Outages

The significance of the impact of weather on the electric grid has grown as climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. In recent years (2021-2022) in particular, extreme winter weather has affected the grid in locations in the US rarely exposed to extreme low temperatures, snow and icing conditions. Here we analyze the correlation between cold weather meteorological variables and electricity outages during two large winter storm events, Uri (February 2021) and Landon (February 2022) using Random Forest machine learning and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Our geographical focus across the two storms is the state of Texas. Extrapolation of the method to winter weather impacts over other years and additional locations is proposed.

Dumas, Melissa↗
NASA NTRS1997

Cold Weather Wind Turbines: A Joint NASA/NSF/DOE Effort in Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Renewable energy sources and their integration with other power sources to support remote communities is of interest for Mars applications as well as Earth communities. The National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE) have been jointly supporting development of a 100 kW cold weather wind turbine through grants and SBIRs independently managed by each agency but coordinated by NASA. The NSF grant addressed issues associated with the South Pole application and a 3 kW direct drive unit is being tested there in anticipation of the 100 kW unit operation. The DOE-NREL contract focused on development of the 100 kW direct drive generator. The NASA SBIR focused on the development of the 100 kW direct drive wind turbine. The success of this effort has required coordination and team involvement of federal agencies and the industrial partners. Designs of the wind turbine and component performance testing results will be presented. Plans for field testing of wind turbines, based on this design, in village energy systems in Alaska and in energy production at the South Pole Station will be discussed. Also included will be a discussion of terrestrial and space use of hybrid energy systems, including renewable energy sources, such as the wind turbine, to support remote communities.

Flynn, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2020

Growth modeling to evaluate alternative cultivation strategies to enhance national microalgal biomass production

In this paper, we present a model-based assessment of alternative cultivation strategies on algal biomass production within the conterminous United States. Our assessment focuses on two basic cultivation strategies: 1) seasonal rotation of three representative freshwater algal strains that are well suited for warm weather, cold weather, and all-season diverse weather conditions, respectively; and 2) variation between three open pond water depths (15cm, 20cm, and 25cm). The enhanced Biomass Assessment Tool (BAT) is applied on a site-specific, hourly basis at 5,832 North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase 2 1/8° meteorological model grid cells over a 30-year period (1980-2009) to evaluate the operational strategies. Recognizing that resource management decisions may also consider scales beyond the individual site, we also conduct a regional assessment of focused on 7 representative climate zones in the conterminous United States. Results demonstrate that the spatial variability of algal productivity is largely affected by the strain-specific growth response to light and temperature that vary significantly by climate zone and latitude. Therefore, with a limited set of alternative cultivation strategies, the BAT identified the best performing combination of cultivation strategies on a site-specific basis that considerably enhances national annual biomass productivity. Specifically, the appropriate choice of seasonal strain rotation is able to significantly dampen climate-driven seasonal and spatial variability.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

Experimental Evidence for Weathering and Martian Sulfate Formation Under Extremely Cold Weather-Limited Environments

High resolution photography and spectroscopy of the martian surface (MOC, HiRISE) from orbit has revolutionized our view of Mars with one of the most important discoveries being wide-spread layered sedimentary deposits associated with sulfate minerals across the low to mid latitude regions of Mars [1, 2]. The mechanism for sulfate formation on Mars has been frequently attributed to playa-like evaporative environments under prolonged warm conditions [3]. However, there are several problems with the presence of prolonged surface temperatures on Mars above 273 K during the Noachian including the faint young Sun [4] and the presence of suitable greenhouse gases [5]. The geomorphic evidence for early warm conditions may instead be explained by periodic episodes of warming rather than long term prolonged warm temperatures [6]. An alternate view of the ancient martian climate contends that prolonged warm temperatures were never present and that the atmosphere and climate has been similar to modern conditions throughout most of its history [6]. This view is more consistent with the climate models, but has had a difficult time explaining the sedimentary history of Mars and in particular the presence of sulfate minerals. We suggest here that mixtures of atmospheric aerosols, ice, and dust have the potential for creating small films of cryo-concentrated acidic solutions that may represent an important unexamined environment for understanding weathering processes on Mars [7, 8]. This study seeks to test whether sulfate formation may be possible at temperatures well below 0 C in water limited environments removing the need for prolonged warm periods to form sulfates on early Mars.

Niles, Paul B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

The Screwworm Eradication Data System (SEDS)

One of the objectives of the SEDS was to build a versatile, yet economical, interactive system on the existing digital PDP 11/45 computers used in the Skylab production processing system. Previous experience on various interactive systems gave some background in the best methods of handling image data, registering and correcting the data, and extracting useful information from the images. The screwworm was eliminated in many parts of the United States by air-dropping sterile screwworms in areas where screwworms breed. The reproduction of the screwworm can be more or less predicted based on weather conditions -- cold weather slows the breeding, warm weather fosters it, and some moisture appears to enhance breeding conditions which, in turn, improves the chances of screwworm population growth. To obtain temperature and moisture conditions from remote areas, the NOAA improved TIROS operational satellite was selected to give data from the very high resolution radiometer (VHRR). The VHRR is a two-channel scanning instrument sensitive to energy in the visible spectrum from 0.6 to 0.7 micrometers and the infrared spectrum from 10.5 to 12.5 micrometers.

Quinn, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Site Assessment Report for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chena Site Near Fairbanks, Alaska

This report presents an analysis of the requirements for charging station installation and electric vehicle operation at the US Army Corps of Engineers - Chena Site, located in a cold weather climate in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK. The report includes findings from a site visit, and a detailed electric vehicle (EV) charging site plan with cost estimates. Cost for three 50-ampere pedestal chargers located on the edge of the existing parking lot is estimated at $\$$53,100, and the cost of three 80-ampere chargers is estimated at $\$$89,400. The authors did not assess the cost of a heated garage. The USACE Chena site reaches extreme cold temperatures of -40 Degrees Celsius (-40 Degrees Fahrenheit) and below in a typical winter, often for days on end. Considerations of operating EVs as well as electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) at this site can be applicable to other cold or extremely cold locations. Interviews with EV users in cold climates and a literature review indicated that EVs operate well but have significantly decreased range compared to 21 Degrees Celsius (70 Degrees Fahrenheit) operations. Some strategies such as prewarming the vehicle while it is plugged in and using heated seats and steering wheel instead of cabin heat, can improve cold weather performance. Storing the EV in a garage would mean the battery and cabin are automatically preheated, the battery would not age as rapidly as when the vehicle is stored outside, and problems with charging the vehicle are less likely. Lowest temperate-rated Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE), as electric vehicle chargers are known as, are rated to -40 Degrees Celsius (-40 Degrees Fahrenheit), and sometimes malfunction. No EVSE is rated to the temperatures that USACE Chena site experienced for more than a week in winter 2023-4, of -50 Degrees Celsius (-45 Degrees Fahrenheit) and which are typical for the area. If reliability is a must, entities may want to consider a heated garage to minimize potential problems with charging equipment. There is a companion technical report to this titled "Electric Vehicle and Charging Infrastructure Assessment in Cold-Weather Climates: A Case Study of Fairbanks, Alaska" that examines the data on EV and EVSE cold-weather functionality in more detail. (Esparza, Truffer Moudra, and Hodge 2024).

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Case Study: Resilience Benefits of Distributed Wind Against Fuel and Weather Hazards in Alaska

In this case study of St. Mary’s Village, Alaska, we present a resilience evaluation exercise. A resilience framework is employed to identify system characteristics, relevant metrics, and resilience hazards and to assess the performance against the hazards with and without a distributed wind system installed. The results show the resilience benefits provided by the distributed wind installation against fuel shortage hazards and cold weather hazards. The resilience benefits can be assigned monetary values, which will be highly dependent on actual circumstances of the hazard, but provide insight into value streams of distributed wind that are not usually considered. For example, the single 900 kW turbine was found to prevent an average of 14,643 kWh of load from being dropped during a two-day diesel fuel shortage event, which saved the community $447,592 from the prevented outages. This case study serves as an example for novel power system resilience analysis and builds understanding of resilience hazards that are common across many power systems.

Culler, Megan J.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Residential Natural Gas Demand Response Potential during Extreme Cold Events in Electricity-Gas Coupled Energy Systems

In regions where natural gas is used for both power generation and heating buildings, extreme cold weather events can place the electrical system under enormous stress and challenge the ability to meet residential heating and electric demands. Residential demand response has long been used in the power sector to curtail summer electric load, but these types of programs in general have not seen adoption in the natural gas sector during winter months. Natural gas demand response (NG-DR) has garnered interest given recent extreme cold weather events in the United States; however, the magnitude of savings and potential impacts—to occupants and energy markets—are not well understood. We present a case-study analysis of the technical potential for residential natural gas demand response in the northeast United States that utilizes diverse whole-building energy simulations and high-performance computing. Our results show that NG-DR applied to residential heating systems during extreme cold-weather conditions could reduce natural gas demand by 1–29% based on conservative and aggressive strategies, respectively. This indicates a potential to improve the resilience of gas and electric systems during stressful events, which we examine by estimating the impact on energy costs and electricity generation from natural gas. We also explore relationships between hourly indoor temperatures, demand response, and building envelope efficiency.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Biodiesel Ethers: Fatty Acid-Derived Alkyl Ether Fuels as Improved Bioblendstocks for Mixing-Controlled Compression Ignition Engines

In the last 20 years, biodiesel consumption in the United States has swiftly increased to ~2 billion gallons per year as a renewable supplement to fossil fuel. However, further expansion of biodiesel use is currently limited in part by poor cold weather performance, which prevents year-round blending and necessitates blend walls ≤5% v/v. In order to provide a diesel fuel blendstock with improved cold weather performance (cloud point, pour point, and cold filter plug point), while at the same time maintaining other required fuel performance specifications, several biodiesel redox analogues were synthesized and tested. The best performing candidate fuels from this class showed improvement in the derived cetane number (29.3% shorter ignition delay), lower heating value (+4.7 MJ/kg), relative sooting tendency (–7.4 YSI/MJ), and cloud point (15 °C lower) when compared to a B100 biodiesel composed of an identical fatty acid profile. It was observed as a general trend that the reduced form of biodiesel, fatty alkyl ethers (FAEs), shows performance improvements in all fuel property metrics. The suite of improved properties provided by FAEs gives biodiesel producers the opportunity to diversify their portfolio of products derived from lipid and alcohol feedstocks to include long-chain alkyl ethers, a biodiesel alternative with particular applicability for winter weather conditions across the US.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Healthy Indoor Air Quality: A Guide to Understanding Pollutants in Extreme Cold Climates

Internal air quality management through commonly supported recommendations in extreme cold weather climates is complicated by cold air infiltration. Air filtration and IAQ monitoring, through central and stand-alone systems can improve internal air quality to the benefit of occupant health and safety. This fact sheet includes reference information for pollutants, sources, health effects, and mitigation strategies.

cold climate↗
NASA NTRS2016

Differentiating Hydrothermal, Pedogenic, and Glacial Weathering in a Cold Volcanic Mars-Analog Environment

Although the current cold, dry environment of Mars extends back through much of its history, its earliest periods experienced significant water- related surface activity. Both geomorphic features (e.g., paleolakes, deltas, and river valleys) and hydrous mineral detections (e.g., clays and salts) have historically been interpreted to imply a "warm and wet" early Mars climate. More recently, atmospheric modeling studies have struggled to produce early climate conditions with temperatures above 0degC, leading some studies to propose a "cold and icy" early Mars dominated by widespread glaciation with transient melting. However, the alteration mineralogy produced in subglacial environments is not well understood, so the extent to which cold climate glacial weathering can produce the diverse alteration mineralogy observed on Mars is unknown. This summer, we will be conducting a field campaign in a glacial weathering environment in the Cascade Range, OR in order to determine the types of minerals that these environments produce. However, we must first disentangle the effects of glacial weathering from other significant alteration processes. Here we attempt a first understanding of glacial weathering by differentiating rocks and sediments weathered by hydrothermal, pedogenic, and glacial weathering processes in the Cascades volcanic range.

Scudder, N. A.↗