High Performance Computing User Group Meeting - June 11, 2025
INL HPC team provided updates related to the INL HPC program and HPC systems for HPC User Group Quarterly Review - June 11, 2025
99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
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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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High Performance Computing User Group Meeting - September 10, 2025
INL HPC team provided updates related to the INL HPC program and HPC systems for HPC User Group Quarterly Review - September 10, 2025
99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Exploring Nonmotorized Travel in New York State Using 2017 National Household Travel Survey Data
This report presents systematic analysis of nonmotorized travel behavior within New York State (NYS) utilizing 2017 National Household Travel Survey data. As walking and biking assume increasingly prominent roles in advancing active transportation objectives, accessible mobility, and sustainable transportation systems, comprehensive understanding of these modal patterns becomes essential for evidence-based policy development and strategic planning initiatives. Recognizing the substantial geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic heterogeneity characterizing NYS—spanning from the concentrated urban fabric of New York City (NYC) to dispersed suburban and rural contexts—this analysis employs the structured "4Ws" analytical framework to examine participant demographics, spatial and temporal distributions, and motivational factors underlying active transportation choices relative to motorized alternatives. This methodological approach captures modal behavior patterns, user characteristics, trip purposes, and temporal variations across the state's diverse contexts. Additionally, the research examines behavioral differences among distinct user classifications, including walk-only and bike-only travelers, while conducting comparative analysis of nonmotorized travel patterns between ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) and non-ALICE household categories.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Latent demand for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa: A review
Universal access to electricity is an essential part of sub-Saharan Africa's path to development. With the United Nations setting Goal 7 of its sustainable development goals to be universal access to clean, reliable and affordable electricity, substantial research efforts have been made to optimize electricity supply based on projected demand in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Our study reviews the literature on electricity demand, with a specific focus on latent demand (i.e., electricity demand that would exist if the necessary techno-economic conditions were met) in SSA. We found that out of 57 electricity demand papers reviewed, only 3 (5%) incorporated latent demand in their electricity demand projections. Furthermore, majority of the literature on electricity consumption and demand estimation in SSA use econometric models to identify determinants of electricity consumption and project future demand. We find that population density, urbanization, household income, electricity price, market value of crops and availability of natural resources to be significant determinants of electricity consumption in SSA. We conclude the review by proposing a methodology, and providing an initial proof of concept, for more accurately projecting latent demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Incorporating latent demand in electrification models would help inform energy sector stakeholders (e.g., investors and policymakers) about which sectors and geographic locations hold potential for wealth creation via electricity access.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Energy system analysis of cutting off Russian gas supply to the European Union
The reduction of European Union's pipeline gas imports from Russia as a consequence of the Russian war against Ukraine has had severe economy-wide implications for the EU. Using a multisector integrated assessment model (GCAM), we find that a potential complete cut-off of Russian pipeline gas exports to the EU unevenly impacts the energy mix, prices, and trade flows of different subregions within the EU, depending on their access to alternative gas pipelines and LNG infrastructure. Moreover, there are also large changes in the volume and geographical distribution of global gas infrastructure capacity additions and stranded assets. Our results show that by significantly reducing demand for natural gas, the EU Fit-for-55 policy framework already improves resilience against a complete and persistent cut-off of Russian pipeline gas. However, further improvements in energy efficiency and renewable targets could further soften impacts, while bringing climate objectives closer in sight.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
A consumer-centric approach to quantify efficiency of receiving goods purchased via online
Virtual participation in shopping activities has increased exponentially in the past four years compared to the last couple of decades. E-tailing or online shopping offers the convenience of goods reaching a consumer instead of a consumer traveling to a store, but it has downsides like geographical service variability and negative social externalities such as increased energy consumption and emissions. This study proposes a novel approach to quantify e-tailing efficiency from the consumers’ viewpoint. The methodology is innovative in its integration of accessibility theory with energy and cost impedance factors and consideration of delivering and picking up goods purchased via online. The methodology is implemented for the San Francisco Bay Area and is subject to scenarios that see enhancements to various facets of online shopping delivery. Results demonstrate that increasing the frequency of e-commerce deliveries helps improve e-tailing efficiency in rural locations, while improvements in energy and cost aspects of delivery modes are seen to improve e-tailing efficiencies in the central parts of the region. The approach proposed can provide valuable insights on where people have limited benefits from online shopping and how emerging delivery mechanisms can change the quality of the e-commerce experience within a city. This research offers a replicable framework for assessing e-commerce systems in diverse geographic contexts, contributing to the development of equitable and environmentally sustainable urban freight systems.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Techno-economic analysis of synthetic fuel production from existing nuclear power plants across the United States
Abstract Low carbon synfuel can reduce dependence on fossil fuels like diesel and jet fuel, and, with large-scale cost-effective production, contribute to global transportation sector decarbonization, Simultaneously, nuclear power plants are struggling economically due to falling wholesale electricity prices. Converting existing nuclear plants for synfuel production could preserve these low-carbon assets and enable large-scale synfuel production, yet no comprehensive technoeconomic analysis exists. This study evaluates the potential of integrating synthetic fuel production with five US nuclear plants, considering electricity and fuel markets and carbon dioxide source access. Such integration could enhance nuclear plant profitability by up to $792 million and offer a 10% return on investment over 20 years. The hydrogen production tax credit from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is crucial, comprising 75% of revenues on average. Carbon feedstock transportation has the highest cost at 35%, followed closely by synfuel production capital costs. Incentive policies are thus key for the decarbonization of the transportation sector and the economic importance of the geographic location of Integrated Energy Systems.
Garrouste, Marisol (ORCID:0000000168388644)↗
Advancing Small Business Solar Equity: Final Technical Insights Report
The Advancing Small Business Solar Equity: Final Technical Insights Report represents the culmination of two years of work in participation with Round 3 of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN). SEIN Round 3, titled "Equitable Solar in Underserved Communities," supported eight underserved communities across the United States in "exploring new approaches to the equitable adoption of solar energy in residential and commercial-scale settings" and in "confronting the solar barriers they face and unlocking the solar benefits most relevant to their own contexts" (National Renewable Energy Laboratory 2023). This project was one of four selected to support solar access for commercial entities in underserved communities. The research conducted for this report was done within the Minnesota Twin Cities geographic context, but certain findings and the proposed Solar Hub Network model may be found applicable nationally. Community-based organizations that serve small businesses, chambers of commerce, community development finance institutions and other community lenders, municipal governments, solar incentive providers, solar industry professionals, and others may find elements of this report useful.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Spatial inequities in access to medications for treatment of opioid use disorder highlight scarcity of methadone providers under counterfactual scenarios
Access to treatment and medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is essential in reducing opioid use and associated behavioral risks, such as syringe sharing among persons who inject drugs (PWID). Syringe sharing among PWID carries high risk of transmission of serious infections such as hepatitis C and HIV. MOUD resources, such as methadone provider clinics, however, are often unavailable to PWID due to barriers like long travel distance to the nearest methadone provider and the required frequency of clinic visits. The goal of this study is to examine the uncertainty in the effects of travel distance in initiating and continuing methadone treatment and how these interact with different spatial distributions of methadone providers to impact co-injection (syringe sharing) risks. A baseline scenario of spatial access was established using the existing locations of methadone providers in a geographical area of metropolitan Chicago, Illinois, USA. Next, different counterfactual scenarios redistributed the locations of methadone providers in this geographic area according to the densities of both the general adult population and according to the PWID population per zip code. We define different reasonable methadone access assumptions as the combinations of short, medium, and long travel distance preferences combined with three urban/suburban travel distance preference. Our modeling results show that when there is a low travel distance preference for accessing methadone providers, distributing providers near areas that have the greatest need (defined by density of PWID) is best at reducing syringe sharing behaviors. However, this strategy also decreases access across suburban locales, posing even greater difficulty in regions with fewer transit options and providers. As such, without an adequate number of providers to give equitable coverage across the region, spatial distribution cannot be optimized to provide equitable access to all PWID. Our study has important implications for increasing interest in methadone as a resurgent treatment for MOUD in the United States and for guiding policy toward improving access to MOUD among PWID.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
Explaining Health Risk Behaviors in the U.S. with Social Deprivation at Local and Regional Levels
Health risk behaviors are precursors to many chronic health outcomes, and hence, they pose a challenge to public health. Social deprivation undoubtedly creates circumstances that limit access to healthy habits. Moreover, broad regional effects (weather patterns, political ideology, social norms), and local characteristics (cultural notions and barriers, urban places) also influence lifestyle choices and must be accounted for to truly understand the impact of social deprivation on risky behaviors. This research fills the knowledge gap in epidemiological modeling of health risk behaviors by leveraging machine learning to find associations between social deprivation and health risk behaviors, when adjusted by regional and local effects. Four health risk behaviors, namely, binge drinking, smoking, lack of sleep, and lack of physical activity from the CDC PLACES project are considered in a single framework to understand and compare the interplay between local/regional characteristics and seven measures of social deprivation. Our results indicate that local and/or regional factors rise to the top for three out of four risk behaviors (binge drinking, smoking and lack of sleep) out-competing social deprivation measures. Un-entangling the geographical effects reveals that poverty, educational attainment and non-employment are the three deprivation measures most significantly associated with all four health risk factors. The research thus indicates that public health policies to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors must seek to remedy social deprivation, but using socially and culturally sensitive interventions.
Gokhale, Swapna↗
Environmental and Social Justice Considerations in a Circular Economy
A consideration of environmental justice (EJ) and social justice (SJ) is critical to minimize the impacts of technology deployment on local communities. SJ and EJ impacts occur in specific geographic locations but can cover a wide range of effects (e.g., air pollution, access to clean water, jobs, wages, and education), making it challenging to determine which metrics are appropriate to evaluate and which data are required for qualitative or quantitative analysis. This issue is only exacerbated when the technology in question is at an early technology readiness level (TRL) without community specific data. Here, we present a framework for evaluating the human health, local environment, and job implications of processes that are at early to middle TRLs. Using a case study on enzymatic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling (middle TRL), we demonstrate how to qualitatively and quantitatively assess these EJ and SJ metrics for a circular economy context and how to communicate the results in a manner beneficial to both researchers and local communities.
circular economy↗
Environmental and Social Justice Implications of a Circular Plastics Economy
A consideration of environmental justice (EJ) and social justice (SJ) is critical to minimize the impacts of technology deployment on local communities. SJ and EJ impacts occur in specific geographic locations but can cover a wide range of effects (e.g., air pollution, access to clean water, jobs, wages, and education), making it challenging to determine which metrics are appropriate to evaluate and which data are required. Thus, there is currently a gap in the analysis community's ability to provide useful and universal EJ and SJ metrics for emerging technologies. Here, we present a draft framework for evaluating the human health, local environment, and job implications of processes that are at an early or middle technology readiness level (TRL). Using a case study on enzymatic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling (middle TRL), we demonstrate how to qualitatively and quantitatively assess these EJ and SJ metrics for a circular economy context and how to communicate the results in a manner beneficial to both researchers and local communities.
circular economy↗
Comparison of Socio-Technical Threat Models
Given the adoption of emerging technologies and the increasing complexity of managing such systems with a lifecycle much shorter than that of critical infrastructure systems, there is a practical need to be able to analyze sociotechnical dependencies and their associated evolving risks. Threat models based on social influence techniques can be used to implement adversarial tactics analogous to the cyber kill chain and attested to within the MITRE ATT&CK for ICS framework including Initial Access, Persistence, Collection, and Impact. Furthermore, as with cyber disruptions, the impact of social influence threat models can have an asymmetric impact that is not spatially-localized. Finally, unlike cyber attacks with a reasonably short duration (ransomware takes days to months), social influence based attacks have the potential to persist for much longer as they are based on long-term strategic infrastructure investments within the private sector. Given the increased importance of electric vehicle charging stations as a long-term, strategic infrastructure investment within the Energy and Transportation Sectors, we provide initial results that compare the impact of a Loss of Availability (T0826) realized through cyber and social influence based threat models. The analysis employs techniques from automated reasoning and measures of network complexity to understand evolving dominance of EV payment and charging networks within geographic region of interest. Within this context, we compare the impact of a loss of availability due to ransomware versus that of loss of support due to a merger and acquisition. Results across several different metro areas will be provided.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Oilwell Conversion (Well API 121913310501) to Geothermal Heat Storage Well for Flexible Electricity Storage
Geothermal growth is limited by a lack of geographically dispersed high-temperature thermal resources and high initial upfront investment in characterization and well construction. This project intended to address the challenges of energy supply intermittency and enhance grid resilience, reliability, and energy security by storing energy provided from currently available renewable resources in the subsurface to harvest it a later time during at-peak energy demand. This project intended to improve geothermal adoption, reduce initial project risk, and improve price competitiveness through utilizing existing oil and gas infrastructure such as non-productive wells, non-economic fields, dry holes, and orphaned wells. The project also intended to address the lack of geographically dispersed thermal resources and enhance grid resilience, reliability, and energy security by introducing an economical method for storing energy from currently available renewable resources in the subsurface for usage during at-peak energy demand. During this research, the project furthered the understanding of the feasibility of utilizing abandoned oil and gas wells as geothermal heat storage wells. The project team investigated the heat storage and hydrogeological characteristics of subsurface reservoirs in the Illinois Basin to evaluate their response to heat injection for determining the evolution of temperature profiles and heat losses over time using existing and available data sets. The project team then performed modeling and simulation to evaluate the heat losses of returning fluids during heat extraction. The outputs were used to select an optimal candidate reservoir and location in Southern Illinois. The team designed and performed a small-scale field test in an existing oil well to refine the model and to demonstrate the permitting and regulatory pathways necessary for the conversion of oil and gas assets to geothermal use. The field test also serves as a proof of concept and can guide the procedures for future research and implementation. Additionally, the project team, conducted initial market research and customer discovery to develop a go to market strategy for an Advanced Geothermal Energy Storage (AGES) system. The project team in this research also identified the parameters to be refined in future research, to improve the current go to market strategy economic model. To this end several subject matter experts were also identified to assist in future research with geothermal infrastructure setup, energy storage policy and law, energy storage market demand, potential siting based on demand etc. Future research will involve further sophistication of the site commercial modeling, implementing a larger-scale test, and further refinement of the thermodynamic modeling/simulation process. The output will be lifecycle costs and economics suitable for comparison to alternative approaches from a validated full-scale demonstration for venture capital investment into this technology. The project successfully demonstrated the ability to leverage existing oilfield infrastructure, permits, and land access and leasing agreements, to enable geothermal storage projects to come online faster and cheaper than a greenfield development could. This technology could allow for greater energy independence and security through long-term energy storage solutions. The longer duration allows for greater storage for renewables currently limited by hours-long storage durations of lithium-ion. The AGES system would support the growth of renewable energy farms, and provide greater opportunities for a cleaner energy infrastructure.
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
Geographically Dependent Sustainability Indicators for Comparison of Conventional Vegetable Production to Controlled-Environment Agriculture
Many food system lifecycle analyses distill agricultural production and supply chain impacts into single-value sustainability metrics for various food categories. These studies provide an overview of the food supply system that highlight striking results such as the GHG impacts of meat production. The supply chain impacts of vegetable production occupy the middle ground; higher than average food loss and waste, lower than average overall energy use, etc. However, aggregated results obscure the sustainability implications of the location of food production, especially for vegetables. Moreover, the increasing instability of food production systems are not captured, as illustrated by a recent Washington Post article. According to a UC Merced study conducted for the state, California farmers left nearly 400,000 acres of agricultural land unplanted last year because of a lack of water. The result, the study found, was a direct economic cost to farmers of $1.1 billion and the loss of nearly 9,000 agricultural jobs. (The Washington Post, March 21, 2022.) Previous work quantified the food-energy-water nexus implications of transitioning vegetable production from large, centralized agricultural operations to smaller distributed production in controlled-environment farms (CEA). The importance of location-specific data is especially evident for water use. Water impacts of the food system are primarily local to the region where food is produced, water impacts vary significantly between locations, and water stress is a major concern in locations that currently host large agricultural operations. Location-specific data is needed to accurately assess the water impacts of transitioning to CEA. The location of farms in relation to consumers impacts transportation energy use, food loss and waste, and requirements for food processing (e.g., to reduce weight, preserve foods for long storage, and package foods to reduce damage and loss) Reducing transport is particularly relevant for agricultural products that could be grown in CEAs (fruits, vegetables, protein). Access to nutritious food is not evenly distributed in the population. Remote communities, communities in harsh environments, and economically-disadvantaged communities often have poor access to healthy foods. CEA is ideally suited to these environments. However, the energy and water use of CEA, while in many respects lower overall than conventional supply chains, are concentrated within communities and could have significant local impacts. This paper reports on development of sustainability metrics that seek to capture the tradeoffs between the current supply chain and a CEA supply chain for vegetables; focusing on the location-dependent implications of water use, the transition from largely fossil fuel based energy use to electricity, and the food access, resilience and wellbeing implications of urban versus rural food production.
controlled-environment agriculture↗
Bay Area Regional Energy: Network Integrated Commercial Retrofits (BRICR) Project. Final Report
The BRICR project applied large-scale building energy modeling concepts with the aim of reducing the cost of energy efficiency targeting, design, and project development, and measurement of energy savings for energy efficiency programs implemented by local governments that serve small and medium commercial buildings (SMB). The project leveraged the services and resources of existing local government energy programs serving disadvantaged and hard-to-reach SMB customers. In contrast to programs run by utilities, local government programs generally do not have direct access to energy billing records for an entire class of customers in a geographic area, which prior research demonstrated useful for large-scale building energy model baseline development and calibration. , However, local governments are rich in public records that offer important clues about physical attributes and uses that, along with behavior, determine energy use. Relying only on public records, BRICR demonstrated development of credible baseline energy models for 3,792 office, retail, and hotel buildings. Publicly disclosed annual energy use data from a local energy benchmarking program and anonymized data from the Building Performance Database, the nation’s largest dataset about energy-related characteristics of buildings, were utilized to validate and calibrate energy models via an innovative method comparing distributions of energy intensity by fuel type for portfolios of buildings of similar size, vintage, and use. Portfolio calibration does not provide certainty that an energy model fits an individual building; the method is useful when billing data is not accessible – a common situation for researchers, energy service providers and ESCOs, local governments, and any party other than a utility. A software component was developed, the BRICR gem, which automates simulation when relevant data is added or edited by the user to a file saved in the standardized BuildingSync XML schema for energy audit data. The component was demonstrated as a simplified means to generate a mass of energy models corresponding to public records containing basic attributes such as building scale, location, use, year built, and aspect ratio in combination with building energy code prototype data corresponding to use and vintage. The component was also demonstrated as a simplified means to automate energy simulation when attributes are revised; the intention was to enable iterative improvement of the baseline model and energy savings estimates for common energy conservation measures as users revise relevant attributes based on their observations. In the context of institutional change and uncertainty for the participating local government energy programs, 13 whole building retrofits were completed. Impacts were measured by applying the CalTRACK2.0 methods to standardize measurement of normalized metered energy consumption. The GRIDMeter methods of stratified sampling and individual load shape analysis were applied to adjust for impacts of the effect of COVID-19 on retrofitted buildings in the context of all local buildings of similar size and use. Excluding impacts of the pandemic, retrofitted buildings demonstrated between 1.6% and 25.1% reduction in energy use. The project contributed use cases and feedback that helped inform evolution of the software tools and data formats that were combined for the first time in the BRICR project.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗