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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

Coupling of the Electricity and Transportation Sectors - Part I: Sector Overviews

“Sector coupling” is a concept that addresses potential designs for the future power industry. Traditionally, the energy sectors, i.e., electricity supply, transport, and industry, have functioned largely independently from one another. Thus, the concept of sector coupling means that the electricity sector would become the central pillar of the energy system, supplying the other sectors – transportation and industry – with energy in various ways, a scheme described by the term “Power-to-X”. This report delves into the ambitious goal set by the United States to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, with a pivotal milestone of making half of all passenger vehicles sold in America zero-emission by 2030. Central to achieving this objective is the electrification of the transportation sector, resulting in complex interactions between this sector and the electric industry. As electric vehicles become more prevalent, a shift in the dependency on electricity for vehicle charging emerges, alongside a reduction in the electricity demand associated with maintaining the fossil fuel supply chain. Both the electricity and fossil fuel have been identified as critical infrastructure sectors, the transportation sector's historical reliance on fossil fuels, and the mature supply chain supporting them are explored. This study emphasizes the existing sectoral coupling between the electric energy and transportation sectors, extending beyond vehicle charging to essential operations at refineries, pipeline facilities, storage, and fuel extraction. Recognizing the critical dependency of fossil fuel supply chain operations on the electric sector, this research underscores the need for a comprehensive view of the evolving dynamics between the transportation and electric sectors. This study has been split into two segments, Part-I provides an overview of the existing fossil fuel supply chain architecture and the electrical sector. We provide an in-depth analysis of the grid-transportation sectoral coupling, its interactions, the vulnerabilities and essential take-aways that would help us to address them and apply towards an electrified transportation sector in the future. We engaged with stakeholders to understand their expectations in enabling an electrified transportation. We accumulate the understandings from the current fossil fuel-based system in developing a risk matrix, by identifying all the threats and vulnerabilities and how would they apply to both the current and future transportation systems in Part-II of this report.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

How structural differences influence cross-model consistency: An electric sector case study

Multiple models are often employed to describe a range of possible outcomes for one or more scenarios, yielding insights into causal relationships and their uncertainties. Electric sector capacity expansion scenarios are a common topic of such efforts due to the economic influence of the electric sector, but model results typically span a broad solution space despite efforts to harmonize input assumptions, making decision implications difficult to discern. This study investigates the relationship between input harmonization and cross-model scenario consistency under disparate electric sector scenarios. We compare cross-model consistency between two state-of-the-art electric sector capacity expansion models (GCAM-USA and ReEDS) for six electric sector scenarios comprising alternate assumptions about fossil fuel resource availability, technology innovation, and long-term economy-wide transitions under four harmonization configurations varying model representations of electricity demand, fuel prices, renewable resources, and capacity retirements. These comparisons reveal that cross-model consistency can vary across scenarios under a given harmonization configuration, suggesting that harmonization efforts must often be scenario-specific if comparable cross-model consistency is desired. Model structural differences can hinder consistency, and the impact of these differences can depend on the scenario. Ultimately, thorough harmonization can reveal insights into cross-model consistency, which can be used to tighten uncertainty bounds and improve the decision-making implications of multi-model activities.

Cohen, Stuart↗

Geospatial characterization of low-temperature heating and cooling demand in residential, commercial, manufacturing, agricultural, and data center sectors for potential geothermal applications in the United States

Thermal demand for heating and cooling has been predominantly supplied by fossil fuel combustion in the United States, although low-carbon alternatives are extensively available including geothermal, solar thermal, and waste heat. Here, this study analyzed end-use energy consumption, fuel expenditure, and data center commissioned power data to geospatially characterize the U.S. low-temperature heating and cooling demand at the county level in residential, commercial, manufacturing, agricultural, and data center sectors and understand potential opportunities for geothermal applications. In the analysis, the regional-scale energy consumption data was incorporated with system efficiencies to address actual demand and was then disaggregated with weighting factors to the county level. The results indicated that total low-temperature heating and cooling demand is 16.7 EJ, combining heating demand of 10.8 EJ and cooling demand of 5.9 EJ. Overall, 59.9 % (10 EJ) of the low-temperature heating and cooling demand occurred in the residential sector. The heating and cooling demand visualized in maps represented that the geospatial distribution of heating and cooling demand in the residential and commercial sectors is governed by the number of housing units and climate zone designations, while heating and cooling demand in the manufacturing, agricultural, and data center sectors is dependent on the number and location of facilities. The results also demonstrated that geothermal heat pumps are broadly used in the residential and commercial sectors for heating and cooling in the U.S. Midwest, South, and Northeast regions but are limited in the West, implying great decarbonization potential in the future.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Cost-Benefit Analysis For Indonesia Building Sector: Whole-Building Cooling Solutions

The Net Zero World (NZW) Initiative Collaborative Work Program with the Government of Indonesia (GoI) includes technical assistance and investment mobilization facilitation to accelerate deployment of energy efficiency technologies and solutions for the building sector. A February 2023 U.S.–Indonesia Joint Workshop on Decarbonizing the Building Sector yielded a NZW Indonesia Building Decarbonization Working Group (NZW IBDWG) with four sub-working groups (SWG): SWG-A National Center, SWG-B Capacity Building, SWG-C Investment and Financing, and SWG-D Pilot Projects. Technical analysis of whole-building cooling solutions for tropical climates of Indonesia was conducted by SWG-A to quantify energy savings, carbon dioxide reductions, and comfort improvements offered by 12 passive or low-energy cooling strategies: ceiling fans with and without thermostat setbacks; cool roofs; cool walls; exterior awnings; exterior shades; interior shades; insulated roofs; insulated walls; low-e windows; solar window films; and natural ventilation. Leveraging the results from SWG-A, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was conducted by SWG-C to assess the consumer and national costs and impacts associated with these 12 cooling solutions. The evaluation involved estimating life-cycle costs (LCC), payback period (PBP), net present values (NPV), annual electricity burden change for low-income households, and reduced national annual power-sector generation demand by 2030, 2040, 2050, and 2060. This evaluation can help guide Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) investments in policies and programs to advance research, development, deployment, and commercial adoption (RDDCA) of efficient residential building sector cooling technologies and solutions in Indonesia. Four key energy conservation measures (ECM) have been identified to reduce air-conditioning (AC) energy demand in single-family housing in Indonesia: ceiling fan with temperature setback (to 28.1 °Celcius from 25 °C); insulated walls; insulated roof; and cool roof. This study found that low-income households with AC installations in Indonesia currently face a high energy cost burden of approximately 10%. However, by implementing a ceiling fan with temperature setback, this burden could decrease to 2.5% today and further reduce to 1.3% by the year 2060. The PBP for a ceiling fan with temperature setback is one year, indicating one of the lowest LCC and best NPV. In the planned upcoming phase of CBA, a series of building cooling improvement scenarios can be further defined, incorporating more than one ECM in combination with socio-economic factors evaluated in the initial CBA phase. Additionally, the analysis of ECM effects in multifamily housing can be expanded. This broader national analysis aims to encompass a holistic and comprehensive system-level perspective, including factors such as avoided power sector infrastructure investments, domestic job creation, domestic manufacturing job creation, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Three Dimensional Sector Design with Optimal Number of Sectors

In the national airspace system, sectors get overloaded due to high traffic demand and inefficient airspace designs. Overloads can be eliminated in some cases by redesigning sector boundaries. This paper extends the Voronoi-based sector design method by automatically selecting the number of sectors, allowing three-dimensional partitions, and enforcing traffic pattern conformance. The method was used to design sectors at Fort-Worth and Indianapolis centers for current traffic scenarios. Results show that new designs can eliminate overloaded sectors, although not in all cases, reduce the number of necessary sectors, and conform to major traffic patterns. Overall, the new methodology produces enhanced and efficient sector designs.

Xue, Min↗

Unveiling sectoral coupling for resilient electrification of the transportation sector

Abstract Electrifying the transportation sector is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and offers numerous benefits including increased energy efficiency, lower total ownership costs, enhanced national energy security, and improved air quality. Despite the availability of necessary technologies, fully integrating the transportation and electricity sectors presents challenges in understanding all benefits and risks. Previous studies have not highlighted the role of coupling between these sectors. To better understand this coupling, this work reviews the structure of the current fossil-fuel-based transportation sector (including its dependence on the electricity sector) and case studies of its vulnerabilities to key risks. By adopting a systemic perspective, we uncover the indispensable interplay between the transportation and electricity sectors, shedding light on previously neglected dynamics. Leveraging the principles of grid architecture (GA), we introduce a hierarchical approach to assess vulnerabilities within the prevailing fuel-based transportation system and elucidate pathways for enhancement through electrification.

Mitra, Bhaskar↗

Power Sector Transformation Pathways: Exploring Objectives, Factors, and Technology Innovations to Inform Power Sector Pathway Decisions

The power and heating sectors are responsible for around 30% of global CO2 emissions and this share is likely to grow as countries move towards electrification of the transportation and building sectors. Therefore, enabling forward-thinking, long term strategies in the power sector is a crucial area for international collaboration and support. The rapid transition of power systems toward modern, low-carbon pathways and technologies will be necessary to meet key climate goals while also enabling other critical objectives such as economic development, energy access, and energy system resiliency, among others. Many developed and developing countries are well-poised to champion power sector transformation (PST), however, further support is needed to identify pathways and implement critical near and long-term actions. To address this need, the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) together with an expert team including Agora Energiewende, Energy Innovation, European Climate Foundation, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research , Prayas Energy Group and LEDS Latin America and Caribbean Platform, developed a framework identifying four key pathways that can be integrated and combined to support low-carbon PST. These four pathways are: (1) Distributed Energy Resource Revolution, (2) Bulk Power Transformation, (3) Transmission and Distribution Interactivity, and (4) Distributed Transactional Future. To support exploration of pathways, this study examines PST objectives and factors that may lead countries or jurisdictions to place a greater relative emphasis on certain pathways as well as a framework and complementary tool for considering the emphasis in a hands on manner. The report provides case studies on application of the approach to bring life to the topic. The case studies include Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and the European Union, among others. The report also presents actions to-be-taken in the near-, medium- and long-term to support the realization of pathways and long-term transformation of the power sector. The report, together with a complementary spreadsheet tool developed under the effort, can be used to enable stakeholder engagement and visioning for the power sector over the long-term, taking into account key factors and potential innovations. It can also be used to understand and inform relevant analysis tools and models based on which pathways are emphasized, and to identify key actions in the near- and medium-term to avoid lock-in of carbon-intensive technologies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

A deep decarbonization framework for the United States economy – a sector, sub-sector, and end-use based approach

Achieving the United States' target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will require technological transformations and energy sector mitigation. To understand the role of dynamically evolving technologies, identify synergies and dissonance and the effect of allocating limited low-carbon biomass resources in decarbonizing the U.S. economy, we developed the Decarbonization Scenario Analysis Model. A Life Cycle Assessment based approach is implemented considering the U.S. economy as the functional unit, to estimate greenhouse gas mitigation potential for projected energy demand based on several sector-level and cross-sectoral decarbonization pathways. Direct and supply-chain emissions are accounted, resulting from changes in patterns of energy generation and consumption, technology breakthroughs, and reductions in fugitive emissions over time at the granularity of economic sectors, sub-sectors, and end-use. Decarbonization strategies are implemented over a reference case developed using Energy Information Administration (EIA AEO) projection of economic activities for 2020–2050. Based on the considered scenarios, 80–90% economy-wide decarbonization relative to the 2020 reference case is projected. Electrification, low-carbon fuels, and reduction of fugitive emissions play the most significant role to decarbonization. The majority of the remaining emissions are accounted to the supply-chain and end-use emissions from natural gas and diesel fossil-based fuels in heavy duty transportation and heavy industries, highlighting the need for developing low-carbon and carbon-negative alternatives to mitigate those fossil-based carbon emissions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Three Dimensional Sector Design with Optimal Number of Sectors

The concept of dynamic sector design suggests a strategic approach to ease air traffic congestion, which is predicted to become a serious problem in the national airspace system by 2025. Considerable research has been conducted to address the sectorization problem. In previous work, an approach that combines the Voronoi diagrams, Genetic Algorithms (GA), and the iterative deepening algorithm was proposed. However, as originally formulated, the number of sectors used was predefined and only two-dimensional partitions were allowed, which constrained the method's ability to achieve good designs. The current work extends the earlier Voronoi-based method by treating the number of sectors as an additional decision variable, allowing 3D partitions, and developing more comprehensive costs.

Xue, Min↗

Pathways of bio-jet adoption in the US aviation industry with implications for the overall transportation and energy sectors: an integrated, multi-sectoral analysis of future scenarios

Bio-jet adoption has emerged as an attractive option to complement and supplement the use of refined fossil liquid fuels in the aviation industry in the US. However, there are significant uncertainties surrounding the costs of bio-jet including but not limited to costs of feedstock, transformation costs and the competition with co-products of bio-jet that may be demanded elsewhere in the transportation or energy sectors. This study models alternative trajectories of bio-jet adoption in the US aviation industry by 2050 through the use of a global integrated multi sector dynamics model. Three bio-jet production and consumption pathways are presented- soybean oil to jet, corn ethanol to jet (ETJ) and Fisher–Tropsch-based bio-jet, with each pathway explicitly considering the co-production of renewable diesel and renewable gasoline alongside the bio-jet. Without explicit actions or technology changes to offset the technology cost of bio-jet, scenarios where bio-jet displaces refined liquids result in higher aviation fuel prices (ranging from a 25% increase to 120% increase by mid-century) and lower demand (ranging from −14% to −43%). Corn ethanol will play an important role in the US if large scale amounts of bio-jet are to be produced with smaller effects on demand and prices. While scenarios with high levels of bio-jet availability without the availability of ETJ in the US can significantly reduce emissions in the aviation sector, these reductions are achieved more through the reduction in overall aviation fuel demand rather than technology adoption.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

TESS Data Release Notes: Sectors 1 – 13, Multi-Sector Search, DR20

These Data Release Notes provide information on the processing and export of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This data release is a combined, multi-sector transit search only. The underlying data products from individual observing sectors have been previously released. The data products included in this data release are the Data Validation (DV) reports, time series, and associated xml les for the threshold crossing events (TCEs) found by searching a combined data set including data from multiple observing sectors. These data products were generated by the TESS Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC, Jenkins et al., 2016) at NASA Ames Research Center from data collected by the TESS instrument, which is managed by the TESS Payload Operations Center (POC) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The format and content of these data products are documented in the Science Data Products Description Document (SDPDD)1. The SPOC science algorithms are based heavily on those of the Kepler Mission science pipeline, and are described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook (Jenkins, 2017)2. The Data Validation algorithms are documented in Twicken et al. (2018) and Li et al. (2019). The TESS Instrument Handbook (Vanderspek et al., 2018)3 contains more information about the TESS instrument design, detector layout, data properties, and mission operations. The TESS Mission is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Burke, Christopher J.↗

TESS Data Release Notes: Sectors 14 – 23, Multi-sector Search, DR34

These Data Release Notes provide information on the processing and export of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This data release is a combined, multi-sector transit search only. The underlying data products from individual observing sectors have been previously released. The data products included in this data release are the Data Validation (DV) reports, time series, and associated xml files for the threshold crossing events (TCEs) found by searching a combined data set including data from multiple observing sectors.

TESS↗

TESS Data Release Notes: Sectors 1 – 36, Multi-sector Search, DR53

These Data Release Notes provide information on the processing and export of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This data release is a combined, multi-sector transit search only. The underlying data products from individual observing sectors have been previously released. The data products included in this data release are the Data Validation (DV) reports, time series, and associated xml files for the threshold crossing events (TCEs) found by searching a combined data set including data from multiple observing sectors. These data products were generated by the TESS Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC, Jenkins et al., 2016) at NASA Ames Research Center from data collected by the TESS instrument, which is managed by the TESS Payload Operations Center (POC) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The format and content of these data products are documented in the Science Data Products Description Document (SDPDD)1. The SPOC science algorithms are based heavily on those of the Kepler Mission science pipeline, and are described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook (Jenkins, 2020)2. The Data Validation algorithms are documented in Twicken et al. (2018) and Li et al. (2019). The TESS Instrument Handbook (Vanderspek et al., 2018) contains more information about the TESS instrument design, detector layout, data properties, and mission operations. The TESS Mission is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

TESS↗

TESS Data Release Notes:Sectors 42 – 46, Multi-sector Search, DR68

These Data Release Notes provide information on the processing and export of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This data release is a combined, multi-sector transit search only. The underlying data products from individual observing sectors have been previously released. The data products included in this data release are the Data Validation (DV) reports, time series, and associated xml files for the threshold crossing events (TCEs) found by searching a combined data set including data from multiple observing sectors

TESS↗

TESS Data Release Notes:Sectors 1 – 46, Multi-sector Search, DR69

These Data Release Notes provide information on the processing and export of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This data release is a combined, multi-sector transit search only. The underlying data products from individual observing sectors have been previously released. The data products included in this data release are the Data Validation (DV) reports, time series, and associated xml files for the threshold crossing events (TCEs) found by searching a combined data set including data from multiple observing sectors.

TESS↗

Capabilities for Water Sector Infrastructure Resilience - Prioritizing RD&D in a Target Rich, Resource Poor Sector

WSTB & Water Sector Security Program Expansion Objective: Incubate and shepherd a public-private consortium of joint seal US government sponsors and industry stakeholders to build out industrial control system (ICS) and operational technology (OT) architecture of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Water Security Test Bed (WSTB) asset to enable research, testing, and cyber workforce training related to evolving cyber-physical and physical vulnerabilities and threats in the water sector.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗