Energy

Despite another solid national jobs report in December 2024—256,000 new payroll jobs and a steady 4.1% unemployment rate—companies in research-intensive fields have continued to trim their workforces in early 2025. While the broader economy shows gains in health care and retail, our tracking indicates that biotech, advanced software, and other R&D-driven sectors are strategically realigning.…

Every day seems to bring new developments in rechargeable battery research, with teams racing to surpass conventional lithium-ion technology, which has significant room for enhancement. As the adoption of electric vehicles rises and the need for storing renewable energy becomes increasingly important, the search intensifies for safer, lighter, and more sustainable power sources. Recent breakthroughs…

Imec, a partner in EnergyVille, in collaboration with the University of Cyprus, has reported significant progress in the development of perovskite solar modules, demonstrating long-term outdoor stability after two years of real-world testing. Mini-modules measuring 4 cm² retained 78% of their initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) after one year in outdoor conditions in Cyprus. This…

As 2025 gets underway, concerns are mounting about the stability of some high-paying STEM and R&D roles in an economy many once believed would remain recession-proof for engineers, software developers, and research scientists. A few bright spots include quickly-growing positions such as data scientists (36% growth, $108,020 median pay, according to BLS in 2024), computer…

Sandia National Laboratories has partnered with leading research institutions to tackle a potential energy crisis driven by the increasing energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies. Jeffrey Nelson, a principal investigator at Sandia, highlighted the issue’s urgency: “Computing alone is projected to consume a significant portion of the total planetary energy production…

A partnership between the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is streamlining inspections of nuclear reactor components and materials by using advanced algorithms and advanced imaging technology. Initially focused on additively manufactured nuclear parts, the collaboration has expanded to include inspections of nuclear fuel, enabling quicker and safer evaluations. Key…

According to the November 2024 TOP500 rankings, Lawrence Livermore’s El Capitan is the most powerful supercomputer. In this list, derived from the TOP500 supercomputer ranking, Frontier and Aurora round out the top three slots. These systems range from newly installed exascale powerhouses to long-established machines that are continuously evolving. All performance results come from the Linpack…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded two grants to the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) as part of a significant effort to advance microelectronics and sensors. Each project will receive $3 million per year for four years, recognizing PPPL’s expertise in plasma processes, which are crucial for the continued development of semiconductor manufacturing…

The State Department has announced that the United States and China have amended and extended their bilateral Science and Technology Agreement (STA) for five years. Initially signed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the deal was designed to foster cooperation in agriculture, energy, space, health, and the environment. U.S. officials…

Researchers from Ames National Laboratory and Iowa State University, funded through ARPA-E’s CHADWICK program, are developing materials for the “first wall” in fusion reactors. This wall faces extreme temperatures, radiation, and magnetic environments and must efficiently transfer heat for electricity production. Two layers are required: a tungsten-based refractory material facing the plasma and a structural…

[Updated December 18, 2024 with new details on Databricks] In 2024, AI-focused startups continued to dominate the funding landscape with industry leaders like OpenAI ($6.6B), xAI ($6B), and Anthropic ($4B) leading the pack. Adding to this trend, MLflow and data lakehouse pioneer Databricks recently secured a $10 billion funding round that was primarily equity-based, at…

Lithium-ion battery packs experienced the most significant price drop in seven years. A promising new material could help batteries achieve over 20,000 charge and discharge cycles before reaching the 80% capacity threshold, maximizing their value. Two new battery technologies could replace lithium-ion, and the Biden administration significantly boosted battery production and charging infrastructure with a…

Argonne National Laboratory and Yale University researchers have used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to obtain a high-resolution structural view of a photosystem I (PSI)-platinum nanoparticle biohybrid catalyst. This finding provides critical insights into the design of efficient systems for solar-driven hydrogen production. Background and context Photosystem I (PSI) is a protein complex integral to the photosynthetic…

A senior scientific engineering associate at Berkeley Lab, Howdy Goudey was named the R&D 100 Technician of the Year Award winner for his pioneering work in building energy efficiency and window technologies. During his thirty years at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Goudey’s work has proven instrumental in developing sustainable building technologies, such as vacuum-insulated windows…

Case Western Reserve University researchers have made significant progress in developing zinc-sulfur batteries, a potentially safer and more sustainable energy storage option than widely used lithium-ion batteries. Their findings, recently published in Angewandte Chemie, highlight key advancements that could enhance the commercial viability of zinc-based batteries. “This research marks a major step forward in developing…

Dr. Tim Kelly and his team at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) have made key discoveries about why solar cells made with lead halide perovskite degrade prematurely. These discoveries could advance the reliability of a new generation of solar cells. In experiments conducted at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron, Kelly, a professor of chemistry…

Ten centers across nine states will receive a share of $118 million in funding to advance fundamental energy research. Argonne National Laboratory scientists will contribute to a new Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), which will be funded by the DOE Office of Science’s Basic Energy Sciences. Ten new and some renewed centers will receive a…

In many respects, 2024 was a year of building upon the foundations laid by previous technological and scientific advances. While AI continued to evolve at a rapid clip, progress was in many ways more incremental than last year when GPT-4 redefined expectations for genAI. But AI continues to make definable improvements across a range of…

In the pursuit of sustainable energy, some inventors think big. Zhiyu (Jerry) Hu, Ph.D., thinks small — at the nanoscale. His work in thermoelectric devices is transforming how we understand and harvest energy, turning minute temperature differences into reliable power sources. For much of his life, Hu has found inspiration not just in fire but…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending October 18, 2024, closed at 4.022.95 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -0.66% (or -26.77 basis points). Thirteen RDWI members gained value last week from 0.21% (Pfizer) to 4.63% (Cisco).  Twelve RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.05% (Sanofi…

Every year, thousands of groundbreaking ideas emerge from research labs and universities, brimming with the potential to reshape industries. Yet, a significant number of these innovations never see the light of day. They fall into the abyss ominously termed the “Valley of Death,” which, as a paper in Science Direct puts it, “is an unfavorable…

Argonne National Laboratory has developed a new technology that could significantly impact the aviation industry and the environment by turning waste streams into cost-competitive sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This novel invention, dubbed “membrane-assisted anaerobic digestion” (MAAD), converts high-strength organic wastewater from sources like breweries and dairy farms into volatile fatty acids, which can be further…

An analysis of 45 years of R&D 100 Awards reveals a clear leader: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with more than two hundred winning products. National labs dominate the top ranks, demonstrating the staying power of consistent government investment in R&D. All of the top 10 organizations since 2010 are federally-backed entities. ORNL Frequently featured…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending October 4, 2024, closed at 4.005.40 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 0.62% (or 24.71 basis points). Eight RDWI members gained value last week from 1.07% (Eli Lilly & Co.) to 6.71% (Alibaba).  Seventeen RDWI members lost value the previous week…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending September 27, 2024, closed at 3,980.69 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -0.66% (or -26.26 basis points). Thirteen RDWI members gained value last week from 0.03% (Sanofi SA) to 20.30% (Alibaba). Twelve RDWI members lost value the previous week from -0.21%…