Energy

By Mark Jones A century is how long it took for one bad chemistry choice to run its course. The end of August 2021 was the end of what can only be described as a sad century in the history of chemistry. At the end of August, headlines proclaimed the world finally stopped using leaded…

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Electric Power Research Institute collaborated on GridDamper, a field-deployment-ready technology to mitigate three major categories of oscillations (natural, forced and sub-synchronous) and allow more renewable electricity in power grids. GridDamper adaptively updates its parameters, sensors and actuators to guarantee power grid stability and reliability…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $209 million in funding for 26 new laboratory projects focusing on electric vehicles, advanced batteries and connected vehicles. Advanced, lithium-based batteries play an integral role in 21st century technologies such as electric vehicles, stationary grid storage and defense applications that will be critical to securing America’s clean…

From Brookhaven National Laboratory An international collaboration of scientists has taken a significant step toward the realization of a nearly “green” zero-net-carbon technology that will efficiently convert carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas and hydrogen into ethanol, which is useful as a fuel and has many other chemical applications. The study reports a “roadmap” for…

From Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers demonstrated that cooling cost savings could be achieved with a 3D printed concrete smart wall following a three-month field test. The team used data from the 5 x 8-ft wall installed in an ORNL conference room and predictive modeling to estimate performance in the Southeastern…

From Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory On Aug. 8, 2021, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ). This advancement puts researchers at the threshold of fusion ignition, an important goal of the NIF, and opens access…

In support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to build the American economy back better, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide $37 million for small businesses pursuing climate and energy research and development (R&D) projects as well the development of advanced scientific instrumentation through a funding opportunity announcement (FOA). The projects…

Southwest Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio are collaborating to combine two catalytic processes into a single reactor, with the overall goal of recycling carbon from CO2 to produce low-cost hydrocarbon fuels. The work, led by Dr. Grant Seuser of SwRI’s Powertrain Engineering Division and Dr. Gary Jacobs of UTSA’s College…

UCAP Power, a developer of ultracapacitor-based power solutions, has announced it has completed the purchase of Maxwell Technologies Korea, the Korean-based ultracapacitor business, as well as other related assets including the Maxwell brand. With the addition of these assets, which includes system patents and products, UCAP Power is building upon its foundation of success in…

UCAP Power, a developer of ultracapacitor-based power solutions, has announced the close of a special purpose venture round of funding led by Grantchester C Change. “I am extremely pleased to have Grantchester invest in UCAP’s strategy and vision for clean and reliable power” said Gordon Schenk, CEO of UCAP Power. “Grantchester C Change is the…

By Mollie Rappe, Sandia National Laboraties The Department of Energy recently awarded $14 million to form a Sandia National Laboratories-led center to improve the understanding of perovskite-based photovoltaic technologies and determine the best tests to evaluate the new solar panels’ lifetimes. The efficiency of perovskite-based solar cells has reached 25%, approaching the levels of common…

By Stephanie G Seay, ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers demonstrated their wireless charging technology on an autonomous electric vehicle for the first time in a project with Local Motors. The charging system developed at ORNL was installed on Local Motors’ autonomous shuttle, the Olli. The architecture includes both wireless and wired charging, so the…

By Lynne Roeder, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory For most people considering any large purchase, cost is a major consideration. But cost is balanced by value. What do they get out of the investment over the long haul? Is it worth it? The same holds true for major investments in our energy system. And energy storage…

By Mollie Rappe, Sandia News Media What do tiny dust particles, 22-ft-wide red balloons and “concentrated” sunlight have in common? Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories recently used 22-ft-wide tethered balloons to collect samples of airborne dust particles to ensure the safety of an emerging solar-power technology. The study determined that the dust created by the…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $61.4 million for technologies that produce low-cost, low-carbon biofuels. Biofuels are derived from renewable resources and can power heavy-duty vehicles that are difficult to electrify with current technologies — including airplanes and ships — to help accelerate America’s path to a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. “Biofuels are…

By Karen K Dunlap, ORNL In a new twist to an existing award-winning ORNL technology, researchers have developed an electrocatalyst that enables water and carbon dioxide to be split and the atoms recombined to form higher weight hydrocarbons for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The technology is a carbon nanospike catalyst that uses nanoparticles of…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $24.5 million to support improvements in domestic manufacturing to build resilient, modern electricity infrastructure and address the climate emergency. The two funding opportunities will back research and development (R&D) for the materials and technologies needed to expand the grid with new, clean-energy sources, deliver affordable…

  Southwest Research Institute has completed a pilot-scale facility to create and test natural gas foam as a safe and stable alternative to water for hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking.” The six-year project is part of an effort to show that stable natural gas foam can be generated on-site at fracking locations using commercially…

The energy system is currently facing several challenges, including grid stability problems, the curtailment of renewable energy (RE), security of supply and an imbalance between supply and demand in the RE generation. The aim of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy’s Electric Thermal Energy Storage (ETES) making it possible to increase the share of RE in total…

LF Energy, a Linux Foundation nonprofit seeking to accelerate the energy transition of the world’s grids and transportation systems through open source, along with its newest member, Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL), a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, announced today Hyphae, a microgrid initiative to automate the peer-to-peer distribution of renewable energy. With energy resources and infrastructure…

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University (SBU) and other collaborating institutions have uncovered dynamic, atomic-level details of how an important platinum-based catalyst works in the water gas shift reaction. This reaction transforms carbon monoxide (CO) and water (H2O) into carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen gas (H2) — an…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $950,000 in funding to three energy storage research projects led by Southwest Research Institute. SwRI will use novel materials and technologies to develop and integrate thermal, mechanical and chemical systems to demonstrate methods of storing solar and wind power to enhance the reliable and predictable operation of…

Buildings represent 40% of the world’s primary energy use and are the second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. However, global building energy use can be reduced by one-half if energy efficiency (EE) equipment and systems are implemented at scale. To speed those reductions, the Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER), developed by Lawrence…

Over the next decade, hundreds of billions of dollars will be invested in new 21st century energy systems and processes that are more dynamic and interconnected than ever before. The Institute for Design of Advanced Energy Systems Integrated Platform (IDAES), developed by U.S. Department of Energy and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, helps companies, technology…

A new carbon fiber material could bring cost and performance benefits to the wind industry if developed commercially, according to a study led by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories. Wind blades containing carbon fiber weigh 25% less than ones made from traditional fiberglass materials. That means carbon fiber blades could be longer than fiberglass ones…