News and Feature Stories
The following news stories take an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how NREL is advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
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April 2024
April 11, 2024
Local Priorities Drive Energy Transitions in Remote, Coastal, and Island Communities
Remote, coastal, and island communities across the country face similar energy resilience challenges—from high energy costs and aging infrastructure to outages from extreme weather events and climate change impacts—but each community's values and priorities create a unique path toward energy resilience.
April 10, 2024
NREL Unveils Groundbreaking Generative Machine Learning Model To Simulate Future Energy-Climate Impacts
As countries worldwide transition to more wind and solar generation and electrify energy end uses, societies are becoming more intertwined with weather conditions.
April 9, 2024
Q&A With Travis Lowder: Not All Climate Crusaders Need a Technical Degree
In the latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Travis Lowder shares why he did not need a technical background to fight climate change (and neither do you!) and why humility might be the most crucial trait for his job.
April 8, 2024
Puerto Rico Can Reach Its 100% Renewable Energy Goal by 2050
NREL led PR100 to model possible scenarios built on stakeholder priorities of energy affordability, resilience and reliability, land use, and economic benefits.
April 8, 2024
Chevron Studio Program Aims Tech To Go From Lab to Market
In creating the Chevron Studio program, NREL and Chevron Technologies Venture teamed up to turn a challenge into an opportunity.
April 8, 2024
NREL Analysis Shows Snapshot of the Clean Supply Chain of the Future
Researchers from NREL, in collaboration with industry partners, have demonstrated the potential for a zero-tailpipe emissions supply chain—one that transports goods from the nation's busiest ports to their final destinations without producing vehicle emissions—all while using today's technology.
April 8, 2024
NREL Shows Live Grid Impacts From Total Solar Eclipse
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will traverse North America bringing a period of midday complete darkness to 12 U.S. states and affecting solar power plants across all 50 U.S. states.
April 5, 2024
2023-2024 JUMP into STEM Final Competition Winners Announced as Newest Cohort of Future Building Scientists
After presenting innovative solutions for some of the most complex challenges in the buildings industry, 11 students have been named winners of the 2024 JUMP into STEM Final Competition.
April 4, 2024
Competitions Provide Springboard for College Students To Make Waves in Water Power
Teams of postsecondary students are invited to join these challenging competitions that offer skills-building experience, a deep dive into clean energy technologies, and the chance to win cash prizes.
April 3, 2024
How Mountains Could Store Mountains of Clean Energy
Pumped storage hydropower might be one of the most promising ways to store energy for a future 100% clean energy grid. But it has been difficult for the public to know how much these facilities might cost to build—until now.
April 3, 2024
Study Examines Cost Competitiveness of Zero-Emission Trucks
Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) account for just 5% of vehicles on the road in the United States, yet they are responsible for 21% of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.
April 2, 2024
Making An Impact: Prize Competitors Bring Fresh Ideas to Community Clean Energy Projects
Twenty-three teams from the ecosystem tracks just won the Clean Energy Innovation Prize's CONCEPT Phase and have been awarded $100,000 in cash prizes to begin working collaboratively with underserved communities to advance clean energy and climate projects.
April 1, 2024
IN² at 10 Years: Cohort 1 Participant Turns Up Heat on Fire Prevention
The sensors in today's Whisker Labs Ting device trace their origins to the original sensors tested in NREL's Energy Systems Integration Facility during the IN2 program.
March 2024
March 29, 2024
JISEA Launches Sustainable Agriculture Catalyzer To Examine Cobenefits of Decarbonization
The Sustainable Agriculture Catalyzer is collaborating with farmers to better understand the benefits and tradeoffs of decarbonization strategies beyond emissions reduction.
March 28, 2024
Solution to Energy Storage May Be Beneath Your Feet
Superheated sand provides one answer to the problem of long-term energy storage. Researchers at NREL built a prototype that proved the technology works. A larger-scale version is the next step.
March 28, 2024
Why You Might Love a Career in Marine Energy
Researchers across labs joined a Marine Energy Career Panel and agreed that their jobs are nothing if not varied.
March 26, 2024
Game-Changing High-Resolution Solar Data Enables Renewable Energy Expansion Across 2 Continents
New high-resolution solar data and analysis provides an in-depth look at solar resources in Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
March 25, 2024
Connecting the Dots: Putting Offshore Wind Energy to Work
NREL researchers contributed to a thorough analysis and action plan to guide the United States on the most effective ways to bring Atlantic offshore wind energy to communities on the East Coast.
March 25, 2024
NREL To Lead New Lab Consortium To Enable High-Volume Manufacturing of Electrolyzers and Fuel Cells
The Roll-to-Roll Consortium aims to accelerate domestic manufacturing and reduce the cost of durable, high-performance systems.
March 25, 2024
International Researchers Explore New Territory in the Grand Challenges of Wind Energy Science
Wind energy's growth must be planned with careful consideration of atmospheric physics, turbine design, and grid resilience, as well as environmental and social impacts.
March 21, 2024
Before You Install Wind Energy Technology, Check Out This Database
The new, easy-to-use Wind Resource Database offers public access to more than a petabyte of detailed wind resource data in the United States and other countries.
March 20, 2024
Could a New Renewable Energy App Help Inspire Future Climate Crusaders?
Newly launched Renewable Energy Discovery Island could make it easy to teach, explore, and learn about clean energy (especially water power).
March 18, 2024
Behind the Blades: Amy Robertson Takes On the Complexities of Floating Offshore Wind
As a child immersed in the science of NASA, Amy Robertson was bound to end up an engineer—an aerospace engineer, to be exact. At NREL, she has traded in her love of the cosmos for the delightfully challenging dynamics of floating offshore wind energy.
March 18, 2024
Peer Learning Helps San Diego Center Community Voices in Clean Energy Plans
The San Diego Association of Governments has ambitious plans to make local progress toward California's goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.
March 13, 2024
NREL and MSU Denver Partnership Elevates Colorado High School Science Bowl to New Heights
Fossil Ridge High School emerged victorious in the 2024 Colorado High School Science Bowl, continuing its winning streak for the fourth year in a row by narrowly besting second-place finisher Stargate Charter High School.
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