National Renewable Energy Laboratory
NREL Programs
Support for the DOE Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Program
To help meet the nation's needs for clean energy, inexpensive alternative fuels, and a healthy environment, researchers in the Energy Sciences Program at NREL are improving our understanding of the science behind renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. In work performed for the DOE Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Program, NREL executes research in two main areas—Chemical and Biosciences and Materials and Computational Science.
Chemical and Biosciences
These projects advance the basic understanding of the relevant science in chemistry, photochemistry, catalysis, and nanostructured materials that supports evolving solar photochemical conversion technologies. The goal of other research in this program is to advance the basic understanding of bacterial and plant photosynthesis (including relevant metabolic pathways), and to apply that knowledge to the development of renewable fuels (including hydrogen), chemicals, and materials, as well as to address environmental problems.
Contact Jim Brainard with questions about Chemical and Biosciences research.
Materials and Computational Science
This program researches the structural, optical, electrical, and defect properties of some exciting new semiconductors and related materials for photovoltaic and other energy-related applications by using state-of-the-art theoretical and experimental techniques. Modeling and simulation via a high-performance computing capability are also intrinsic to conducting this type of research, complementing the two traditional scientific research methods of theory and experiment. Such work can yield insight into physical phenomena occurring at time and length scales that elude direct observation or experimental techniques.
Contact Steve Hammond with questions about Materials and Computational Science research.
NREL supports the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences Program.
