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.
June 2022
June 29, 2022
News Release: Scientists Look to the Sky in Effort To Mitigate Carbon Problem
A global research effort spearheaded by NREL has assessed two promising technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. While still in the early stages of development, direct air carbon capture and sequestration--together with other carbon dioxide removal strategies--are considered critical to achieving a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy.
June 27, 2022
News Release: NREL Analysis Highlights Strategies Beyond Recycling To Bolster Circular Economy for Solar and Battery Technologies
In a new comprehensive literature review, researchers at NREL discovered that alternatives to recycling may have untapped potential to build an effective circular economy for solar photovoltaic and battery technologies, such as reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing for new applications, and extending product life spans.
June 23, 2022
News Release: NREL Names Jennifer Logan to Leadership Team as Chief Financial Officer
Jennifer Logan joins NREL from the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, where she has served as chief financial officer and business/finance director. She will start with NREL on June 27, 2022.
June 21, 2022
Matthew Beard Announced as Winner of Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award
The DOE Office of Science announced today that NREL Senior Research Fellow Matthew Beard will be awarded the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for his groundbreaking research providing understanding and control of solar photochemical processes, interfacial phenomena, and next-generation photovoltaics.
June 17, 2022
Powering Ghana: USAID and NREL Provide Technical Assistance To Develop First Hydro-Solar Plant in West Africa
The first West African hydro-solar plant was deployed in Ghana in January, with technical support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
June 16, 2022
Q&A With Robynne Murray: Rebel With A Cause--And an Ice Axe
Growing up in Canada, Robynne Murray got her hands dirty clam digging in the Bay of Fundy. Now, at NREL, the mechanical engineer likes getting her hands dirty, manufacturing and evaluating new materials--like recyclable plastics and carbon fibers--for wind and tidal turbines and electric vehicles.
June 15, 2022
12 New Remote and Island Communities Join the Journey to Energy Resilience
The latest additions to the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) more than double the number of communities advancing local energy goals through this DOE-funded, multi-lab, multi-partner effort.
June 15, 2022
Co-Optima Crosses the Finish Line
Just as the wheels keep turning on cars, trucks, and trains, the planet keeps spinning in its orbit. All the while, climate change is accelerating, along with the dire need to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for global warming.
June 15, 2022
American-Made Solar Prize Kicks Off Round 6
The sixth round of competition offers $4.1 million in prizes for those ready to revolutionize the solar industry.
June 15, 2022
Mining and Geothermal Industries Could Strike G.O.L.D. Through Partnership
A partnership between the mining and geothermal industries could lead both toward a more lucrative and greener future.
June 14, 2022
International Standards Are More Important (and Interesting) Than Most People Think
A new strategic business plan for marine energy standards showcases how close the industry is to wide-scale commercial use.
June 14, 2022
News Release: New Additives to Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells Boost Efficiency, Stability
Scientists at NREL have demonstrated a tin-lead perovskite cell that overcomes problems with stability and improves efficiency. The new cell, a tandem design with two layers of perovskites, measured a 25.5% efficiency.
June 14, 2022
Introducing the 2022 Electricity Annual Technology Baseline
Here's What You Need to Know About This Year's Annual Technology Baseline, Including Distributed Wind and Pumped Storage Hydropower Supply Curve Data for the First Time
June 13, 2022
NREL Is Helping Develop Colombia's Next Generation of Renewable Energy Leaders
NREL is building up young energy leaders in Colombia through hands-on training and education. A cohort of early-career energy sector leaders from Colombia traveled to NREL's campus in May 2022 to tour the facilities, learn from NREL's experts, and collaborate in person after nearly three years of working together virtually.
June 9, 2022
An Inventor Retires as His Solar Technology Takes Flight
When Greg Glatzmaier left NREL for the last time after a career that spanned four decades, he was already planning trips to Nevada and Spain. But not to play poker or hang out on the beach.
June 9, 2022
News Release: NREL Announces Participants for the 2022 Executive Energy Leadership Program
NREL has selected 20 leaders to participate in its 2022 Executive Energy Leadership program, which provides nontechnical businesses, governmental, and community leaders an opportunity to learn about advanced energy technologies, analytical tools, and financing to guide energy-related decisions and planning.
June 8, 2022
Fast Flow Future for Heavy-Duty Hydrogen Trucks
As the culmination of two years of work on the Innovating High Throughput Hydrogen Stations (IHS) Project, NREL researchers have successfully demonstrated high-flow-rate hydrogen fueling into a heavy-duty (HD) vehicle system.
June 7, 2022
Decarbonizing Windows Takes a Big Step Toward Industry Certification
In our world where windowless buildings rarely exist, the subtle significance of windows can easily be lost. Today, windows are responsible for about 10% of energy use in buildings and influence end uses that comprise 40% of building energy use.
June 7, 2022
How Will Hydropower Bolster a Renewable Energy World?
Energy storage is expected to play a big role in tomorrow's clean energy grid. To help guide future development of pumped storage hydropower facilities in the United States, NREL researchers developed a new interactive map and geospatial dataset to identify potential installation sites and estimate the quantity, quality, and cost of resources available at each.
June 6, 2022
Solar Decathlon Expands, Bringing Zero-Energy Programs to High School Students and Mid-Career Professionals
At the DOE Solar Decathlon 2022 Competition Event, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced the launch of two Solar Decathlon workforce development programs to bring the collegiate competition's sustainable buildings expertise, experience, and mentorship into high school classrooms and architectural studios across the country.
June 6, 2022
NREL Senior Scientist Steve Johnston Receives American Solar Energy Society Award
NREL Senior Scientist Steve Johnston has been selected as a recipient of the 2022 American Solar Energy Society (ASES) Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award.
June 6, 2022
A Decade of Transformation: What We Have Learned Since RE Futures Study Showed What Was Possible
Ten years after visionary renewable electricity futures study showed an 80% renewable U.S. Grid was possible, NREL experts recount how they've built on those findings in the decade since—and what is next.
June 2, 2022
Q&A With Jordan Burns: A Community-Driven Approach to Energy Resilience
Jordan Burns is a risk and resilience researcher helping communities reach their energy goals through the DOE's Energy Transitions Initiative. She uses a community-driven approach to understand placed-based resilience solutions that can be incorporated into local strategic clean energy plans.
June 2, 2022
Jerry Davis Named Laboratory Program Manager for ARIES Research Platform and Energy Systems Integration Facility
Jerry Davis has been selected as the new Laboratory Program Manager for two of NREL's leading research capabilities: the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform and the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF).
June 2, 2022
How Not To Short-Circuit the Clean Energy Transition
A new video and report explain why fault protection should be on grid planners' radar as the power system continues to evolve.
