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.
August 2022
Aug. 17, 2022
Five Key Best Practices to Community Energy Planning
The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis released a best-practices guide to supporting community energy planning.
Aug. 16, 2022
Visiting the Land of Ice, Whales, and Climate Change
Whaling season had just begun when the housing survey team from NREL's Cold Climate Housing Research Center (CCHRC) showed up in Point Lay this spring.
Aug. 11, 2022
A Living Bridge to Clean Energy
A small project in New Hampshire could help tidal energy go global.
Aug. 11, 2022
Better Components Can Boost Range and Efficiency of Next-Gen Sustainable Aircraft
New sustainable aviation technologies are providing actionable pathways for lowering greenhouse gas emissions for aircraft travel. Advancements in electrification and fueling are one exciting aspect, but research at NREL goes beyond power generation with a holistic approach to optimize energy use throughout the entire system design.
Aug. 10, 2022
Beneath the Surface: Ritu Treisa Philip's Wavy New World
At NREL, Ritu Treisa Philip focuses her energy—and expert analyses—on marine energy technologies, which could provide renewable, reliable, and locally sourced power to coastal communities.
Aug. 10, 2022
Assessing Power System Reliability in a Changing Grid, Environment
NREL's energy analysts use the "three Rs" concept to provide a fuller picture of power system reliability with changing resource mixes and grid conditions.
Aug. 10, 2022
On Land, Across Oceans, and in the Air
This week, aviation industry experts join with the nation's top energy researchers to discuss strategies for cleaner air transportation that makes the nation less reliant on traditional fossil fuels while slowing climate change.
Aug. 9, 2022
Global Researchers Revisit Grand Challenges of Wind Energy Science
In a collaborative effort, NREL researchers joined 100 worldwide wind energy experts in writing a series of 10 publications to summarize and clarify the most critical needs to advance wind energy science.
Aug. 9, 2022
NREL Releases Comprehensive Databases of Local Ordinances for Siting Wind, Solar Energy Projects
State and local zoning laws and ordinances influence how and where wind and solar energy projects can be sited and deployed—which can have a measurable impact on U.S. renewable energy resource potential.
Aug. 9, 2022
Ocean Observing Prize Competitors Ride the Winning Wave
Three winners of the Ocean Observing Prize BUILD Contest share a cash prize pool in recognition of their prototypes' potential to one day power ocean observing technologies after wave tank testing.
Aug. 8, 2022
How Do We Get to Net Zero?
On July 11, 2022, NREL experts hosted two workshops at the 2022 HydroVision International Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Aug. 8, 2022
En Route to Market: Alder Fuels and NREL Partner To Scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel Technology for Commercial Use
A critical pathway for producing large quantities of low- to negative-carbon sustainable aviation fuel is enroute to market following a collaborative research and development agreement between NREL and Alder Fuels.
Aug. 8, 2022
Partner Forum Helps Cement Partnership Between NREL, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
NREL and DFW Airport have committed to working from the ground up at the system level on sustainability, decarbonization, and energy-efficiency overhauls, designing upgrades and implementations that can integrate intelligently across the board.
Aug. 5, 2022
10 Years of Industry-Changing Influence
Over 10 years and more than 2.6 million downloads later, the Department of Energy's Geothermal Data Repository has taken the geothermal field from siloed science to becoming an industry leader in the open data movement.
Aug. 4, 2022
Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium Aims To Reduce Costs, Speed Deployment of Low-Carbon Thin-Film Solar Technologies
This week, U.S. Department of Energy announced a new three-year consortium intended to accelerate the development of cadmium telluride (CdTe) technologies by lowering the cost and increasing the efficiency of the thin-film solar cells.
Aug. 4, 2022
New NREL Dataset Shows Value Building Flexibility Adds to Grid
Researchers at NREL ran hundreds of millions of simulations to gauge the contribution buildings make to gross grid value and created a publicly available dataset for others to use.
Aug. 2, 2022
New Cybersecurity Tool Simplifies Site Evaluations
As federal sites invest in distributed energy resources like solar panels and battery backups, investments in cybersecurity must also be considered. More energy resources create more complexity to manage—introducing the potential of new cyber vulnerabilities and added costs down the road.
Aug. 1, 2022
Transforming Energy Through Internships
For 45 years, NREL has been innovating energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies with the help of highly qualified interns. Thousands of interns have walked the halls--virtually and physically--and assisted researchers over the four decades.
Aug. 1, 2022
SLOPE Platform Guides Equitable Clean Energy Planning
In 2020, more than a quarter of all U.S. households (34 million households) reported difficulty paying energy bills or reported keeping their homes at an unsafe temperature due to energy cost concerns, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report.
July 2022
July 29, 2022
Industry Partners Selected for Advanced Grid Management Demonstrations at NREL
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected industry leaders Shell, Spirae LLC, Electrical Grid Monitoring Inc., and Israel Electric Corporation to partner with NREL on power distribution system management and controls.
July 28, 2022
Calling on Cybersecurity Innovators: Help Utilities Improve Authentication for Distributed Energy Systems
Utilities need cybersecurity solutions that are easy to implement and can make a real-world difference immediately. That is why the theme for the first cohort of the new Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator (CECA) is strong authentication for distributed energy resources.
July 28, 2022
NREL Selected for Space-Bound Research To Solve the Plastic Waste Dilemma
Researchers at NREL will send an engineered bacteria into space as early as next year as part of ongoing research into solving the problem of plastic waste mitigation on Earth.
July 28, 2022
Scientist Maps Battery Data for Optimized Energy Storage Solutions
In recognition of his work, NREL recently named Kandler Smith a Distinguished Member of Research Staff for his world-class contributions in battery lifetime modeling, prediction, optimization, and design.
July 27, 2022
Not Just Bread and Beer—Microbes Can Ferment Carbon Dioxide To Make Fuel, Too
Bakers ferment dough for a well-risen loaf of bread. Brewers ferment wheat and barley for a smooth, malty glass of beer. And as nature's foremost bakers and brewers, some microbes can do even more.
July 27, 2022
Explore Colorado's Artificial Oceans and Rivers—in Three Dimensions
Learn how NREL simulates rivers and oceans (and much more) to help accelerate the development of cost-effective and durable hydropower and marine energy technologies.
