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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July 2018
July 31, 2018
International Partnership Revolutionizes Cross-Continental Travel with Alternative Fuels
Drivers relying on alternative fuels throughout the United States and Canada, especially those near the border, can now travel with more confidence than ever with the updated Alternative Fueling Station Locator. NREL and Natural Resources Canada combined their stations data to revolutionize this powerful U.S. Department of Energy tool, paving the way for drivers who rely on electricity, ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, propane, and hydrogen to travel between the two countries seamlessly.
July 26, 2018
Envisioning Net-Zero Emission Energy Systems
NREL researchers contribute to a major journal article describing pathways to net-zero emissions for particularly difficult-to-decarbonize economic sectors.
July 25, 2018
Q&A with Fatima Al Suwaidi: Visiting UAE Engineer Details How NREL and Masdar are Helping Shape Her Career Goals
Fatima is contributing to analysis work in the Integrated Applications Center at NREL. Her research spans floating photovoltaics, sustainable transportation, and the energy-water-food nexus, with a specific focus on economic viability analysis. This is a discussion of Fatima's work at both Masdar and NREL.
July 25, 2018
Guangdong Zhu: Tapping Varied Experience to Advance Geothermal Energy
Guangdong Zhu's career has involved modeling work with a variety of high-temperature fluids, including geothermal resources and concentrating solar power.
July 25, 2018
PRECISE: Expanding Distributed Energy Systems from the West to the East
Pre-configuration, quasi-static time series, and autonomous operation are all features contributing to the expansion of distributed energy systems, thanks to advanced inverters and an NREL- and Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)-developed platform called PRECISE.
July 19, 2018
Community Banks and Credit Unions Report Success with Solar Loans, NREL Report Finds
A new NREL report finds that community and regional financial institutions , such as community banks and credit unions, are experiencing positive early performance of loans for photovoltaic systems.
July 18, 2018
SolarPILOT Released as Open Source; Tool Used to Optimize Solar Power Towers
Used by researchers and project developers, NREL's Solar Power Tower Integrated Layout and Optimization Tool (SolarPILOT(TM)) generates and characterizes power tower systems or systems using central receivers. The software--along with its companion ray-tracing tool SolTrace--is now being made available as open source on NREL's GitHub page. Both the SolarPILOT and SolTrace GitHub projects are open to contributions from users, and a webinar planned for July 18th will present the open-source projects.
July 16, 2018
Improved Way to Make III-V Solar Cells Could Hold Key to Lower Costs
Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are refining an old technique called hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE), which holds the potential to produce cheaper, more efficient solar cells.
July 12, 2018
NREL-Developed Tribal Energy Atlas Puts Resource Data in Tribes' Hands
The new Tribal Energy Atlas is a first-of-its-kind interactive geospatial application that allows tribes and others to conduct their own analyses of installed energy projects and resource potential on tribal lands.
July 12, 2018
Updated Baseline Cost and Performance Data for Electricity Generation Technologies
NREL has released the 2018 Annual Technology Baseline, updating a key source of reliable electricity generation technology cost and performance data used to support and inform electric sector analysis in the United States.
July 11, 2018
First Standard for Chemical Characterization of Bio-Oil Approved by ASTM: NREL Paves the Way Towards Commercialization
The path toward biofuel commercialization became easier with a recent NREL-developed bio-oil standard that was approved by ASTM International. The standard quantifies the total carbonyl content of complex pyrolysis bio-oils through a faster and more reliable titration method.
July 9, 2018
Cutting the Cord: NREL Demonstrates Wirelessly Charged Electric Vehicle
NREL recently launched a one-year demonstration of an all-electric Zenith Motors van, modified to enable wireless charging. In addition to determining whether the technology is a viable option for eventual electrification of NREL's campus transportation system, the demonstration is bolstering NREL's pioneering exploration of the transformative nature of wireless charging.
July 9, 2018
NREL Analysis Explores Demand-Side Impacts of a Highly Electrified Future
The second report in the Electrification Futures Study series presents scenarios reflecting a wide range of possible electricity demand growth through 2050 driven by the adoption of end-use electric technologies.
July 2, 2018
News Release: Leading the Charge to Build a New Energy Future, NREL's Sheila Hayter Named President of ASHRAE
Sheila Hayter, group manager with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), was installed last week as president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) during the industry group's annual conference in Houston, Texas.
July 2, 2018
Chunmei Ban is Getting Charge Out of Battery Research by Finding Right Chemistry
Growing up in remote northwest China, researcher Chunmei Ban seemed destined to be a doctor--but decided to be a scientist, although she didn't know what scientists do.
June 2018
June 29, 2018
NREL Transportation and Hydrogen Researchers Recognized by DOE for Outstanding Achievements at 2018 Annual Merit Reviews
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently honored 16 NREL researchers for their outstanding achievements at the Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meetings for the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program and Vehicle Technologies Office. The annual meetings provide researchers leading projects funded by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program and the Vehicle Technologies Office with an opportunity to share accomplishments with representatives from DOE, industry, and other labs.
June 27, 2018
Advanced Thermal Management for Power-Dense Power Electronics and Electric Motors Improves EVs
As EVs are further developed, new materials and enhanced configurations to improve the thermal management systems of power electronics and electric motors is necessary for peak EV performance. Thermal management continues to be a growing field as components used in various applications are required to be smaller, more affordable, and more powerful.
June 27, 2018
News Release: Researchers Discover New Enzyme Paradigm for Critical Reaction in Converting Lignin to Useful Products
An international research team, including scientists from NREL, has discovered and characterized a new family of cytochrome P450 enzymes that is critical to improving the conversion of lignin--one of the main components of plants--into valuable products such as nylon, plastics, and chemicals.
June 27, 2018
NREL Steers America Toward Energy Independence
Innovation Delivers Transportation Freedom
June 25, 2018
NREL, DOE, and U.S. Automakers Join Together to Transform Mobility Future
Representatives from Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, and the U.S. Department of Energy met with NREL researchers who are developing and integrating vehicle and infrastructure technologies with big data and communication systems to connect and automate transportation. With the advent of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies and integration with renewable power sources, the grid, buildings, and other systems, NREL is not only looking for ways to help reduce transportation costs, but also plan ahead as the U.S. population shifts to urban mega-regions in collaboration with industry partners.
June 19, 2018
News Release: Novel Genetic Method Improves Efficiency of Enzyme
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Georgia developed a new genetic engineering technique to dramatically improve an enzyme's ability to break down biomass.
June 18, 2018
REopt Lite's Application Programming Interface Boosts Solar+Storage Analysis Flexibility
NREL released an API for REopt(TM) Lite, enabling streamlined integration with other tools inside and outside NREL and allowing building owners and researchers to evaluate the economics of grid-connected solar PV and battery storage at multiple commercial sites. The API opens opportunities for research collaboration and broader market impact, driving solar and storage deployment.
June 18, 2018
Research Spotlights Energy Efficiency of Ride-Hailing Services
NREL hosted a recent meeting with representatives from industry and academia to discuss research exploring the energy impact of ride-hailing services. The growing use of such services has the potential to disrupt traditional car ownership paradigms, buoyed by the surge in younger consumers who only know a world with technology at their fingertips. Research indicates that ride-hailing options should be networked, electrified, shared, and mobile-friendly to best realize improvements in road congestion, energy use, and air quality.
June 18, 2018
International Interest in NREL's Fuels and Engines Research
The European Union's goal is for 10% of all of Europe's transportation fuels to come from renewable sources by 2020. In April, CNBC World's international news program "Sustainable Energy" came to NREL to spotlight how the lab's breakthrough biofuels research is advancing progress toward that ambitious objective.
June 18, 2018
News Release: NREL Announces Participants for 2018 Executive Energy Leadership Program
The program provides non-technical business, governmental, and community leaders throughout the country an opportunity to learn about advanced energy technologies, analytical tools, and financing to guide their organizations and communities in energy-related decisions and planning.
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