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 2019
July 31, 2019
Fluid Mechanics and Fortuitous Plumbing: NREL Buildings Researcher Chuck Booten Talks Hands-On Entrepreneurship
NREL's Chuck Booten shares how managing rental properties changed the way he thinks about buildings research and entrepreneurship.
July 31, 2019
Addressing the Wind Energy Workforce Gap
A new NREL report, The Wind Energy Workforce in the United States: Training, Hiring, and Future Needs, assesses the national wind energy workforce and the hiring needs of the industry, along with the educational programs that are preparing students for work in the wind industry.
July 26, 2019
NREL Brings Promising High-Efficiency Solar Cell Down to Earth
The newly published research in Nature Communications details how the NREL researchers refined the D-HVPE process to produce solar cells more than 20 times faster than the process now commonly used.
July 26, 2019
Workshop Convenes Experts to Evaluate the Cybersecurity of U.S. Wind Farms
Earlier this month, NREL hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop to evaluate the growing potential for cybersecurity vulnerabilities on U.S. wind farms. The workshop, "Assessing the Impact of Cybersecurity on the Nation's Wind Farms," brought together the expertise of researchers across the national lab complex, the wind energy industry, original equipment manufacturers, cybersecurity product vendors, and standards organizations.
July 23, 2019
News Release: NREL Names FAST Prize Concept Stage Winners
The nine winners of the Concept Stage were selected from a field of 22 finalists. They will now move on to the "incubation stage" of the competition, which will culminate in pitch presentations on Oct. 8.
July 19, 2019
A Global Energy GameChanger
Leveraging the innovative spirit of the world’s startup community along with Shell and NREL’s resources, expertise, and facilities, the Shell GameChanger Accelerator Powered by NREL (GCxN) identifies and helps advance emerging transformative energy technologies with the potential to significantly impact the future energy landscape.
July 19, 2019
Greater Training and Education Needed To Meet Future Demand for U.S. Hydropower Workers
Expanded training and education programs are needed to meet future hydropower industry workforce needs, according to a new report produced jointly by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Center for the New Energy Economy.
July 16, 2019
Beyond Lithium-Ion XII Imagines the Future of Next-Generation Batteries
NREL hosted twelfth annual symposium on energy storage.
July 16, 2019
NREL/Volvo Partnership Demonstrates Approach to Quantify Automated Vehicle Fuel Savings
The researchers leveraged on-road data from Volvo vehicles driving around Gothenburg, Sweden, and compared fuel efficiency for cars that used adaptive cruise control to those that did not.
July 16, 2019
Modeling and Analysis Guide Use of Gallium Oxide Material in Power Electronics
NREL research could lead to the development of leading-edge, high-performance vertical transistors.
July 16, 2019
White House Honors Two NREL Researchers with Early Career Awards
Winners of the PECASE are nominated by a participating federal agency--the Department of Energy in this case--with the final selections made by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
July 10, 2019
Researchers Propose Techno-Ecological Synergy for Solar-Sustainability Win-Win
While solar generation helps to significantly reduce emissions in the energy sector, ground-mounted solar arrays can still lead to environmental impacts. NREL analysts argue that a new framework can help mitigate, or even avoid, environmental degradation.
July 10, 2019
Could Batteries Provide Peaking Capacity on the Grid? With Declining Cost Projections, NREL Analysts See Potential
Declining cost trajectory could pave the way for battery storage to serve peak electricity demand.
July 10, 2019
Tall Towers Tap Greater Wind Resource Potential
As wind technology grows in scale and productivity, researchers continue to look for ways to boost the energy captured while driving down costs.
July 8, 2019
Rachel Romero Accepts ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award
NREL engineer Rachel Romero has been recognized with an ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award at the society's annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
July 8, 2019
NREL Determines Cheaper Path to High-Octane Gasoline
Finding a solution wasn't easy. The NREL-developed process at first ran into the problem of a hydrogen deficiency.
July 8, 2019
NREL Report Sheds Light on Community Choice Aggregation in the United States
Researchers provide early insights into the potential market impacts of the expansion of community choice aggregations, including how they might drive demand for renewable electricity.
July 5, 2019
Improving Access to Accelerate Innovation: Two of NREL's Largest Datasets Now Publicly Available on the Cloud
As part of the DOE-sponsored Open Energy Data Initiative, NREL collaborated with Amazon Web Services to bring the lab’s WIND Toolkit and National Solar Radiation Database to the cloud, enabling unprecedented access to massive solar and wind resource data
July 3, 2019
ARPA-E Investment in NREL Pays Dividends in Advancing Energy Tech
Modeled on a Department of Defense effort to put emerging technologies into the hands of the military, ARPA-E provides funds to overcome roadblocks that would otherwise prevent promising energy ideas from reaching the public.
June 2019
June 26, 2019
DOE Program Awards NREL $3.2 Million for Selected Energy Research
Matching funds from the private sector will contribute $3,229,096 toward the commercialization of emerging energy technologies.
June 25, 2019
Co-Optima Homes in on Promising Fuels for Passenger Vehicles, Revs Up Strategies for Commercial Trucks
Researchers with the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines initiative have identified the six blendstocks from two chemical families that exhibit the greatest potential to dramatically increase efficiency when combined with petroleum-based fuels in boosted (or turbocharged) spark-ignition engines for light-duty vehicles.
June 24, 2019
NREL Researchers Garner DOE Awards at Annual Merit Review
The U.S. Department of Energy honored two NREL research teams for their outstanding achievements at the Vehicle Technologies Office's Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting.
June 21, 2019
Researcher Spotlight: NREL Behavioral Scientist Paty Romero-Lankao Sees Technology Through a Human Lens
Since joining NREL in 2018, Behavioral Scientist Paty Romero-Lankao has been a dynamic force in integrating the social sciences into the more traditional engineering approach to mobility research.
June 19, 2019
NREL Hydrogen Researchers Recognized by DOE for Outstanding Achievements at 2019 Annual Merit Review
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently honored three NREL researchers for their outstanding achievements at the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting.
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