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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September 2022
Sept. 13, 2022
What's the Damage? New Customer Damage Function Calculator Estimates Costs of an Electric Grid Outage
Free online calculator helps quantify impacts to support resilience investments.
Sept. 12, 2022
On the Road to 100% Clean Electricity: Six Potential Strategies To Break Through Last Few Percent
A growing body of research has demonstrated that cost-effective high-renewable power systems are possible, but costs increase as systems approach 100% carbon-free electricity—what has become known as the "last 10% problem."
Sept. 12, 2022
New Insights Revealed Through Century-Old Photochemistry Technique
A collaborative team from NREL and Princeton University has resurrected a century-old microwave technique to reveal a surprising feature of well-established light-driven chemistry. The study outlines how an important class of "photoredox catalysts" operates, leading to unforeseen ways to manipulate their efficiency and selectivity.
Sept. 12, 2022
Advancing Geothermal Data Through the Eyes of an Early-Career Scientist
If every journey starts with one footstep, Nicole Taverna knew exactly where to begin: Colorado.
Sept. 8, 2022
Protecting Power System Frequency With Increasing Distributed Energy Resources
Distributed energy resources (DERs) with advanced controls can provide services to the grid such as frequency response. However, unlike conventional generators, DERs have to regularly exchange signals with faraway control centers.
Sept. 2, 2022
Q&A With Danish Saleem: Campaigning for Common Ground in Cybersecurity
Danish Saleem is a senior cybersecurity researcher who supports multiple efforts to develop novel cyber-technology solutions, advance next-generation networking concepts, and standardize the cybersecurity requirements for systems of renewable energy technologies through consensus building.
Sept. 1, 2022
News Release: NREL-Led Breakthrough Pushes Perovskite Cell to Greater Stability, Efficiency
A unique architectural structure enabled the researchers to record a certified stabilized efficiency of 24% under 1-sun illumination, making it the highest reported of its kind. The highly efficient cell also retained 87% of its original efficiency after 2,400 hours of operation at 55 degrees Celsius.
August 2022
Aug. 30, 2022
Exploring the Big Challenge Ahead: Insights on the Path to a Net-Zero Power Sector by 2035
NREL study identifies the opportunities and challenges of achieving the U.S. transformational goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Aug. 30, 2022
International Collaboration Strengthens Sustainable Battery Research
Researchers from NREL and various DOE national laboratories recently participated in a collaborative electrochemical energy storage workshop hosted by the United Kingdom's Faraday Institution.
Aug. 30, 2022
NREL Researchers Point to Path for Improved Wind Blade Recycling Rates
Researchers at NREL are considering circular economy strategies to mitigate the impact of wind turbine blades at the end of their useful lifespan.
Aug. 25, 2022
Discovering Building Science Career Opportunities
As early-career researchers get ready to head back to campus, their impactful research and unique perspectives will live on with the contributions made to a variety of buildings projects.
Aug. 25, 2022
NREL's 6th Partner Forum Digs Deep on Sustainable Aviation Opportunities
On Aug. 9-10, 2022, NREL convened its sixth Partner Forum at its Golden, Colorado, campus, pulling together public and private sector leaders to collaboratively explore solutions for sustainable aviation.
Aug. 24, 2022
New Research Collaboration To Advance Megawatt-Scale Hydrogen Fuel Cell Systems
A cooperative research project with Toyota will study the scaling and integration of fuel cell systems for stationary power generation.
Aug. 22, 2022
News Release: R&D 100 Awards Honor NREL Innovation
R&D World magazine today presented NREL with one of its annual R&D 100 Awards for research innovations. The Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) Platform, developed in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is a data management and analysis tool that helps cities improve their building stock and reduce carbon emissions.
Aug. 22, 2022
Decarbonizing the Building Sector: The Devil's in the Data
In 2019, Washington, D.C., started using the Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) Platform, a web-based software created by NREL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to manage data from large groups of buildings and help cities reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of their building stock.
Aug. 19, 2022
Democratizing the Data
The free, publicly available Marine Energy Atlas just got some new features, making it even easier for marine energy developers to learn how much electricity their device could produce at various U.S. sites.
Aug. 18, 2022
Growing Plants, Power, and Partnerships Through Agrivoltaics
It is hard to find a flock of sheep nestled under an array of solar panels. But both solar developers and those in the local community who care for the land—whether as farmland, rangeland, or native habitats—can benefit from agrivoltaics.
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.
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