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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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January 2021
NREL Launches Storage Futures Study with Visionary Framework for Dramatic Increase in Deployment
The first report in the study outlines four phases of utility-scale energy storage deployment, providing a potential roadmap to 100+ gigawatts of installed capacity in the United States.
Moving Beyond Conventional WISDEM: Open-Source Software Upgrades User Experience
Recently upgraded, user-friendly WISDEM takes a systems engineering approach to wind energy project design.
Water Security Warriors Gear Up for Waves to Water CREATE Stage
In the upcoming Waves to Water Prize CREATE Stage, competitors will transform their wave-powered desalination system ideas from concept to reality, vying for a shared prize pool of $500,000 and the chance to move on to the final stage of the prize: DRINK.
Multi-Lab Collaboration Releases Groundbreaking High-Resolution, Long-Term Wave Resource Dataset
In collaboration with PNNL and Sandia, NREL has released a high spatial resolution, publicly-accessible ocean surface wave hindcast dataset.
Zeroing in on the Potential of Solar Energy To Meet Industrial Process Heat Demand
Today, natural gas and coal combustion supply most demand for industrial process heat (IPH), or the transfer of heat to a material within a production process. With the emergence of low-cost solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, interest has grown in solar as an IPH option and decarbonization pathway for the industrial sector.
U.S. Department of Energy and NREL Launch Spring 2021 Geothermal Collegiate Competition
The U.S. Department of Energy's Geothermal Technologies Office today announced the launch of the Spring 2021 Geothermal Collegiate Competition, managed by NREL.
NREL Partnerships Transform Energy in Response to Global Needs
More than 12 years ago, at the start of NREL's current management contract with the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC, NREL's partnership outreach accelerated. During that period, the laboratory has generated partnership projects totaling more than $1 billion in research-and-development contract value. In FY 2020, NREL delivered a single-year milestone, booking $102 million in new partnership agreements, and that activity continues to grow.
News Release: NREL Reports Sustainability Benchmarks for Plastics Recycling and Redesign
Researchers developing renewable plastics and exploring new processes for plastics upcycling and recycling technologies will now be able to easily baseline their efforts to current manufacturing practices to understand if their efforts will save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
NREL Invites U.S. Manufacturers To Partner on Distributed Wind Technology Innovation
NREL has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) for distributed wind. The application deadline is Feb. 26, 2021.
Saying Yes to Water Power Success: NREL Project Standouts in WPTO Accomplishments Report
Take a bird's-eye view of WPTO's 2019–2020 hydropower and marine energy accomplishments, and learn about the NREL projects highlighted within this comprehensive publication.
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Last Updated April 28, 2025