Alex Badgett works as a researcher in the Industrial Systems and Fuels group in NREL’s Strategic Energy Analysis Center. His work analyzes interfaces and opportunities between industrial systems and sustainable energy pathways. These opportunities include electrochemical pathways to convert carbon dioxide into sustainable fuels or chemicals, generation of hydrogen via water electrolysis, and the generation of bioenergy and biofuels from organic wet wastes. Alex’s research uses numerical optimization and techno-economic methods to evaluate and analyze these advanced energy pathways. He also works in geothermal energy resource assessment and reporting.

Research Interests

Electrochemical hydrogen production via water electrolysis

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction

Organic wet waste-to-energy technologies

Geothermal energy resource reporting and assessment

Education

M.S., Advanced Energy Systems, Colorado School of Mines

B.S., Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines

Featured Work

Optimizing utilization of point source and atmospheric carbon dioxide as a feedstock in electrochemical CO2 reduction, iScience (2022)

Chapter 10 - Economic considerations for hydrogen production with a focus on polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis, Electrochemical Power Sources: Fundamentals, Systems, and Applications (2022)

An economic analysis of the role of materials, system engineering, and performance in electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion to formate, Journal of Cleaner Production (2022)

The Potential for Electrons to Molecules Using Solar Energy, NREL Technical Report (2021)

A summary of standards and practices for wet waste streams used in waste-to-energy technologies in the United States, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2020)