by Bill Scanlon, NREL A company that can generate electricity using low-temperature waste heat was the big winner at the recent 26th annual Industry Growth Forum in downtown Denver, a gathering of people who have no qualms about making money while helping to build a more sustainable world. The annual gathering sponsored by the Energy…
NREL releases Renewable Energy Data Book detailing industry growth in 2012
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released the 2012 Renewable Energy Data Book on behalf of the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The annual report is an important assessment of U.S. energy statistics for 2012, including renewable electricity, worldwide renewable energy development, clean energy investments, and data on specific technologies.…
NREL, DOE dedicate new 5 MW wind turbine dynamometer and test facility
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will dedicate its new Dynamometer Test Facility at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) on November 19. The facility offers industry engineers the unique opportunity to conduct a wide range of tests on the mechanical and electrical power producing systems of a wind turbine. As one of…
NREL to research revolutionary battery storage approaches in support of ARPA-E RANGE program
The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has announced that a project at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is among 22 projects that will receive funding to develop transformational electric vehicle (EV) energy storage systems using innovative chemistries, architectures and designs. ARPA-E’s new program, Robust Affordable Next Generation Energy Storage Systems…
Complex wind flows finally giving up their secrets
Steering turbine wakes by controlling yaw and seeing real-time measurements of wind flow through a wind farm are just two ideas and developments from Sandia’s recent reliability workshop. The complex interactions of wind with many turbines across a large wind farm are not difficult to imagine but a dickens to confirm. During one session at…
NREL calculates emissions and costs of power plant cycling necessary for increased wind and solar in the West
New research from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifies the potential impacts of increasing wind and solar power generation on the operators of fossil-fueled power plants in the West. To accommodate higher amounts of wind and solar power on the electric grid, utilities must ramp down and ramp up or stop and…
NREL calculates emissions and costs of power plant cycling necessary for increased wind, solar in the West
New research from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) quantifies the potential impacts of increasing wind and solar power generation on the operators of fossil-fueled power plants in the West. To accommodate higher amounts of wind and solar power on the electric grid, utilities must ramp down and ramp up or stop and…
NREL evaluates RE future in western states to 2025
Editor’s note: This article is the executive summary from an NREL report on Several Western states have renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements that have driven significant expansion of wind, solar, and geothermal power. This study examines the renewable energy resources likely to remain undeveloped in the West by the time all these requirements have culminated in 2025. Development beyond that point will likely depend on the best of these remaining resources—where they are located, what it takes to get them to market, and how cost effectively they fit into a diverse portfolio of electric generation technologies. While the bulk of this study concerns future renewable energy supplies, its aim is to reduce some of the present uncertainty that complicates long term planning. These findings about the renewable resources likely to be available in 2025 can inform today’s discussions about policies targeting future development—policies that might be different from the RPS model. Many important factors outside the scope of this study are likely to affect those policies. The aim here is not to recommend a path, but to assess the supply conditions that—with many other factors—might affect future state policies and utility business decisions. So far, most western utilities have relied primarily on renewable resources located close to the customers being served. This appears sufficient to keep most states on track to meet their final RPS requirements. What happens next depends on several factors difficult to predict at this in time. These factors include trends in the supply and price of natural gas, greenhouse gas, environmental regulations, changing consumer preferences, technological breakthroughs, and future public policies and regulations. Changes in any one of these factors could make future renewable energy options more or less attractive. Nevertheless, it is possible to characterize the stock of renewable resources likely to remain undeveloped after meeting RPS requirements met, and to do so with a reasonably high degree of confidence. That is the purpose of this report. While the study does not answer questions about where future energy supplies should come from, it does reduce some of the uncertainty about one type of alternative: utility scale renewables developed for a regional market.…
NREL adds two Fellows to guide research
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently named Dr. Maria Ghirardi and Dr. Angelo Mascarenhas to its Research Fellows Council, the laboratory’s top advisory council comprised of internationally recognized NREL scientists and engineers. Along with the 10 current members of the Research Fellows Council, Dr. Ghirardi and Dr. Mascarenhas will advise NREL executive…
NREL’s Gearbox Collaborative provides more insight why gearboxes fail – and a solution
It’s not often that a technical conference leaves attendees with an ah-ha moment, but it happened at the recent Gearbox Reliability Collaborative sponsored by NREL at its offices in Golden, Colo. All presentations were good, but three in particular answered interesting questions raised by those preceding. An early presentation by Aaron Greco from the Tribology…
NREL gives a first peek at its 5-MW dynamometer
The National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo. is getting close to cutting the ribbon on a 5-MW dynamometer that will allow testing new turbine drivetrains and equipment. “The 5-MW dynamometer and drivetrain testing facilities will complement the existing 2.5-MW dyno,” says NREL Senior Engineer, Hal Link. He discussed the progress of construction at a…
Energy-futures study reveals potential for cuts to petroleum use
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have released the Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) study, an assessment of avenues to reach deep cuts in petroleum use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. “Transportation is an engine of our economic strength, but it also…
Space frame promises 100m blades, lower wind-power costs
Researchers have announced a project they say could fundamentally change the design and installation of wind blades, bring the cost of wind energy in-line with fossil fuels and allow for more developments in moderate wind-speed markets. The project hinges on a design that wraps tensioned architectural fabric around a metal space frame, much like early…
NREL’s Gearbox Collaborative provides more insight why gearboxes fail – and a solution
It’s not often that a technical conference leaves attendees with an ah-ha moment, but it happened at the recent Gearbox Reliability Collaborative sponsored by NREL at its offices in Golden, Colo. All presentations were good, but two in particular answered interesting questions raised by the other. Here’s what I mean: A presentation by Aaron Greco…
NREL looking for a few good execs… for Energy Academy
Applications are being accepted for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) 2013 Executive Energy Leadership Academy. The Executive Energy Leadership Academy, also known as Energy Execs, is for non-technical decision-makers throughout the country to learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, analytical tools, and financing. Leaders in government, communities, non-profits…
Advanced transportable turbine blade successfully tested, GL certified
Blade Dynamics recently announced GL certification of the new “Dynamic 49” wind turbine blade. The company says its Dynamic 49 blade sets new standards for wind power generation. Weighing only 13,560 lb (6,150 kg), the D49 is the lightest blade of this scale in the world and leads others in manufacturing accuracy, lightness, quality, and…
How to reduce fleet petroleum use plus website makeover
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched a new tool and redesigned DOE’s Alternative Fuels Data Center Web site to help fleet managers, municipalities, and consumers choose from a wide variety of alternative fuels and energy efficiency strategies for reducing petroleum use, vehicle emissions, and operating costs. The AFDC’s…
NREL grades renewable energy technologies
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) routinely estimates the technical potential of specific renewable electricity generation technologies. These are technology-specific estimates of energy-generation potential based on renewable-resource availability and quality, technical-system performance, topographic limitations, environmental, and land-use constraints only. In most cases, the estimates do not consider economic or market constraints, and therefore do not…
Database from NREL makes cost of energy technologies more transparent
A web application collects cost and performance estimates for electric generation, advanced vehicles, and renewable fuel technologies and makes them available for utilities, policy makers, consumers, and academics. The Transparent Cost Database (TCD) application (an app) provides cost and performance estimates that can be used to benchmark company costs, model energy scenarios, and inform research and development…
NREL plans super computer for simulations, material, bio-chem studies
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has selected HP and Intel to provide an energy efficient, high-performance computer (HPC) system dedicated to energy-systems integration, renewable-energy research, and energy-efficiency technologies. The $10 million HPC system will reside at the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), under construction on the Golden, Colorado, campus. The computer will expand NREL’s…