Award Data

C55-13a-270233The project embodies a field demonstration of a novel geothermal process via water injection into a shut- in existing well (already drilled & hydraulically fractured, and shut-in) for a short period, and then that injected water, having been heated by contacting the subsurface rock, is produced back to the surface (via the same well through which it was injected). This intermittent p ...

C55-01b-270620Infrastructure systems such as electricity distribution and transmission grids, transportation networks, and water or oil/gas distribution pipelines are critical from an economic and national security standpoint. Expedited risk quantification of infrastructure network systems is of utmost importance for resiliency assessment against natural or man-made hazards. Currently available te ...

Air quality data from top-of-the-line platforms, such as satellites, are difficult to obtain without a high- level of technical knowledge. For this reason, local air quality patterns and trends are often inaccessible to disadvantaged communities (DACs). Many technologies that will be used for deep decarbonization of industrial and power facilities have the added co-benefit of reducing non-CO2 poll ...

C53-22c-271119Meeting climate-stabilizing energy transition goals requires using hybrid-energy CO2 capture systems like Direct Air Capture (DAC) to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. Deploying this capacity will be difficult because it is complex and energy intensive infrastructure, and there must also be buy- in from communities living in locations best suited for it. The chall ...

C53-18c-271136The lack of affordable large-scale batteries makes electric vehicles too expensive for most consumers and makes renewable energy storage financially impractical for almost everyone. Although Li-ion battery prices have fallen over the past three decades, they are threatening to rise higher as Li-ion production for electric vehicles is predicted to consume the world’s high-grade coba ...

C51-27a-271194Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial to the production of green energy motors in wind turbines, hybrid cars, electric vehicles, and electronic devices. REEs are also widely used in defense systems, including precision-guided munitions, radar systems, avionics, night vision equipment, satellites and guided missiles. China dominates the REEs production and exports and is continuing t ...

The ultra-high critical magnetic fields of RE-Ba-Cu-O (REBCO RE=rare earth) High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) are very attractive for compact fusion energy systems that can operate over a temperature range of 4 – 50 K in magnetic fields beyond the realm of Nb3Sn wires. Because of the tremendous pull from compact fusion, REBCO tape supply is substantially trailing demand. 10,000 kilometers o ...

Oil and natural gas contribute 30% of the total methane (CH4) emission in the United States, CH4 is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps 87 times more radiation than carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane is often intentionally released from oil and gas wells through venting or flaring natural gas. Methane emissions occur during all phases of drilling and production, and sometimes after a well has ceased p ...

C56-01a-272210The DOE has expressed concerns that a cybersecurity attack could destabilize the electric grid. Attacks against the power grid by nation states or other bad actors (malware or ransomware) are a real threat and with the growth of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and their connection to the electric grid the balance between security and reliability of the power grid must be maintaine ...

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) conversion to useful products and chemicals is very energy-expensive without using a co-reactant with a higher formation enthalpy. A dry reforming of methane (DRM) CO2 + CH4 ? 2CO + 2H2 ?H = 247.1 kJ is potentially large-scale process that utilizes methane (CH4) or natural gas (NG) as a high formation enthalpy co-reactant for CO2 conversion to a valuable commodity, syngas. Thi ...