Browse Topic: Renewable energy
It’s common knowledge that a major challenge for solar energy is how to store excess energy produced when conditions are right, like noon-time sun, so that it can be used later. The usual answer is batteries. But renewable energy resources are causing problems for the electricity grid in other ways as well. In a warm, sunny location like California, mid-afternoon had been a time of peak demand for the electric utility, but with solar it’s now a time of peak output
Safe and efficient energy storage is important for American prosperity and security. With the adoption of both renewable energy sources and electric vehicles on the rise around the world, it is no surprise that research into a new generation of batteries is a major focus. Researchers have been developing batteries with higher energy storage density, and thus, longer driving range. Other goals include shorter charging times, greater tolerance to low temperatures, and safer operation
As the world looks to net-zero emissions goals, hybrid electric vehicles may play an increasingly important role. For passenger electric vehicles (EVs) that predominantly make short journeys but occasionally need to make longer trips, electrofuel range extension may be more cost effective than either hydrogen or rapid charging. Micro gas turbines and catalytic combustion show significant potential to deliver low-cost, low-maintenance, lightweight engines with virtually no emissions, and hydrocarbon consuming solid oxide fuel cells show even greater potential in these areas. Aditioanlly, sodium-ion batteries for EVs, dispatachable vehicle-to-grid power and buffering, and variable intermittent renewable energy could also play key roles. The Role of Hybrid Vehicles in a Net-zero Transport System explores the costs, considerations, and challenges facing these technologies. Click here to access the full SAE EDGETM Research Report portfolio
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing battery technologies to fight climate change in two ways, by expanding the use of renewable energy and capturing airborne carbon dioxide
The ongoing transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has never been more important as climate change and sustainability awareness continue to rise
In response to global climate change, there is a widespread push to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector. For the difficult to decarbonize heavy-duty (HD) vehicle sector, hybridization and lower carbon-intensity fuels can offer a low-cost, near-term solution for CO2 reduction. The use of natural gas can provide such an alternative for HD vehicles while the increasing availability of renewable natural gas affords the opportunity for much deeper reductions in net-CO2 emissions. With this in consideration, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory launched the Natural Gas Vehicle Research and Development Project to stimulate advancements in technology and availability of natural gas vehicles. As part of this program, Southwest Research Institute developed a hybrid-electric medium-HD vehicle (class 6) to demonstrate a substantial CO2 reduction over the baseline diesel vehicle and ultra-low NOx emissions. The development included the conversion of a 5.2 L diesel engine to
In the dynamic landscape of battery development, the quest for improved energy storage and efficiency has become paramount. The contemporary energy transition, coupled with growing demands for electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, and portable electronic devices, has underscored the critical role that batteries play in our modern world. To navigate this challenging terrain and harness the full potential of battery technology, a well-defined and comprehensive data strategy resp. knowledge management strategy are indispensable. Conversely, the imminent and rapid progression of artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to have a substantial impact on the forthcoming landscape of work and the methodologies organizations employ for the management of their knowledge management (KM) procedures. Conventional KM endeavors encompass a spectrum of activities such as the creation, transmission, retention, and evaluation of an enterprise’s knowledge over the entire knowledge lifecycle. However
The 2023 FISITA White Paper (for which the author was a contributor) on managing in-service emissions and transportation options, to reduce CO2 (CO2-e or carbon footprint) from the existing vehicle fleet, proposed 6 levers which could be activated to complement the rapid transition to vehicles using only renewable energy sources. Another management opportunity reported here is optimizing the vehicle’s life in-service to minimize the life-cycle CO2 impact of a range of present and upcoming vehicles. This study of the US vehicle fleet has quite different travel and composition characteristics to European (EU27) vehicles. In addition, the embodied CO2 is based on ANL’s GREET data rather than EU27 SimaPro methodology. It is demonstrated that in-service, whole-of-life mileage has a significant influence on the optimum life cycle CO2 for BEVs and H2 fuelled FCEVs, as well as ICEs and PHEVs. Thus, the object is to show how much present, typical in-service life-mileage differs from the
Perovskite solar cells should be subjected to a combination of stress tests simultaneously to best predict how they will function outdoors, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL
Letter from the Special Issue Editors
Two of humanity’s most ubiquitous historical materials, cement, and carbon black may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy storage system, according to a new study by MIT researchers. The technology could facilitate the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and tidal power by allowing energy networks to remain stable despite fluctuations in renewable energy supply
CASE VP Jay Joseph outlines dramatic cost reductions in fuel-cell systems, the move into stationary power, and new models for mobile and residential energy. Is the long-promised “hydrogen economy” still 15 years away, as it reportedly has been for… more than 15 years? Or is it just around the corner? SAE Media traveled to Honda's U.S. campus in Torrance, California, to see the company's latest progress. This was the introduction of Honda's zero-emission stationary fuel-cell power station, which now is in service as a backup power source for the company's data center. Honda's FCX was the the world's first production fuel-cell vehicle when it debuted in 2002. Since then the company's hydrogen developments have continued. Honda began collaborating on fuel-cell systems in 2013 and the two OEMs share a fuel-cell manufacturing joint venture. The Torrance event also presented the opportunity to speak with Jay Joseph, Honda's VP of Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electrified (CASE
As connected and automated vehicle technologies emerge and proliferate, lower frequency vehicle trajectory data is becoming more widely available. In some cases, entire fleets are streaming position, speed, and telemetry at sample rates of less than 10 seconds. This presents opportunities to apply powertrain simulators such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator to model how advanced powertrain technologies would perform in the real world. However, connected vehicle data tends to be available at lower temporal frequencies than the 1-10 Hz trajectories that have typically been used for powertrain simulation. Higher frequency data, typically used for simulation, is costly to collect and store and therefore is often limited in density and geography. This paper explores the suitability of lower frequency, high availability, connected vehicle data for detailed powertrain simulation. A large data set of 1 Hz trajectories is used to
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