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Mexico City Mayor-elect Claudia Sheinbaum visited Berkeley Lab on Nov. 9, 2018, as part of a visit to the Bay Area to learn about urban sustainability practices. Dr. Sheinbaum spent four years at the Lab (1991-1994) analyzing energy consumption in Mexico and other industrialized countries. She and Lab scientist Lynn Price were lead authors of the Industry Chapter of Working Group III (Mitigation)’s contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on... Read More
Applying artificial intelligence to self-driving cars to smooth traffic, reduce fuel consumption, and improve air quality predictions may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers from the Lab’s Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Division have launched two research projects to do just that. For the full story:... Read More
The Energy Technologies Area’s ITRI-Rosenfeld 2017 and 2018 fellows are investigating a range of techniques to improve the energy efficiency of water treatment, remediation, and water consumption.
Olga Kavvada, of EAEI, joined the Lab in January 2018 to work on developing water demand forecast models that can quantify the impacts of urban development decisions on the spatial distribution of water consumption and wastewater... Read More
ETA staff members were recently honored for outstanding efforts to improve diversity, implement innovative lighting in a "Living Lab" and performing breakthrough discoveries in thirdhand smoke research.
The 2018 Director's Awards for Exceptional Achievement recognize accomplishments, leadership, collaboration, multi-disciplinary science, cross-divisional projects and commitment to excellence in support of the Lab’s mission and strategic goals.... Read More
A color developed by Egyptians thousands of years ago has a modern-day application as well – the pigment can boost energy efficiency by cooling rooftops and walls, and could also enable solar generation of electricity via windows.
Egyptian blue, derived from calcium copper silicate, was routinely used on ancient depictions of gods and royalty. Previous studies have shown that when Egyptian blue absorbs visible light, it then emits light in the... Read More
Today, electric vehicles (EVs) make up just a small part of the U.S. road fleet, but they are gaining ground in some regions. While EVs hold promise for lowering costs and air pollutant emissions from auto travel, among other benefits, their growth raises questions about the changes needed to support this transition. How much charging infrastructure will be needed, and what role should utilities play in developing it?
A new report from Berkeley... Read More
As part of Berkeley Lab's mission to bring science to the world, the Energy Technologies Area is hosting three visiting scientists through the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs TechWomen program.
The goal is to empower, connect and support the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by providing them access and opportunity to advance their careers, pursue... Read More
Three Berkeley Lab researchers, including Corinne Scown of the Energy Technologies Area, recently received the Secretary of Energy's Achievement Award as part of a larger team from the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Here's more from JBEI's announcement:
The award is designed to recognize the contributions of Department of Energy (DOE) employees to the mission of the Department and to the benefit of the United States. The JBEI team was... Read More
A national online energy data management system is transforming how energy retrofit projects implemented by a wide variety of users – including local, state, and federal governments – develop projects and track performance.
The eProject Builder energy project data management and benchmarking tool was developed by the... Read More
Two projects from Berkeley Lab's Energy Technologies Area have been named as finalists for R&D Magazine's R&D 100 Awards, which recognize pioneering ideas in science and technology.
OP1 from Opus 12, the carbon dioxide recycling startup included in Cyclotron Road's first cohort, and... Read More
Affordable indoor air quality monitors for the home can be worth the purchase, a recent product evaluation revealed, but all of the monitors tested by researchers were found to have either underreported or missed the presence of very small particles that can penetrate deeply into the lungs.
Indoor air researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) recently tested seven consumer-grade air quality... Read More
A newly updated online tool and guidebook from Berkeley Lab and industry partner Nexant Inc. will help utilities measure the cost and impact of power outages — a key strategic consideration as the nation works to modernize the electricity system, and especially important now during hot summer months that can strain the power grid.
Read more at the Berkeley Lab News Center web site:... Read More
Ever wonder why it’s difficult to concentrate when office temperatures rise?
A July 16, 2018 segment of NPR’s "Morning edition — Heat Making You Lethargic? Research Shows It Can Slow Your Brain, Too" - cites a 2006 Berkeley Lab study, "Effect of temperature on task performance in office environment" co-authored by William Fisk of the Sustainable Energy & Environmental Systems Department, which found that when office temperatures rise above... Read More
Ravi Prasher has been appointed Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Technologies at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The announcement follows an international search.
Prasher, an internationally renowned scientist in the field of thermal energy science and technologies, has been director of Berkeley Lab's... Read More
After serving four years as Berkeley Lab's Associate Director for Energy Technologies, Ramamoorthy Ramesh will be returning to his research in ultra low-power electronics while also helping to lead a major Berkeley Lab research initiative in next-generation, energy-efficient microelectronics.
This new initiative has been dubbed "Beyond Moore's Law," as it seeks the solution to what will happen when Moore's Law — which holds that the number of... Read More
The United States and China have been cooperating since 2016 under the Power Consumption, Demand and Competition Cooperation to identify solutions to advance key elements of China’s comprehensive market reforms to foster a competitive, transparent and sustainable electric power sector in China. Co-led by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources and China’s National Development and Reform Commission and... Read More
Energy savings programs offered by utilities—from residential lighting and appliance rebates to programs for small businesses—help ensure reliability on the grid at the most affordable cost, according to a comprehensive study just released by the Electricity Markets & Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"At an average cost of just 2.5 cents to save a kilowatt-hour, energy efficiency is a good deal for utility customers,"... Read More
A team led by ETA’s Robert Kostecki is one of 14 awardees whose research is focused on reducing the cost of solar-thermal desalination and helping the technology reach new markets, including areas that are not connected to the electric grid.... Read More
Ryan Wiser of Berkeley Lab's Electricity Markets and Policy Group was named one of Wind Power Monthly's influential people of 2017.
Wiser is the lead author of Berkeley Lab's annual Wind Technologies Market Report, which can be found at https://emp.lbl.gov/wind-technologies-market-report/
Read the full article at... Read More
Indoor air quality in schools often fails to meet minimum standards, and student performance is clearly diminished when ventilation rates are low, according to a recent analysis from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
Elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide have been documented in schools across the U.S., Europe and Asia, the study finds. "These CO2 data indicate a widespread failure to provide the minimum amount of ventilation... Read More
Berkeley Lab has designed, calibrated and has been operating a world-class testing laboratory for efficiency and emissions from biomass cookstoves for many years. However, no guidebooks or textbooks are available that advise other researchers on how to build their own similar testing laboratory.
Due to a significant number of requests from cookstove researchers around the world (including but not limited to the US, India, China, Nepal, Mexico,... Read More
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was recently honored with a prestigious Green Leadership Award at the 12th Annual Green California Summit in Sacramento.
The Lab's Energy Technologies Area (ETA) was highlighted for innovative breakthroughs in the energy efficiency category for research aimed at helping California meet its zero net energy (ZNE) building goals, while ensuring adequate indoor air quality and ventilation.
A ZNE, or net zero... Read More
Hanna Breunig has always forged her own path in science. “If something feels right, I don’t hesitate to pursue an idea that could make the world a better place,” says Breunig, a senior scientific engineering associate in the Energy Technologies Area.
Now with funding from an Early Career Laboratory Directed Research and Development award announced last November, she’s looking for affordable ways to clean and store methane-containing emissions... Read More
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in collaboration with public and private partners, has released the most comprehensive publicly available database yet of U.S. wind turbine locations and characteristics. The United States Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) will allow unparalleled ability for government agencies and others to make planning decisions.
The USWTDB, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies... Read More
Lab researchers Marc Fischer, Seongeun Jeong, and Xinguang Cui contributed to a study led by Imperial College London that reported a new technique to estimate CO2 emissions from fossil fuels using atmospheric measurements, tested over three months in California. This is the first time fossil fuel emissions have been independently checked for such a large area. Read the full article at the... Read More
Whether it’s e-cigarettes or emerging heated tobacco products, the market for electronic nicotine delivery systems is booming. Most scientists agree that vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco, but how much is known about the “clouds” they create? ETA’s Hugo Destaillats discusses the chemical composition of these complex aerosols in a... Read More
It may be only a matter of time before urban dwellers can hail a self-driving taxi, so researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley decided to analyze the cost, energy, and environmental implications of a fleet of self-driving electric vehicles operating in Manhattan.
Using models they built and data from more than 10 million taxi trips in New York City, they found that shared... Read More
Stakeholders in government, business, and academia recently met to identify solutions to Mexico’s growing space cooling (air conditioning) energy demand. The “Summit on Space Cooling Research Needs and Opportunities in Mexico” was convened by the Berkeley Lab Mexico Energy Initiative and United States Agency for International Development, in partnership with Mexico. More information is available at the International Energy Group website:... Read More
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