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Berkeley Lab researchers are measuring truck emissions from above the Caldecott Tunnel. The effort, led by Berkeley lab Staff Scientist Thomas Kirchstetter, aims to track pollutants emitted not just from trucks generally, but from individual trucks. The study has already determined that California’s new emissions controls seem to be working, with “a factor of 10 decrease in the amount of diesel particulate matter".
Click the link below to read... Read More
Berkeley Lab study reveals 70% decline in PPA prices since 2009
Solar energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report released by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Driven by lower installed costs, improved project performance, and a race to build projects ahead of a reduction in a key federal incentive, utility-scale solar project developers have been negotiating power sales agreements with utilities at prices... Read More
Berkeley Lab scientists have been awarded $1.3 million to study health impacts of thirdhand smoke.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have been awarded $1.3 million for two sets of studies to better understand the health impacts of thirdhand smoke, the noxious residue that clings to virtually all indoor surfaces long after the secondhand smoke from a cigarette has cleared out.
The two three-year grants are from the... Read More
On Thursday, September 24, 2015, the honorable LI Qiang, Governor of Zhejiang Province, led a delegation team from Zhejiang Province to visit Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Honorary Zhejiang delegates accompanying the Governor included Yonghui Jin, Director General of Zhejiang Provincial Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Department, Jianming Shen, Deputy Secretary General of Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, and... Read More
The China Energy Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) participated in the two-day U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit in Los Angeles this week. The Summit fulfills a key element of the U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change by Presidents Obama and Xi last November, helping to ensure that the... Read More
New report finds that increasingly severe weather is linked to longer lasting power outages
In the most comprehensive analysis of electricity reliability trends in the United States, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Stanford University have found that, while, on average, the frequency of power outages has not changed in recent years, the total number of minutes customers are without power each year has been... Read More
Latest "Tracking the Sun" report highlights progress in lowering solar soft costs
Berkeley, CA — The installed price of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States continues to fall precipitously. This is according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
Installed prices for... Read More
Wind energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The prices offered by wind projects to utility purchasers averaged under 2.5¢/kWh for projects negotiating contracts in 2014, spurring demand for wind energy.
“Wind energy prices—particularly in the central United States—have hit new lows, with utilities selecting... Read More
A new paper co-authored by ETA researcher Jeff Greenblatt looks at the potential energy and environmental impacts of combining two emerging trends: driverless cars and on-demand mobility. He notes several synergies that may result from using autonomous vehicles as shared cars, including lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Berkeley, CA – Future distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment levels are highly sensitive to retail electricity rate design, according to a newly released report by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The study also explores the feedback effects between retail electricity rates and PV deployment, and suggests that increased solar deployment can lead to changes in PV... Read More
New Berkeley Lab study finds lower greenhouse gas emissions on per-mile basis for driverless cars deployed as taxis.
Imagine a fleet of driverless taxis roaming your city, ready to pick you up and take you to your destination at a moment’s notice. While this may seem fantastical, it may be only a matter of time before it becomes reality. And according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), such a system would... Read More
What does it cost to save electricity?
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have conducted the most comprehensive study yet of the full cost of saving electricity by U.S. utility efficiency programs and now have an answer: 4.6 cents. That's the average total cost of saving a kilowatt-hour in 20 states from 2009 to 2013, according to a Berkeley Lab report titled,... Read More
Standards body approves Berkeley Lab’s method to mimic natural soiling of roofing materials.
Cool roofs can help keep buildings cool, thus lowering the building’s energy use, while also mitigating the urban heat island effect by reflecting sunlight away from buildings and cities. But as cool roofs age and get soiled, how much of their reflectance do they lose?
A collaboration led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley... Read More
Energy Technologies Area researcher Vi Rapp spoke at Build It Green’s 2014 Healthy Homes Conference in Berkeley, California on reducing carbon monoxide exposure risks. Tom White, Home Energy publisher, spoke with her to clear up misconceptions about combustion safety.
See the link below to read the full story in Home Energy.
Career Spotlight: Research Scientist and Mechanical Engineer
Vi Rapp is a research scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area. She has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and focuses her research on improving combustion systems. One aspect of her work is designing cleaner, more efficient cookstoves.
Click the link below to see the full story on KQED's Quest program.
Largest-ever study quantifies the value of rooftop photovoltaics on homes that sold across eight states and 12 years
A multi-institutional research team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkley Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories,... Read More
Differences in local market conditions and policies, and other factors, particularly the size of the system, can lead to wide disparities in what consumers across the United States pay to install solar energy systems on their homes or small businesses, according to... Read More
An excerpt from a U.S. Department of Energy blog:
"...dramatic changes are occurring in our nation’s energy mix, many of which demand a more technologically advanced electric grid. Increasing use of renewable energy sources, risks of cyber and physical attacks, and aging infrastructure create uncertainty of the current grid’s long-term ability to provide the services demanded of it. These include distributing and storing clean energy, enabling... Read More
Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which result from the burning of fossil fuels, also reduces the incidence of health problems from particulate matter (PM) in these emissions.
A team of scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), RAND Corp., and the University of Washington, has calculated that the economic benefit of reduced health impacts from... Read More
China Energy Group Affiliate and retired Berkeley Lab Staff Scientist Chris Marnay organized and led the Tianjin 2014 Symposium on Microgrids in Tianjin, China on November 13-14. This was Dr. Marny's tenth Microgrid Symposium as chairman. This symposium is a series that dates back to the first on the U.C. Berkeley Campus in 2005, with others in Montreal, Nagoya, Kythnos Is., Greece, San Diego, Jeji Is., South Korea, Évora, Portugal, and... Read More
From the Department of Energy:
The Energy Department has released a new resource, the... Read More
Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have jointly released the briefing Photovoltaic System Pricing Trends: Historical, Recent, and Near-Term Projections (2014 Edition). This is the third edition of an annual briefing, which draws on several ongoing research activities at the two labs, including:
Berkeley Lab's annual Tracking the Sun report series... Read More
Impacts to Utility Shareholder Earnings and Return on Equity Can Vary Greatly, and Can Be Mitigated through a Range of Measures
Berkeley, CA — A new report prepared by analysts from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) examines the potential impacts of customer-sited solar photovoltaics (PV) on electric utility profitability and rates. The report, entitled Financial Impacts of Net-Metered PV on... Read More
Berkeley, CA — The price of solar energy in the United States continues to fall substantially, according to the latest editions of two annual reports produced by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
A third Berkeley Lab report, written in collaboration with researchers at Yale University, the University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), shows that local permitting and other... Read More
Dr. Mark Levine, founder of China Energy Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laobratory, has been named Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award for Societal Impact. For more detail, please visit LBNL's website.
Wind energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The prices offered by wind projects to utility purchasers averaged just $25/MWh for projects negotiating contracts in 2013, spurring demand for wind energy.
"Wind energy prices—particularly in the central United States— are at an all-time low, with utilities selecting... Read More
As part of the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Program and one of the activities of the Sixth U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) signed a statement of intent for cooperation with its Chinese EcoPartner, the Shandong Academy of Science (SDAS), in the 2014 U.S.-China EcoPartnerships Signing Ceremony on July 10 in Beijing, China.
Nan Zhou, the Deputy Group Leader of China Energy Group and... Read More
Can financing deliver significant private capital and rapid growth in home energy efficiency improvements? A key element may be attracting secondary-market investors to buy the efficiency loans and thereby replenish funds for a new round of lending. A new policy brief from Lawrence Berkeley National... Read More
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