10 Ways NREL Contributed to a Clean Energy Future in 2023

Hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle discuss the top 10 most-impactful stories highlighting how NREL contributed to a clean energy future in 2023. Highlights include NREL's visionary 2030 National Charging Network study, groundbreaking research on geothermal energy with the "Heat Beneath Our Feet" initiative, and the creation of a one-of-a-kind "SuperLab" linking solar, battery, hydrogen electrolyzers, and a nuclear reactor for advanced energy system studies. Stay tuned for exciting developments in 2024, including the launch of a new podcast series, "Lab Notes."

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at podcast@nrel.gov. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Transcript

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Kerrin: Happy holidays and welcome to Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast, brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We’re highlighting the latest in clean energy research and innovations happening at the lab. It’s Wednesday, December 27. I’m Kerrin Jeromin.  

Taylor: And I’m Taylor Mankle. Kerrin, it’s hard to believe but we are here. The end of 2023.  

Kerrin: Wow. 

Taylor: Another one for the books!   

Kerrin: That’s crazy! How does it happen like that? Every year goes by so fast, especially with our work at the lab, and if I feel that way, I’m sure our listeners do too, right? So, this episode we’re going to look back at NREL’s 2023 and catch everybody up on some of the things we’ve done this year.   

Ta[ylor: We’re going to do our best to hit the big highlights. For more details on NREL’s efforts in 2023, you can head over to NREL.gov - we’ve got a great story with more information on each of these topics. 

Kerrin: Absolutely. So, shall we dive into the top 10 of NREL’s most impactful stories? Let’s do a swap. I’ll do one and then you do the next. How about that?  

Taylor: Sounds perfect, I’ll get us started!  

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Taylor: First up, we’re looking to the future. While we might be talking about 2023 here, this research is already looking to 2030! As we get more electric vehicles or EVs, on the road, we will need a charging network that will reach the farthest corners of the nation, helping to make convenient, reliable, and affordable charging a reality for all Americans. NREL’s 2030 National Charging Network study estimated the number, type, and location of chargers needed to create a comprehensive charging infrastructure to support the anticipated 30-42 million EVs on the road by 2030.   

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Kerrin: Alright, story number two! Geothermal energy is a resource that has long been employed by countries around the world, but it had a big year in 2023! Geothermal has the ability to provide electricity, heating, cooling, and storage – plus the potential to capture and sequester carbon, produce green hydrogen, and more. This year, Colorado Governor Jared Polis and the Western Governors’ Association launched “The Heat Beneath Our Feet” initiative, to encourage renewable geothermal energy generation throughout Colorado and the West. NREL provided technical assistance for the project and hosted the Association right on our campus in February.    

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Taylor: Third up, the SuperLab: For one hour in January 2023, a power plant like no other existed in the US Mountain West. NREL and Idaho National Laboratory linked capabilities through the Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network to create a “SuperLab.” The unique power plant contained a solar array, lithium-ion battery, hydrogen electrolyzers, and a nuclear reactor—all coordinating with each other to provide reliable power. SuperLab allows us to study energy systems that don’t currently exist.   

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Kerrin: Ok, here’s another story involving our national lab colleagues. NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers coauthored a report that provides direction for future hydrogen blending. Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be produced and consumed with nearly zero emissions in several key markets where natural gas is currently used, including blending natural gas and hydrogen. But how we blend hydrogen into natural gas pipelines presents some complications. The tri-lab report explores some of those complications and impacts.   

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Taylor: Next up, NREL scientists have developed a bifacial perovskite solar cell that has the potential to produce higher energy yields and lower cost. The dual nature of a bifacial solar cell enables the capture of direct sunlight on the front of the cell and the capture of reflected sunlight on the back of the cell, allowing this type of device to outperform its monofacial, or one-sided, counterparts.  

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Kerrin: Hydrogen energy making yet another appearance here. NREL and West Australia company Fortescue Future Industries partnered together for the Fortescue Colorado Innovation Center, which is a green hydrogen research and development center in Colorado. The collaboration will be three years, but Fortescue Future Industries expects to invest $80 million over the next ten years in research projects with NREL. The partnership has the potential to create more than 350 jobs in Colorado.   

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Taylor: I’m noticing some patterns in these stories: A lot of them include partnerships! It’s exciting to see how our work with industry partners expanded in 2023. And right on cue, our seventh story is about our partnership with General Electric, or GE, in wind energy research. In an attempt to harness their massive wind energy resource, states along the Atlantic coast have pledged to deploy almost 20 gigawatts of wind energy by 2035. Last year, NREL and GE studied how low-level jet streams could impact the coastal wind farm installations to find critical insights for a burgeoning US wind energy economy.    

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Kerrin: NREL researchers have created a new, meticulously researched data set that details how buildings do—and could—use energy. Buildings are responsible for 40% of total energy use in the United States, including 75% of all electricity use and 35% of the nation’s carbon emissions. That’s a huge sector that we’re going to decarbonize. With the new data set, researchers have revealed the massive climate impacts that improving our nation’s building stock could have.   

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Taylor: Can’t forget the water power team! Ocean waves contain a tremendous amount of power; in the US, ocean waves carry the equivalent of almost 60% of the country’s annual electricity needs. So why aren’t we using it? Well, first we need a whole new fleet of technologies to affordably harness those waves. This year, the NREL marine energy team, as a part of a $24.9 million funding opportunity from the Department of Energy, worked on four different projects focused on wave energy converter designs.   

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Kerrin: And last, but certainly not least, our final top story is about plastics. With only a small percentage of plastics recycled, determining the best way to recycle and reuse these materials may enable higher adoption of plastics recycling and reduce plastic waste pollution. This year, NREL researchers examined the benefits and trade-offs of current and emerging technologies for recycling certain types of plastic to determine the most appropriate options. The researchers provided a comparison of various technologies for closed-loop recycling, which allow for the reuse of plastic through mechanical or chemical processing.   

Taylor: From geothermal to plastics recycling, it’s been a busy year! Not to mention we launched this podcast!    

Kerrin: Yes! I guess that didn’t make NREL’s top ten stories, but it certainly made mine.  

Taylor: Right, mhm.  

Kerrin: Taylor, it’s been a pleasure, so we’re just going to sneak it in there. And, we actually have some exciting news about this podcast for 2024.   

Taylor: We do. We are adding a new format to our podcast schedule for all of you to get excited about.  

Kerrin: Woohoo! 

Taylor: While these shorter episodes are great for keeping everyone up to date on the recent research and news every other week, we want to provide even more NREL content to our listeners.   

Kerrin: That’s right. We are adding in a new episode series, called Lab Notes, to the podcast. Along with our regularly scheduled episodes, Lab Notes will take us on deeper dives into the research and the people of NREL. And our first episode will feature a very exciting guest who is kind of a big deal around the lab, to say the least. Or should we tell them, I don’t know, should we just keep it a secret?   

Taylor: Keeping it secret is way too hard. Just tell them!  

Kerrin: Alright, sounds good. So, please, join us for the first episode of Lab Notes as we welcome NREL Lab Director Dr. Martin Keller!  

Taylor: Exciting! We’re going to hear all about how he came to NREL and what to expect from the lab as we continue to grow. Join us here in two weeks for our next episode! What an exciting way to start the new year!   

Kerrin: So exciting. And with that, we will wish all of you a very Happy and safe New Year. Thanks so much for listening. If you want to learn more about the podcast or have clean energy questions you’d like us to cover, send us an email at podcast@nrel.gov.   

Taylor: And be sure to give us a positive review on your favorite podcast app. Thanks again everyone, have a safe and peaceful new year.    

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Kerrin: This episode was adapted from a December 2023 NREL news article written by Allison Montroy. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino, of Drift B-C. This podcast is produced by NREL’s Communications Office and recorded at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. We recognize and pay respect to the Indigenous peoples from our past, present, and future, and are grateful to those who have been and continue to be stewards of this land.    

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