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The primary objective of the Net-Zero Energy Building Operator Training Program (NZEBOT) was to develop certificate level training programs for commercial building owners, managers and operators, principally in the areas of energy / sustainability management. The expected outcome of the project was a multi-faceted mechanism for developing the skill-based competency of building operators, owners, architects/engineers, construction professionals, tenants, brokers and other interested groups in energy efficient building technologies and best practices. The training program draws heavily on DOE supported and developed materials available in the existing literature, as well as existing, modified, and newly developed curricula from the Department of Engineering Technology & Construction Management (ETCM) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte). The project goal is to develop a certificate level training curriculum for commercial energy and sustainability managers and building operators that: 1) Increases the skill-based competency of building professionals in energy efficient building technologies and best practices, and 2) Increases the workforce pool of expertise in energy management and conservation techniques. The curriculum developed in this project can subsequently be used to establish a sustainable energy training program that can contribute to the creation of new “green” job opportunities in North Carolina and throughout the …

This is a case study that focuses on the renovation of Maplewood market apartments in Georgia.

The 2013 Gordon Conference on Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms will present cutting-edge research on the molecular aspects of inorganic reactions involving elements from throughout the periodic table and state-of-the art techniques that are used in the elucidation of reaction mechanisms. The Conference will feature a wide range of topics, such as homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, metallobiochemistry, electron-transfer in energy reactions, polymerization, nitrogen fixation, green chemistry, oxidation, solar conversion, alkane functionalization, organotransition metal chemistry, and computational chemistry. The talks will cover themes of current interest including energy, materials, and bioinorganic chemistry. Sections cover: Electron-Transfer in Energy Reactions; Catalytic Polymerization and Oxidation Chemistry; Kinetics and Spectroscopy of Heterogeneous Catalysts; Metal-Organic Chemistry and its Application in Synthesis; Green Energy Conversion;Organometallic Chemistry and Activation of Small Molecules; Advances in Kinetics Modeling and Green Chemistry; Metals in Biology and Disease; Frontiers in Catalytic Bond Activation and Cleavage.

Electrical methods offer a geophysical approach for determining the sub-bottom distribution of hydrate in deep marine environments. Methane hydrate is essentially non-conductive. Hence, sediments containing hydrate are more resistive than sediments without hydrates. To date, the controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) method has been used in marine hydrates studies. This project evaluated an alternative electrical method, direct current resistivity (DCR), for detecting marine hydrates. DCR involves the injection of direct current between two source electrodes and the simultaneous measurement of the electric potential (voltage) between multiple receiver electrodes. The DCR method provides subsurface information comparable to that produced by the CSEM method, but with less sophisticated instrumentation. Because the receivers are simple electrodes, large numbers can be deployed to achieve higher spatial resolution. In this project a prototype seafloor DCR system was developed and used to conduct a reconnaissance survey at a site of known hydrate occurrence in Mississippi Canyon Block 118. The resulting images of sub-bottom resistivities indicate that high-concentration hydrates at the site occur only in the upper 50 m, where deep-seated faults intersect the seafloor. Overall, there was evidence for much less hydrate at the site than previously thought based on available seismic and CSEM data alone.

Annual sampling was conducted at the Rio Blanco, Colorado, site for the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program May 9-10, 2012, to monitor groundwater and surface water for potential radionuclide contamination. Sampling and analyses were conducted as specified in Sampling and Analysis Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Sites (LMS/PRO/S04351, continually updated). A duplicate sample was collected from location Johnson Artesian WL. Samples were analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides by high-resolution gamma spectrometry and for tritium using the conventional and enrichment methods. Results of this monitoring at the Rio Blanco site demonstrate that groundwater and surface water outside the site boundaries have not been affected by project-related contaminants.

Our results from the 10-year elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration study at the Nevada Desert FACE (Free-air CO{sub 2} Enrichment) Facility (NDFF) indicate that the Mojave Desert is a dynamic ecosystem with the capacity to respond quickly to environmental changes. The Mojave Desert ecosystem is accumulating carbon (C), and over the 10-year experiment, C accumulation was significantly greater under elevated [CO{sub 2}] than under ambient, despite great fluctuations in C inputs from year to year and even apparent reversals in which [CO{sub 2}] treatment had greater C accumulations.

Annual sampling was conducted January 18, 2012, to monitor groundwater for potential radionuclide contamination at the Gnome-Coach site in New Mexico. The sampling was performed as specified in the Sampling and Analysis Plan for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Sites (LMS/PLN/S04351, continually updated). Well LRL-7 was not sampled per instruction from the lead. A duplicate sample was collected from well USGS-1 and water levels were measured in the monitoring wells onsite.

The Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) is a state-of-the-art test center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and dedicated to the advancement of clean coal technology. In addition to the development of high efficiency coal gasification processes, the PSDF features the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) to promote new technologies for CO{sub 2} capture from coal-derived syngas and flue gas. The NCCC includes multiple, adaptable test skids that allow technology development of CO{sub 2} capture concepts using coal-derived syngas and flue gas in industrial settings. Because of the ability to operate under a wide range of flow rates and process conditions, research at the NCCC can effectively evaluate technologies at various levels of maturity and accelerate their development path to commercialization. During the calendar year 2012 portion of the Budget Period Four reporting period, efforts at the NCCC focused on testing of pre- and post-combustion CO{sub 2} capture processes and gasification support technologies. Preparations for future testing were on-going as well, and involved facility upgrades and collaboration with numerous technology developers. In the area of pre-combustion, testing was conducted on a new water-gas shift catalyst, a CO{sub 2} solvent, and gas separation membranes from four different technology developers, including …

This document is the final technical report of the Arrowhead Center Prosper Project at New Mexico State University. The Prosper Project was a research and public policy initiative funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Prosper project (DOE Grant Number DE-NT0004397) began on October 1, 2008 (FY2009, Quarter 1) and ended on December 31, 2012 (FY2013, Quarter 1). All project milestones were completed on time and within the budget. This report contains a summary of ten technical reports resulting from research conducted during the project. This report also contains a detailed description of the research dissemination and outreach activities of the project including a description of the policy impacts of the project. The report also describes project activities that will be maintained after the end of the project.

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This document is the Final Technical Report for a project supported by U.S. DOE NETL (Contract No. DE-FE0000507), GE Global Research, GE Energy, and Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This report discusses key project accomplishments for the period beginning August 7, 2009 and ending December 31, 2012. In this project, pressurized delivery of coal/biomass mixtures using GE Posimetric* solids pump technology was achieved in pilot scale experiments. Coal/biomass mixtures containing 10-50 wt% biomass were fed against pressures of 65-450 psi. Pressure capability increased with decreasing biomass content for a given pump design, and was linked to the interaction of highly compressible coal/biomass mixtures with the pump outlet design. Biomass pretreatment specifications for particle size and moisture content were defined based on bench-scale flowability, compressibility, friction, and permeability experiments that mimic the behavior of the Posimetric pump. A preliminary economic assessment of biomass pretreatment and pump operation for coal/biomass mixtures (CBMs) was conducted.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management conducted annual sampling at the Rulison, Colorado, site for the Long-Term Hydrologic Monitoring Program (LTHMP) on May 8, 2012. The samples were shipped to GEL Laboratories in Charleston, South Carolina, for analysis. All requested analyses were successfully completed. Samples were analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides by high-resolution gamma spectrometry; tritium was analyzed using two methods. The conventional tritium method has a detection limit on the order of 400 pCi/L, and a select set of samples was analyzed for tritium using the enriched method, which has a detection limit on the order of 3 pCi/L.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management conducted annual natural gas sampling for the Gasbuggy, New Mexico, Site on June 20 and 21, 2012. This long-term monitoring of natural gas includes samples of produced water from gas production wells that are located near the site. Water samples from gas production wells were analyzed for gamma-emitting radionuclides, gross alpha, gross beta, and tritium. Natural gas samples were analyzed for tritium and carbon-14. ALS Laboratory Group in Fort Collins, Colorado, analyzed water samples. Isotech Laboratories in Champaign, Illinois, analyzed natural gas samples.

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Research done in this study showed that P-SV seismic data provide better spatial resolution of geologic targets at our Appalachian Basin study area than do P-P data. This finding is important because the latter data (P-P) are the principal seismic data used to evaluate rock systems considered for CO{sub 2} sequestration. The increase in P-SV{sub 1} resolution over P-P resolution was particularly significant, with P-SV{sub 1} wavelengths being approximately 40-percent shorter than P-P wavelengths. CO{sub 2} sequestration projects across the Appalachian Basin should take advantage of the increased resolution provided by converted-shear seismic modes relative to P-wave seismic data. In addition to S-wave data providing better resolution of geologic targets, we found S-wave images described reservoir heterogeneities that P-P data could not see. Specifically, a channel-like anomaly was imaged in a key porous sandstone interval by P-SV{sub 1} data, and no indication of the feature existed in P-P data. If any stratigraphic unit is considered for CO{sub 2} storage purposes, it is important to know all heterogeneities internal to the unit to understand reservoir compartmentalization. We conclude it is essential that multicomponent seismic data be used to evaluate all potential reservoir targets whenever a CO{sub 2} storage effort is considered, …

Boiled down to its essentials, the grant’s purpose was to develop and demonstrate the viability of compressed air energy storage (CAES) for use in renewable energy development. While everyone agrees that energy storage is the key component to enable widespread adoption of renewable energy sources, the development of a viable scalable technology has been missing. The Department of Energy has focused on expanded battery research and improved forecasting, and the utilities have deployed renewable energy resources only to the extent of satisfying Renewable Portfolio Standards. The lack of dispatchability of solar and wind-based electricity generation has drastically increased the cost of operation with these components. It is now clear that energy storage coupled with accurate solar and wind forecasting make up the only combination that can succeed in dispatchable renewable energy resources. Conventional batteries scale linearly in size, so the price becomes a barrier for large systems. Flow batteries scale sub-linearly and promise to be useful if their performance can be shown to provide sufficient support for solar and wind-base electricity generation resources. Compressed air energy storage provides the most desirable answer in terms of scalability and performance in all areas except efficiency. With the support of the DOE, Tucson …

This report summarizes the work performed by an Ames-led project team under a 4-year DOE-ITP sponsored project titled, 'Advanced Wear-resistant Nanocomposites for Increased Energy Efficiency.' The Report serves as the project deliverable for the CPS agreement number 15015. The purpose of this project was to develop and commercialize a family of lightweight, bulk composite materials that are highly resistant to degradation by erosive and abrasive wear. These materials, based on AlMgB{sub 14}, are projected to save over 30 TBtu of energy per year when fully implemented in industrial applications, with the associated environmental benefits of eliminating the burning of 1.5 M tons/yr of coal and averting the release of 4.2 M tons/yr of CO{sub 2} into the air. This program targeted applications in the mining, drilling, machining, and dry erosion applications as key platforms for initial commercialization, which includes some of the most severe wear conditions in industry. Production-scale manufacturing of this technology has begun through a start-up company, NewTech Ceramics (NTC). This project included providing technical support to NTC in order to facilitate cost-effective mass production of the wear-resistant boride components. Resolution of issues related to processing scale-up, reduction in energy intensity during processing, and improving the quality and …

The report summarizes research to Quantify the Value of Hydropower in the Electric Grid. This 3-year DOE study focused on defining value of hydropower assets in a changing electric grid. Methods are described for valuation and planning of pumped storage and conventional hydropower. The project team conducted plant case studies, electric system modeling, market analysis, cost data gathering, and evaluations of operating strategies and constraints. Five other reports detailing these research results are available a project website, www.epri.com/hydrogrid. With increasing deployment of wind and solar renewable generation, many owners, operators, and developers of hydropower have recognized the opportunity to provide more flexibility and ancillary services to the electric grid. To quantify value of services, this study focused on the Western Electric Coordinating Council region. A security-constrained, unit commitment and economic dispatch model was used to quantify the role of hydropower for several future energy scenarios up to 2020. This hourly production simulation considered transmission requirements to deliver energy, including future expansion plans. Both energy and ancillary service values were considered. Addressing specifically the quantification of pumped storage value, no single value stream dominated predicted plant contributions in various energy futures. Modeling confirmed that service value depends greatly on location and …

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This document outlines resources for doing business with the Federal Government.

Multi-megawatt, utility-scale wind turbines operate in turbulent and dynamic winds that impact turbine performance in ways that are gradually becoming better understood. This poster presents a study made using a turbulent flow field simulator (TurbSim) and a Turbine aeroelastic simulator (FAST) of the response of a generic 1.5 MW wind turbine to changing inflow. The turbine power output is found to be most sensitive to wind speed and turbulence intensity, but the relationship depends on the wind speed with respect to the turbine's rated wind speed. Shear is found to be poorly correlated to power. A machine learning method called 'regression trees' is used to create a simple model of turbine performance that could be used as part of the wind resource assessment process. This study has used simple flow fields and should be extended to more complex flows, and validated with field observations.

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