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- Pumped Storage
Life Cycle Assessment of Pumped Hydropower Storage [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Inman, Daniel.inman@nrel.gov
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally accepted method for making consistent comparisons among technologies providing the same service based on environmental metrics. LCAs utilize similar inputs as techno-economic analysis (TEA). Traditionally, energy generation technologies have been evaluated through LCA, and in recent years, some energy storage technologies have likewise been evaluated, like pumped storage hydropower. However, with newer forms of energy storage being built, like closed-loop PSH, there is a need for detailed assessment of life cycle environmental impacts of them in a consistent manner to other storage technologies and to TEAs. With advice from an expert review panel, NREL will develop a novel LCA of closed-loop pumped storage hydropower leveraging extant TEAs to inform stakeholders and decision makers such as DOE, ISOs, non-government organizations, and other researchers on credible, objective environmental indicators such as life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, material demands, and net energy that can be fairly and commensurately compared to other storage technologies.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Lithium Seawater Electrochemical Extraction Technology
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Dongping Lu
Lithium (Li) is one of the critical industrial materials and an indispensable component in manufacturing Li-ion/Li batteries. However, Li resource is very limited and geographically uneven in earth’s crust and its mining is costly and not sustainable. Hence, cost-effective Li recovery (from brines, seawater or used cells) is desired but suffered from the low efficiency, poor ion-selectivity, and high processing cost. Here, we report a novel Li extraction and utilization technology to recover Li from low-Li solutions into a form of Li resource, which can be directly used for battery materials production. By using both Li-ion selective Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO4)3 (LAGP) membrane and low-cost electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) host material, the costly steps of Li separation and refining were eliminated. Li-ion cathodes (e.g., spinel LiMn2O4 and layered LiNixMnyCozO2) synthesized through this approach have high phase purities and show significant economic superiorities (e.g., $12.8/kg for LiMn2O4) over other Li extraction methods and even commercial cathodes ($15/kg for LiMn2O4). This contribution provides a potential technical approach to overcome the challenges of both Li supply and battery cost for future electrification and decarbonization of socioeconomic system.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Long-Term Laboratory-wide Facilities & Infrastructure Upgrades Strategy for Marine Energy
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Budi Gunawan
Testing facilities and capabilities operated and maintained by national laboratories are pivotal in supporting mission needs of the Marine Energy (ME) program of the WPTO and play an important role in the continued advancement of ME technologies. National lab testing facilitates and capabilities must continue to evolve to meet changing programmatic and technical needs of the ME sector. To meet these present and future testing needs, the ME core national labs, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), along with support from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), will collaboratively and collectively develop a long term, up to 10 years, national laboratory focused facilities and infrastructure investment strategy. This project will develop a detailed understanding of (1) present and future ME testing needs; (2) existing infrastructure and capabilities across the ME facility network (emphasizing national lab key assets); (3) gaps in testing capabilities and key laboratory infrastructure; and (4) opportunities for new investments and/or leveraging existing capabilities to strategically support WPTO programmatic goals. This project will also develop an analysis framework to evaluate and strategically prioritize ME infrastructure needs relative to new challenges and opportunities.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Low-Head, Short-Intake Flow Measurement Research
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Marshall Richmond
Completed projects with no scope descriptions
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
complete
Completion Date
2019
- Conventional Hydro
Machine Learning for Improving Sub-Seasonal Forecasting
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ken Nowak
Reclamation concluded the prize competition "Sub-Seasonal Climate Forecast Rodeo" in June 2019 with a symposium hosted at NOAA headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Several winning teams that were able to outperform operational forecasts from NOAA used machine learning Machine Learning for Improving Sub-Seasonal Forecastingtechniques to produce their forecasts. This funding would allow Reclamation to partner with those teams or pursue refinement of their solutions by other means. In addition to improving sub-seasonal forecast skill, Reclamation will be able to build and enhance internal machine learning capacity.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Managing Hydrologic Financial Risk in Hydropower Production with Index Insurance Contracts
Lead Companies
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ben Foster
Hydropower generators rely on stream flows to serve as “fuel,” which can lead to volatility in revenues that is financially disruptive. This vulnerability to hydrologic uncertainty, and the possibility of increased hydrologic variability in the future, suggests that hydropower producers need new tools for managing these financial risks. This study uses an integrated hydro-economic model of the Roanoke River Basin to characterize the financial risk faced by hydropower generators as a result of changes in water supply. Several index-based financial instruments are developed and evaluated using 100-year simulations of Kerr, Gaston and Roanoke Rapids Dam operations. Index basis risk, pricing, and contract design are all explored. Contracts built on average daily inflow are shown to be capable of reducing water supply risk at a range of levels, with even significant levels of risk (i.e. inflows under 75% of average) mitigated at a relatively low cost (under 3% of average revenues).
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
complete
Completion Date
2013
- Marine Energy
Marine Energy in the United States: An Overview of Opportunities
Lead Companies
National Renewable Energy Lab
Lead Researcher (s)
- Levi Kilcher
- Michelle Fogarty
- Michael Lawson
This report summarizes the best available data on U.S. marine energy resources at the national, state, and regional scales. Results are primarily based on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded marine energy resource assessments for wave, tidal currents, ocean currents, ocean thermal gradients, and river currents.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic, Tidal, Wave
Status
complete
Completion Date
2021
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Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org