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Every second of every day, utilities monitor the flow of power through the nation’s electric grid, monitoring whether power generated matches power demanded by homes, businesses, vehicles and more. For every disruption, grid operators must work quickly to ensure that power goes where it’s needed.

Sorghum

sorghum

A cereal grain crop grown primarily for its seeds, which can be consumed by humans, fed to livestock, or used to make sorghum syrup.

Source: Source

is a sustainable resource for biofuels

biofuel

Liquid fuels that are produced from renewable biological sources, including plants and algae. Biofuels offer an alternative to some of the challenges of solar, wind, and other alternative energy sources.

Source: Energy.Gov Source

and bioproducts.

bioproducts

produced from renewable matter, usually found in the form of living plants.

Source: USDA Source

Its stem, rich in sucrose, has great potential for bioethanol and biopolymer production. However, more research is needed on gene expression and regulation in stem cells.

Thousands of tiny, invisible atmospheric particles scatter and absorb solar radiation, contributing to cloud formation. Many of these particles form through reactions between gases and oxidants in various atmospheric phases, including gas and liquid in clouds and other particles.

A combination of X-ray absorption

absorption

The mechanism through which energy (e.g., solar or infrared) is converted into heat and contributes to the overall warming of the Earth's atmosphere and surface.

Source: NOAA Source

spectroscopy and computational methods revealed the unique bonding environment of potassium associated with organic acids. Potassium is an essential element for plant growth. However, soils generally have low amounts of potassium readily available to plants.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a machine-learning model to understand Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

carbon dioxide (CO2)

An important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), from wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions.

Source: NASA Source

capture in amine-based sorbents at the atomic level. This innovation aims to improve the efficiency of direct air capture technologies, essential for reducing atmospheric CO2.

Most wind turbines face the wind—and there is a good reason for that. Since the 1980s, wind turbine developers have been using what is called the “Danish concept” for their designs—three blades, positioned upwind (i.e., facing the wind), that are engineered to keep facing the wind to maximize energy production.

The grid needs to change. To electrify everything from vehicles to heating systems to stovetops, the U.S. grid must expand by about 57% and get more flexible, too. Solar and wind energy are the renewables

renewable energy

Renewable energy comes from unlimited, naturally replenished resources, such as the sun, tides, and wind. Renewable energy can be used for electricity generation, space and water heating and cooling, and transportation.

Source: U.S Department of Energy Source

most likely to dominate a future clean energy grid. But they are found primarily in remote areas, far from the hubs that need their power.

Natural ecosystems

ecosystem

A natural community of plants, animals, and other living organisms and the physical environment in which they live and interact.

Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source

can offset manmade Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gas emissions, but accurate accounting is essential for effective carbon offset policies. Researchers from Europe and the United States, including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), are conducting experiments to determine if forests are annual CO2 sinks or sources.

Soils are among the largest viral reservoirs

reservoir

A manmade lake that is created when a dam is built on a river. River water backs up behind the dam creating a reservoir.

Source: USGS Source

on Earth. Yet historically, soil viruses have been ignored. Recent work indicates the soil virosphere as a critical factor in human and environmental health. Nonetheless, our understanding of global soil viral distributions, activities, and interactions with the soil microbiome remains limited.

Ben Lenard is responsible for high performance computing

high-performance computing (HPC)

High-performance computing – the most powerful and largest scale computing systems – enables researchers to study systems that would otherwise be impractical, or impossible, to investigate in the real world due to their complexity or the danger they pose

Source: DOE Office of Science Source

systems and database administration for the world’s fastest computers. He supports the lab’s Aurora exascale supercomputer and manages databases in Argonne’s high performance computing systems. In his words, his job is ​“to help make science happen.”

The FORCEE institute provides undergraduate and graduate students with real-world experience in conducting research on topics in earth sciences,

earth science

The study of the Earth's structure, properties, processes, and four and a half billion years of biotic evolution.

Source: NSF Source

climate change,

climate change

A change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time.

Source: NASA Climate Kids Source

decarbonization and infrastructure modernization. The students receive mentorship, attend facility tours and seminars, and can take part in an end-of-summer symposium to present their findings.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists are developing powerful machine learning

machine learning (ML)

Machine Learning (ML) refers to the field and practice of using algorithms that are able to “learn” by extracting patterns from a large body of data.

Source: Center of Excellence Source

models — an application of artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence

A machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments.

Source: U.S. Department of State Source

— to simulate underground hydrogen storage operations under various cushion gas scenarios. This will play a vital role in the low-carbon economy of the future.