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Vast amounts of worldwide emissions can be traced back to the supply chains that provide us with the goods we need. Some studies estimate that they generate up to two-thirds of global carbon emissions. Now, researchers from the National Renewable Energy

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

Laboratory (NREL), in collaboration with industry partners, have demonstrated the potential for a zero-tailpipe emissions supply chain.

In the latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Travis Lowder shares why he did not need a technical background to fight 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

(and neither do you!) and why humility might be the most crucial trait for his job. Today, Lowder is a senior project manager with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Accelerated Deployment and Decision Support Center.

For almost as long as humans have spent time in Antarctica, the continent has been a home for science. One of the research outposts located there is the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The science done there includes studies of climate change and cosmology. Currently, this site exclusively uses nonrenewable energy sources, specifically diesel fuel, to power the instruments and provide warmth for staff.

Inside clusters of solvent, previously unseen carbon dioxide-based chemistry emerges. Finding ways to capture, store, and use 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

remains an urgent global problem. As temperatures continue to rise, keeping CO2 from entering the atmosphere can help limit warming where carbon-based fuels are still needed.

Ten years later, data gathered in Brazil have proven highly influential across atmospheric science. For researchers trying to understand how human activities have affected the atmosphere, the Amazon’s relatively unpolluted air can provide critical baseline data. Centuries of industrialization have created a human-influenced background across most of the world. But areas of the Amazon remain sufficiently isolated from polluting activities to serve as effective proxies for preindustrial conditions.

Wetlands

wetland

An area of land that is periodically saturated with water, which influences the types of plants and animals that can live there. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs, and other similar areas.

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

are Earth’s largest natural source of methane,

methane

A hydrocarbon that is a primary component of natural gas. Methane is also a greenhouse gas (GHG), so its presence in the atmosphere affects the earth’s temperature and climate system

Source: EPA Source

a potent greenhouse gas that is about 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere. A research team from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) analyzed wetland methane emissions data across the entire Boreal-Arctic region and found that these emissions have increased approximately nine percent since 2002.

Even a Few Minutes Without Sunshine Will Reduce Solar Generation on April 8, 2024. NREL researchers have calculated the maximum power reduction from solar photovoltaics

photovoltaic

More commonly known as solar panels – generate power using devices that absorb energy from sunlight and convert it into electrical energy through semiconducting materials.

Source: Department of Energy Source

on April 8 in all three interconnection areas in the United States. As the eclipse cuts a path from Texas to Maine, they expect a 71% peak power reduction in the East, 45% in the West, and 93% in the Texas grid, called the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

College students are invited to take a deep dive into the marine energy and hydropower

hydropower

One of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, which uses the natural flow of moving water to generate electricity

Source: U.S. Department of Energy Source

industries through two exciting annual competitions—now accepting applications! These competitions provide students with resume-boosting experience, a closer look at these high-potential water power fields, industry connections, and a chance to win cash prizes.

Mountains—or even hills, cliffs, and flat-topped buttes—could soon store a whole lot of clean energy. These vertically blessed places are ideal spots for a well-established form of energy storage that is getting renewed attention: pumped storage hydropower. As the country transitions to a clean power grid, researchers are searching for the best ways to store energy to use when winds slow down, clouds block the sun, and the grid needs a boost.

The benefits of deploying clean energy in communities are clear: a healthier environment, more job opportunities, and reliable power at affordable costs, just to name a few. And now, thanks to the American-Made Community Energy Innovation Prize, more than 20 U.S. communities will get some much-needed help planning local clean energy projects.

Using cutting-edge scientific research to realize a cleaner and more resilient Michigan economy is the aim of a newly formed partnership between the state and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. Michigan aims to leverage Argonne’s research-backed insights to develop sustainable and innovative solutions for decarbonized transportation and industrial processes while promoting economic growth.

Argonne develops case studies on community-based electric mobility projects that integrate equity. The backbone of every community, transportation connects people to everything from jobs and grocery stores to health care, vital services and social events. But historically, residents of underserved communities lack access to transportation, creating barriers to its many benefits.