Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieves fusion ignition

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today (Dec. 13) announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL’s National...

HPC4EnergyInnovation initiative opens fall 2022 solicitation

The High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative has opened its fall 2022 solicitation cycle to industry partners interested in collaborating with the Department of Energy (DOE) to address key energy and decarbonization-related challenges. The sponsors of this solicitation are the HPC4Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) and HPC4Materials (HPC4Mtls) programs, pillars of HPC4EI...

Lab-led nEXO project receives Inflation Reduction Act funding

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has received $2.35 million from the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to support domestic energy production and promote clean energy and to provide the Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories with resources to keep the U.S. at the forefront of scientific discovery. The funding has been allocated for the Lab-led nEXO project...

LLNL to participate in three energy-focused projects

Transforming the way energy is collected, stored and used has become a defining challenge of the 21st century. To address this task, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) established the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program. This year, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and collaborators were awarded three projects. The first project, led...

'Twisted' laser light experiments offer new insights into plasma physics

Electromagnetic vortices occur naturally throughout the universe and have recently been observed in association with black holes. Over the last decade, scientists have sought methods to investigate how extremely strong electromagnetic vortices interact with matter, specifically plasma, in a laboratory setting. Plasma, known as the “fourth state of matter,” makes up nearly all...

New method sheds light on solid-state battery fabrication

Safe, long-cycle-life batteries with high energy density are greatly needed with the rapid growth of electric devices and vehicles and grid energy storage demands. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have devised a method for the fabrication of all-solid-state lithium metal batteries, which have been recognized as the future choice of safe and high-energy-density...

Livermore researchers collect three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have garnered three awards among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide. The trade journal R&D World Magazine recently announced the winners of the awards, often called the “Oscars of invention,” recognizing new commercial products, technologies and materials that are available for sale or license for their...

LLNL and Case Western Reserve University to continue collaboration

The leaders of Case Western Reserve University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to accelerate their efforts in shared areas of excellence. After three years of growing institutional collaboration in such areas as energy, materials science and polymer processing, Case Western Reserve President Eric W. Kaler welcomed Lawrence...

An open-source, data-science toolkit for energy GridDS

As of 2020, 102.9 million smart meters — devices that record and communicate electric consumption, voltage and current to consumers and grid operators — have been installed in the United States. As the number of smart meters and the demand for energy is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2050, so will the amount of data those smart meters produce. While energy standards have enabled...

Research finds mechanically driven chemistry accelerates reactions in explosives

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Energetic Materials Center and Purdue University Materials Engineering Department used simulations performed on the LLNL supercomputer Quartz to uncover a general mechanism that accelerates chemistry in detonating explosives critical to managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Their research is featured in the July 15 issue of...

DOE announces new funding for High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the latest funding round for the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative, awarding $3 million for 10 projects applying DOE supercomputing to advance clean energy technologies and improve manufacturing efficiency. HPC4EI is the umbrella initiative for the HPC4Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) and HPC4Materials (HPC4Mtls)...

3D printing allows for faster charging and higher-energy-density lithium-ion batteries

The next generations of lithium-ion batteries require higher energy and power densities at a lower cost. Current battery manufacturing, based on slurry casting and coating, is struggling to further improve these key metrics. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is partnering with Ampcera Inc. to develop solvent-free Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing...

Americans move to more solar and wind power in 2021

The national economy is reenergizing, quite literally.  In 2021, Americans used 5% more energy than in 2020, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Each year, LLNL releases flow charts that illustrate the nation's consumption and use of energy. In 2021, Americans used 97.3 quads (quadrillion BTU) of energy, which is 4.4...

White House summit celebrates fusion milestones, discusses 'bold' 10-year plan for commercialization

Recent scientific advancements in fusion, combined with increasing private investments and the urgent need to address climate change, mean the “time is now” for accelerating fusion energy commercialization, fusion experts said at a White House summit on March 17. Hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the first...

Newly funded HPC4Mfg project targets more energy-efficient steelmaking

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)-led collaboration targeted at using machine learning to reduce defects and carbon emissions in steelmaking is one of eight new projects receiving Department of Energy (DOE) funding through the High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) Program. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announced the awards today....

Four graduate students selected as Graduate Student Research Program recipients

Four graduate  awardees selected by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program’s 2021 Solicitation 1 cycle will be hosted by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The four graduate students are among 65 individuals representing 29 states who will conduct research at various DOE national laboratories. The students hosted by...

Manufacturing Day webinar highlights industry collaboration, emerging technologies

To celebrate Manufacturing Day 2021, the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative will hold a special webinar on Oct. 1 featuring speakers from the Department of Energy (DOE), presentations by DOE scientists and students and virtual tours.   The free event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT and is open to all. The webinar’s plenary session comprises talks...

DOE-funded project to advance portability of heterogenous HPC applications

A project involving researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and national lab and academic collaborators has received U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding as part of an effort to adapt scientific software for next-generation high-performance computing (HPC) systems. The project, “ComPort: Rigorous Testing Methods to Safeguard Software Porting,” will address one of...

National Ignition Facility experiment puts researchers at threshold of fusion ignition

On Aug. 8, 2021, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ). This advancement puts researchers at the threshold of fusion ignition, an important goal of the NIF, and opens access to a new experimental regime. The experiment was enabled by...

Nuclear forensics international group holds 25th anniversary meeting

Several Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists played key roles in the 25th annual meeting of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG), which met last month. The event, which was conducted in a virtual setting for the first time, was attended by more than 100 experts from 30 countries and highlighted the group’s notable contributions to...