Americans used less energy in 2019

Turning those lights off when you leave has a benefit.  In 2019, Americans used less energy than in 2018, 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. Americans used 100.2 quads (quadrillion BTU) of energy, which is 1 quad less...

DOE HPC4Mfg Program funds 13 new projects to improve energy technologies through HPC

A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program designed to spur the use of high performance supercomputers to advance U.S. manufacturing is funding 13 new industry projects for a total of $3.9 million. The High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) Program unites the world-class computing resources and expertise of the national laboratories with U.S. manufacturers to teach them how...

Americans used more clean energy in 2016

Americans used more renewable energy in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Overall, energy consumption was nearly flat. Each year, the Laboratory releases energy flow charts that illustrate the nation's consumption and use of energy. Americans used 0.1 quads (quadrillion BTU), more in 2016...

Carbon-free energy from solar water splitting

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators are fine tuning the mechanisms to generate hydrogen from water and sunlight. Hydrogen production offers a promising approach for producing scalable and sustainable carbon-free energy. The key to a successful solar-to-fuel technology is the design of efficient, long-lasting and low-cost photoelectrochemical cells...

Lab, industry take charge of clean energy

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials met with energy industry representatives Tuesday to discuss ways in which the two entities can work more closely.The event highlighted a public-private partnership to engage energy storage companies with LLNL’s world-class research capabilities and facilities through the CalCharge consortium.During a daylong open house, energy storage industry...

It's nanotubular: New material could be used for energy storage and conversion

Lawrence Livermore researchers have made a material that is 10 times stronger and stiffer than traditional aerogels of the same density.This ultralow-density, ultrahigh surface area bulk material with an interconnected nanotubular makeup could be used in catalysis, energy storage and conversion, thermal insulation, shock energy absorption and high energy density physics.Ultralow-density...

Lawrence Livermore researchers model spent nuclear fuels for potential energy

Lawrence Livermore scientists have modeled actinide-based alloys, such as spent nuclear fuel, in an effort to predict the impact of evolving fuel chemistry on material performance. This work, funded by a Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program on "Scientific Basis for Ultra-high Burn-up Nuclear Fuels," could have direct implications for the use of spent nuclear fuel as another...