News

Animation – This animated 3-D rendering, generated by an X-ray-based imaging technique at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source, shows tiny pockets of water (blue) in a fibrous sample. The X-ray experiments showed how moisture and temperature can affect the performance of fuel-cell components. (Credit: Berkeley Lab)Like a well-tended greenhouse garden, a specialized type of hydrogen fuel cell –... Read more

Hydro-Québec and the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have agreed to explore collaborations toward the research and development of manufacturing and scale-up technology to advance transportation electrification and energy storage. The two institutions have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assess the feasibility of creating a Québec... Read more

Ravi Prasher, division director of the Energy Storage & Distributed Resources Division at Berkeley Lab, recently gave a talk at UC Berkeley about the electricity grid. Below is an excerpt and video of his talk.Fossil fuels have powered economic growth and improved quality of life for more than two centuries – and for good reason. They can store a great deal of energy, and it can be used any... Read more

As the U.S. electricity grid continues to modernize, it will mean things like better reliability and resilience, lower environmental impacts, greater integration of renewable energy, as well as new computing and communications technologies to monitor and manage the increasing number of devices that connect to the grid. However, that enhanced connectivity for grid operators and consumers also opens... Read more

New projects for hydrogen storage and fuel cell performance aim to bring down cost of fuel cell electric vehicles.A powdery mix of metal nanocrystals wrapped in single-layer sheets of carbon atoms, developed at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), shows promise for safely storing hydrogen for use with fuel cells for passenger vehicles and other uses. And... Read more

U.S.-India Consortium Will Advance Cutting-Edge Technologies that Promote Greater Energy Independence and Economic GrowthBerkeley Lab's Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division (ESDR) will be part of a consortium for a joint U.S.-India five-year project that will help advance the development of the power grid.ESDR will join a team led by Washington State University. The consortium has... Read more

Surprising discovery is a major advance for low-cost, high-energy batteriesLithium-sulfur batteries have great potential as a low-cost, high-energy, energy source for both vehicle and grid applications. However, they suffer from significant capacity fading. Now scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have made a surprising discovery that... Read more

Vast amounts of energy are wasted every year in the form of heat. A new project led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) seeks to efficiently capture that heat and convert it to electricity, potentially saving California up to $385 million per year.With a $2-million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC), Berkeley Lab is partnering with Alphabet... Read more

Using advanced imaging techniques, scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have been able to observe what exactly happens inside a cathode particle as lithium-ion batteries are charged and discharged.In a research project led by Berkeley Lab materials chemist Guoying Chen, the researchers uncovered important insights into reactions in cathode... Read more

If you're thinking of buying a new car, there's a decent chance you're considering trying something greener. There's also a decent chance that some concern, big or small, has you hitting the brakes when it comes to buying an electric car.Maybe you think that you'll be tethered to charging stations and unable to take long trips, or that the battery won't last very long, or that you'll need some... Read more

Ahmet Kusoglu, of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, has received the Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award of The Electrochemical Society recognizing outstanding young researchers in the field of energy technology. Kusoglu will receive his award at the 2017 Spring ECS meeting.... Read more

Berkeley Lab helps clear the way for significant reductions in the cost of solar powerThe Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) will work with four other DOE national labs in a new effort designed to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative, high-performance materials for photovoltaic modules to lower the cost of electricity generated by... Read more

Dr. Gao Liu and Dr. Vincent Battaglia's recent achievements were acknowledged by DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson during his recent visit to LBNL. Danielson praised the researchers for their pioneering contributions to conducting polymer binders for silicon anodes for high energy density lithium-ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are used in most... Read more

There will be a celebration going on in the Berkeley Hills this weekend, and it's not just a student party or football game.Rather, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) and from all over the world will be celebrating the second annual National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day on Saturday, October 8, 2016.National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day was created to help build awareness of... Read more

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been awarded more than $4 million by the Department of Energy (DOE) to undertake three projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of buildings, which account for more than 40 percent of the country's energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.The projects, all developed in the Lab's Energy Technologies Area (ETA), will help meet... Read more

The Materials Project, run by Berkeley Lab, accelerates innovation by enabling computationally driven materials and battery design.The Materials Project, a Google-like database of material properties aimed at accelerating innovation, has released an enormous trove of data to the public, giving scientists working on fuel cells, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, and a host of other advanced materials... Read more

The local news station and combustion scientist Don Lucas of the Energy Technologies Area ignited car seats to test how those treated with flame retardant chemicals compared with so-called “green seats” that used wool. The green seat provided about the same amount of protection, but without the chemicals, which have been shown to be harmful.... Read more

A major new initiative tackles water-energy issues in California and beyond.Billions of gallons of water are used each day in the United States for energy production—for hydroelectric power generation, thermoelectric plant cooling, and countless other industrial processes, including oil and gas mining. And huge amounts of energy are required to pump, treat, heat, and deliver water.This... Read more

Robert Kostecki of the Energy Technologies Area received a 2016 International Battery Association Research Award for his “outstanding research on battery materials and characterization of fundamental electrochemical phenomena.” The IBA Awards honor significant contributions to battery research that have advanced the development of energy storage systems.... Read more

Berkeley Lab’s Venkat Srinivasan recently traveled to Washington, D.C., in his role as Deputy Director of R&D for DOE’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research. Srinivasan, with JCESR Director George Crabtree, briefed members and staff of the California Congressional delegation on JCESR’s progress to date. Srinivasan also spoke about the success of CalCharge.... Read more

Venkat Srinivasan of the Energy Technologies Area was a finalist for the East Bay Economic Development Alliance Innovation Awards. He was recognized in the “Catalyst” category for his efforts towards creating the CalCharge consortium, which connects East Bay companies with Lab scientists to develop battery technology.The following is the San Francisco Business Times article about the CalCharge... Read more

President Obama has named 106 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Included on the list this year is Michael Stadler of Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area (ETA).“These... Read more

New funding from DOE will lead to improved security of distribution systemThe nation’s electric power system is central to the U.S. economy and our growing need for clean, reliable, and secure electric power. Yet today’s electric grid is under increasing pressure to change and modernize in the face of emerging challenges and technological opportunities.Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz... Read more

Berkeley Lab researchers find that controlling surface chemistry is important to developing high-energy lithium-ion batteries.Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, or NMC, is one of the most promising chemistries for better lithium batteries, especially for electric vehicle applications, but scientists have been struggling to get higher capacity out of them. Now researchers at Lawrence Berkeley... Read more

The Grid Integration Group (Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division) has been awarded a grant for a “Modular, Secure, and Replicable Microgrid Control System for Generation and Storage Management at Military Installations” at Fort Hunter Liggett by the Department of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program.... Read more