With increased flexibility, the eastern grid can get more than 30 percent renewables online, and at times, can boost its renewables penetration to up to 60 percent. That's the word from a new report from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), "The Eastern Renewable Generation Integration Study (ERGIS)." To bring … [Read more...]
How NREL Consumes 74% Less Energy Than National Average for Office Buildings
June 23, 2015 By
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory consumes 74% less energy than the national average for office space. NREL has a supercomputer, a plug-and-play megawatt smart grid and laboratories. The lab used state-of-the-art technologies to achieve the savings and took advantage of incentives from utility Xcel Energy. The total project cost of the … [Read more...]
Striving Toward 100% Renewable Microgrids: NREL
June 19, 2015 By
If you're interested in following the latest research into microgrids -- especially 100 percent renewable microgrids -- keep an eye on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Col., which has a research microgrid. Among the microgrids under study are microgrids on islands, microgrids on military bases, and microgrids that are part of … [Read more...]
Underground Microgrids: Nothing to See Here Neighbors
December 11, 2014 By
Microgrids are good, underground microgrids are even better, especially in storm-prone regions. Buried wires are spared the destruction -- and outages -- brought by wind, snow and ice, which often topple over-head wires. Underground microgrids also escape the ire of neighbors who increasingly protest against stringed wire, especially in … [Read more...]
Uncovering the Energy Efficiency Insurance Risks of Small Office Buildings
March 12, 2014 By
Energi, a leading provider of specialized insurance and risk management solutions, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) partnered in October 2013 to analyze and begin to quantify the uninsurable risks of energy efficiency retrofits in small office buildings. Uninsurable risk is one of the largest barriers to financing energy … [Read more...]
Energy research and the cobbler’s children
November 5, 2009 By
By Elisa Wood November 5, 2009 Scientific research has brought us products that offer greater energy efficiency. But is research, itself, energy efficient? Evan Mills, staff scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, raises this question and points out what may be a largely untapped market for energy efficiency companies: research … [Read more...]
