News

The developers of the fuel-efficient Berkeley-Darfur Stove for refugee camps in Central Africa are at it once again, this time evaluating inexpensive metal cookstoves for the displaced survivors of last year's deadly earthquake in Haiti. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have teamed up with students from the University of... Read more

Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere, in smart phones, laptops, an array of other consumer electronics, and the newest electric cars. Good as they are, they could be much better, especially when it comes to lowering the cost and extending the range of electric cars. To do that, batteries need to store a lot more energy. The anode is a critical component for storing energy in lithium-ion batteries.... Read more

A new policy brief on the value of energy performance and green attributes in buildings, authored by Elizabeth Stuart, is available. Labels, certifications, and rating systems for energy efficiency performance and "green" attributes of buildings have been available in the U.S. for over 10 years, and used extensively in the European Union and Australia for longer. Such certifications and ratings... Read more

NASA's Ames Research Center and the Department of Energy (DOE), at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif. are collaborating on technologies and processes for what may be the "greenest," highest-performing building in the federal government. Originally developed for aerospace applications, NASA intelligent system software will be installed in the new building, called... Read more

A technology with the potential to increase the lithium-ion storage capacity of advanced batteries by eight times has been awarded a $240,000 grant from the University of California's Discovery proof-of-concept grant program to accelerate its entrance into the marketplace. This project is led by Gao Liu (Principal Investigator) and Vince Battaglia (co-PI) in the Environmental Energy Technologies... Read more

The installed cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2010 and into the first half of 2011, according to the latest edition of an annual PV cost tracking report released by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The average installed cost of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2010 fell by... Read more

Past work by Heat Island Group Postdoctoral Fellow George Ban-Weiss, describing how Central Park and other urban green spaces contribute to global cooling, has been featured on various platforms in recent weeks.Roger Pielke, Sr. wrote this post reviewing Ban-Weiss et al. (2011) on his Climate Science blog on 9/16/2011.The Daily Californian discussed the study in this article on 9/20/2011.Grist... Read more

Scientists in EETD provided technical analysis to the Department of Energy for the energy efficiency standards announced today.From the U.S. Department of Energy:Today, the Department of Energy issued final energy efficiency standards for home refrigerators and freezers that will improve their efficiency by about 25% by 2014. These new standards, developed through a consensus process with... Read more

A new policy brief for energy efficiency contractors and program managers describes how adding sales and business skills to contractor technical skills and certifications can increase the rate of customer conversions from home energy assessment to comprehensive home energy upgrade. It was prepared by Megan Billingsley and Elizabeth Stuart of the Electricity Markets and Policy Group of the... Read more

Please join the Better Buildings Program of the U.S. Department of Energy and experts from the Environmental Energy Technologies Department for a webinar in which we will discuss approaches to integrating experimental design into energy efficiency programs. Integrating Experimental Design Into Your Program Wednesday, August 24, 2011 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PDT Click here to Register for the Webinar... Read more

Leon (Lee) Schipper, a scientist who worked in Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division for more than two decades, passed away on August 16 at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. He was 64 and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May. Schipper was an energy efficiency expert who first worked at the Lab as a graduate student in 1972 and then joined as a scientist in 1978. He went... Read more

Researchers, government agencies, and roofing manufacturers from around the world gathered in Berkeley last month (July 28-29, 2011) to discuss the latest research on cool roofs. These solar reflective materials reduce energy use, and help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight to outer space. Their use has begun to soar in markets around the world thanks to their economic and environmental... Read more

Recently, EETD's Thomas Kirchstetter, and Tim Dallman and Robert Harley of the University of California, Berkeley, presented the results of a study on the emissions of PM (particulate matter) and NOx (nitrogen oxides) from trucks at the Port of Oakland. The occasion was an August 4th hearing in Oakland, California, convened by Alameda County supervisors to discuss requirements that trucks... Read more

The Department of Energy has awarded up to $1.9 million to a research team led by EETD's Eric Masanet to develop "total cost of ownership" models for low- and high-temperature stationary fuel cell systems up to 250 kilowatts. The work will support research and development efforts for fuel cells by assessing the impact of state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, system designs, and deployment... Read more

If you read the Doonesbury comic strip on Sunday, August 7, you might have seen Michael Doonesbury and Bernie discussing cool white roofs. Cool roofs are an energy-efficient technology developed here in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). The characters also mention in passing a global initiative to help cool the earth by... Read more

Real-time control and continuous high-quality building performance data are the keys to reducing building energy use during day-to-day operations, and to maintaining energy-driven services and occupant comfort. Next-generation highly energy-efficient buildings will be dynamically controlled and monitored.Energy information systems (EIS) are one type of commercially available system that provides... Read more

Click here to read the "Doonesbury" comic that is all about white roofs.... Read more

EETD scientists conduct research to analyze energy use in India, evaluate energy efficiency opportunities in its economy, and develop road maps to promote lower-carbon-emitting, sustainable economic development. They also work with their Indian colleagues on joint research, and provide technical consulting in a variety of areas such as energy-efficient building design and operation.Here are a few... Read more

The International Workshop on Advances in Cool Roof Research is a two day workshop that is focused on the specific protocols, standards, & policies for accelerated aging.Doubletree Hotel at the Berkeley Marina, in Berkeley CaliforniaThursday, July 28th - Friday, July 29th.Click here to download presentationsWorkshop topicsAccelerated soiling and weathering methods for roofing... Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy has released six fact sheets to assist American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grantees and end-users in benchmarking energy efficiency upgrade costs and expected annual savings. The fact sheets are directed at municipal, state, and federal government buildings, healthcare facilities, universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. The fact sheets provide information on the... Read more

The smart grid is a global phenomenon and we can learn from pioneers wherever they are. (Even the nation-state of California!) Here is our globe-trotting roundup of five projects that are charting new territories.... Read more

What: International Radiance Workshop 2011When: Wednesday, August 24 through Friday, August 26Where: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CaliforniaRADIANCE is a highly accurate ray-tracing software system for daylighting and electric lighting simulation that is licensed at no cost in source form. It is intended to improve building energy efficiency and lighting quality by predicting... Read more

Despite a trying year in which wind power capacity additions declined significantly compared to both 2008 and 2009, the U.S. remained one of the fastest-growing wind power markets in the world in 2010—second only to China—according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).... Read more

Christopher Payne, an EETD scientist, will give a live webcast on energy-efficient product procurement for the federal government on August 4, 2011 from 1:30 to 3 pm EDT for the Federal Energy Management Program. He is joined by Amanda Sahl of FEMP.Energy-Efficient Product Procurement outlines how to meet executive order and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements on purchasing... Read more

What: International Workshop on Advances in Cool Roof Research: Protocols, Standards & Policies for Accelerated AgingWhen: Thursday, July 28 - Friday, July 29Where: Doubletree Hotel at Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, CaliforniaThis two-day workshop is sponsored by the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Concordia University, and the US... Read more