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  1. Research
  2. Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Energy

Decarbonizing the energy system
for future generations

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Energy is critical to every aspect of modern society and a thriving global economy. But harmful emissions from traditional energy production methods and uses threaten that livelihood.

For a sustainable energy future, we must dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our energy system while enabling all citizens to benefit from a clean energy economy. Clean and affordable energy practices need to become part of our collective DNA.

Guided by federal policy, and in partnership with industry experts and the research community, PNNL scientists and engineers work every day toward a sustainable energy future for all that is not just imagined, but real.

Decarbonization: the key to clean energy

Decarbonizing our energy system means maximizing energy efficiency across all energy sectors, eliminating green-house gas emissions from power generation, electrifying end-uses, and developing net-zero carbon fuels and chemicals.

With a sharp eye on both affordability and environmental checks and balances, we must improve energy efficiency, especially in our nation’s building stock, which alone accounts for about 40% of our nation’s energy use each year. We must expand our use of renewable energy sources, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, and energy storage technologies, while electrifying transportation and industry wherever possible. In this dynamic landscape of energy generation and end uses, our modern electric grid must also deliver flexibility and resilience through real-time grid controls for improved situational awareness, demand-response technologies for balancing loads, and grid-scale energy storage systems for critical backup power.

For industries and heavy-duty transportation sectors that aren’t easily electrified or don’t have alternatives to fossil fuels, we must take advantage of greener chemistries and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. In the meantime, our ongoing commitment to increasing efficiency across the energy system, including vehicles, buildings, and industry, will continue to save American households and businesses billions of dollars while keeping millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the air each year.

Decarbonization and electrification of our energy system won’t happen overnight, but it’s a worthy—and necessary—goal. As we work toward net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, we believe a clean, sustainable energy future should work for everyone, no matter who they are or where they live.

Imagine that.

By the Numbers: Energy Related Research, Fiscal Year 2020

R&D 100 icon

4

R&D 100 Awards

Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards icon

2

Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards

U.S. patents granted applications icon

45

U.S. patents granted

U.S. patents granted icon

118

U.S. patent applications

Highly cited researchers icon

10

Top 1% highly cited researchers

Battelle Distinguished Inventors icon

15

Battelle Distinguished Inventors

Peer-reviewed journal articles icon

482

Peer-reviewed journal articles

PNNL Inventors of the Year icon

4

PNNL Inventors of the Year

Invention disclosures icon

234

Invention disclosures

Copyrights and trademarks granted icon

30

Copyrights and trademarks granted

Grid Storage Launchpad icon

$75M

Grid Storage Launchpad, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity facility to be located at PNNL

Megawatts icon

26+

Megawatts of grid energy storage supported by PNNL, deployed across the nation

Daily data records icon

14M

Daily data records collected from 16 PNNL campus buildings instrumented with fully automated controls and diagnostics

Congressional testimonies icon

9

Congressional testimonies delivered relevant to the power grid, building-grid integration, & energy storage

Latest News

MAY 24, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Pearce Named Honorary Professor with the University of Manchester

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Carolyn Pearce was named the IDREAM EFRC Director in March 2021
MAY 20, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Fifield Receives H.M. Hashemian Mid-Career Award

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Leo Fifield is a materials scientist specializing in how electrical cables age in extreme environments
MAY 19, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Spitz Qualifies as Criticality Safety Engineer—Analyst

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Facilities & Centers

Grid Storage Launchpad at PNNL Systems Engineering Building Radiochemical Processing Laboratory Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory Advanced Battery Facility

Related Divisions

Coastal Sciences Division
Earth Systems Science Division
Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division
Energy Processes & Materials Division
Nuclear Sciences Division

Related Links

What is Environmental Justice?What is the Smart Grid?What are Green Buildings?Job OpportunitiesWhat is Tidal Energy?Staff Directory

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