News

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

Berkeley Lab researchers’ discovery may enable next-generation cathodes.Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a novel electrolyte for use in solid-state lithium batteries that overcomes many of the problems that plague other solid electrolytes while also showing signs of being compatible with next-generation... Read more

Marca Doeff’s research is focused on materials for Li-ion batteries, sodium ion batteries, and solid state batteries, including discovery of a cathode material that has higher capacity than traditional layered materials. She has recently posted a history of cathode development for Li-ion batteries in a popular battery blog.... Read more

How Berkeley Lab battery spinoff Seeo got acquired by a major multinational company.As often happens in science, what started as a research project to make one thing turned into something completely different. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers Nitash Balsara and Hany Eitouni were developing an electroresponsive polymer that turned out to be not such a good artificial... Read more

A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) team led by Samveg Saxena of the Energy Technologies Area’s Grid Integration Group won a 2015 R&D 100 award for developing V2G-Sim, a vehicle-to-grid simulator. The development team also included Jonathan Coignard and Jason MacDonald.Jason MacDonaldV2G-Sim quantifies energy use for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by the second, under... Read more

A team led by Gao Liu of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab’s) Energy Storage & Distributed Resources Division has won a 2015 R&D 100 award for developing a high-capacity anode for rechargeable batteries. Berkeley Lab’s Hui Zhao also participated in the development, as did Zeptor co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Chuck Consorte.The material and process... Read more

Researchers on the Lab’s MyGreenCar team share personal insights about their app’s journey to tech commercialization in the final episode of the short film series. As their six weeks in DOE’s Lab-Corps program comes to a close, they return to Detroit for a final report and ponder a possible new funding partner.... Read more

Entrepreneurs frequently talk about pivoting – moving to a new customer segment or a different application of their technology. The Lab’s MyGreenCar team is no exception. In Episode 5, the researchers weigh the benefits of pivoting as their time in DOE’s Lab-Corps program to move energy-related inventions to the marketplace nears its end.... Read more

As the Lab’s MyGreenCar team crosses the halfway point, the researchers must decide if more customer interviews will yield new information, or if it is time to zero in on the most lucrative markets. Watch Episode 4 of the short film series and learn more about DOE’s Lab-Corps program to move energy-related inventions to the marketplace.... Read more

Successful, widespread production and deployment of renewable energy technologies and electric transportation depends on reliable, cost-effective energy storage. Emerging manufacturing approaches suggest a seismic reduction of battery costs, but how do they affect the market, the ability to achieve grid-scale storage, and support significant expansion of electric vehicle range and reliability?... Read more

Berkeley Lab scientists unravel structural ambiguities in lithium-rich transition metal oxides.Using complementary microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) say they have solved the structure of lithium- and manganese-rich transition metal oxides, a potentially game-changing battery material and the subject of intense debate in the... Read more

In the third episode, the Lab's MyGreenCar team visits favorite Berkeley hangouts to meet potential customers for their app. Later they face key bottom line questions: what is their target market and who will pay for fuel economy information? This is the third in a six-episode film series capturing the Lab's participation in DOE's Lab-Corps pilot program.... Read more

"You are literally changing the world, and I am honored to be part of it, even if for few hours" said Arwa Guesmi, from Tunisia after her visit to Berkeley Lab. Guesmi is an Emerging Leader (EL) at the U.S. Department of State's TechWomen program. Nine TechWomen ELs from seven countries visited Berkeley Lab on October 14th to learn more about energy research and green technology. The visiting... Read more

The chronicles of Berkeley Lab's MyGreenCar team continue. Episode two opens in Detroit where the Lab researchers attend a business boot camp designed for scientists and start round one of customer interviews, key elements of DOE's Lab-Corps Program. The team begins to fine-tune its target market and discovers the last place to ask questions about fuel economy.... Read more

New projects for hydrogen storage and fuel cell performance aim to bring down cost of fuel cell electric vehicles.With commitments from leading car and stationary-power manufacturers to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and the first ever fuel cell electric vehicle to go on sale later this year, interest is once again swelling in this carbon-free technology. Now, thanks to several new projects... Read more

The 2015 Bay Area Battery Summit is scheduled for November 3rd, 2015 at Berkeley Lab!Emerging energy storage technologies and effective state and federal policies have, and will continue to drive important changes to the nation’s transportation and electric grid infrastructure and ecosystems. However, uncertainty in technology choices and policy options may hinder the speed of adoption and... Read more

In the run-up to its annual supercomputing conference, SC15 organizers have released a video on the Electrolyte Genome, a project led by Kirstin Persson that uses computing to speed up the materials discovery process. Watch her and others on the team describe how it could lead to the next breakthrough battery. Read more on the official SC15 blog.... Read more

New Berkeley Lab study finds lower greenhouse gas emissions on per-mile basis for driverless cars deployed as taxis.Imagine a fleet of driverless taxis roaming your city, ready to pick you up and take you to your destination at a moment’s notice. While this may seem fantastical, it may be only a matter of time before it becomes reality. And according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley... Read more

Berkeley Lab study finds EV batteries have a longer useful life than current standards suggest.In the first study of its kind, scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) quantitatively show that electric vehicles (EVs) will meet the daily travel needs of drivers longer than commonly assumed. Many drivers and much prior literature on the retirement... Read more

Berkeley Lab and UNC-Chapel Hill’s discovery of nonflammable electrolyte gets VC funding. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) battery scientist Nitash Balsara has worked for many years trying to find a way to improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries. Now he believes he has found the answer in a most unlikely material—a class of compounds that has mainly been used for... Read more

An excerpt from a U.S. Department of Energy blog:"...dramatic changes are occurring in our nation’s energy mix, many of which demand a more technologically advanced electric grid. Increasing use of renewable energy sources, risks of cyber and physical attacks, and aging infrastructure create uncertainty of the current grid’s long-term ability to provide the services demanded of it. These... Read more

One of eight mid-career women who received a Clean Energy and Empowerment award from DOE-MIT partnership.As part of the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) program, run by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), Sila Kiliccote, leader of the Grid Integration Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was recognized for her accomplishments... Read more