Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast

Special Correspondent Nataleah Small joins the podcast to discuss Hispanic Heritage Month at NREL. Hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle discuss three recent stories from NREL:

• NREL’s Annual Partner Forum Eyes Pathways to Future Energy Systems: The laboratory hosted its 7th annual Partner Forum last month, bringing together industry partners, researchers, and energy leaders to discuss our most pertinent energy challenges, explore energy innovation opportunities, connect stakeholders to solve grid integration challenges, and develop collaborations and partnerships. The event included a demonstration of NREL’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems platform—also known as ARIES.
• After 20 Years, NREL and Walmart Partnership Stays Strong: NREL partnered with Walmart to test clean energy technologies in an Aurora, Colorado, store in 2003, and the partnership has been growing ever since. Some of the technologies NREL has tested throughout the partnership are now standard in all Walmart stores.
• Early-Career Researchers Gather in Frenoble, France, To Tackle Climate Change From a Global Perspective: In early July, 65 researchers from 16 countries spent one week outside of Grenoble in the northern French Alps participating in lectures and discussions about the latest developments and trends in renewable energy and sustainability research with a goal to create an international network of researchers dedicated to making the energy transition happen as quickly as possible. The summer school was organized under the patronage of the Research and Development 20 for Clean Energy Technologies (RD20) initiative.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at [email protected]. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Hosts Taylor Mankle and Kerrin Jeromin explore four recent stories from NREL:
Floating Photovoltaics in Southeast Asia:
In a first-of-its-kind assessment, NREL researchers completed an analysis of FPV potential for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Enabling Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) Deployment: FPV Technical Potential Assessment for Southeast Asia estimates the technical potential for the 10 ASEAN countries and is coupled with an FPV data set that is publicly accessible through the USAID-NREL Partnership's Renewable Energy (RE) Data Explorer tool.
The 2023 Electricity Annual Technology Baseline:
NREL has released the 2023 Electricity Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), a realistic and timely set of technology cost and performance data (current and projected) for the electric sector.
Preparing the Next Generation’s Zero-Energy Workforce with ZEDD:
Howard University’s Master of Architecture with an Equitable High-Performance Energy Design Concentration was among 17 programs of study from 12 institutions in the U.S. Department of Energy’s inaugural Zero Energy Design Designation (ZEDD) cohort in 2022.
Two NREL Researchers Named Electrochemical Society Fellows:
The Electrochemical Society has selected two researchers from NREL among this year’s class of its fellows: Bryan Pivovar, who manages NREL’s Electrochemical Engineering and Materials Chemistry Group, and Jeff Blackburn, who is a senior scientist, group manager, NREL Distinguished Member of the Research Staff, and serves on the current board of directors of ECS.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at [email protected]. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle discuss recent stories from NREL:

• Alaska Native communities face enormous challenges when it comes to energy, housing, and health, in part due to government-provided prefabricated housing from the late 20th century that was not designed for Alaska’s extreme weather. Seven homeowners in the Native Village of Gakona are working with researchers at NREL’s Alaska Campus (formerly Cold Climate Housing Center) in Fairbanks, about 200 miles north, to improve the health, safety, and energy efficiency of their homes.
• Special Correspondent Jason Youngstrom joins to share how NREL is addressing the problem of “wishcycling,” where people recycle items they're unsure about, leading to challenges in the recycling system. NREL's approach involves staff-driven programs to sort and recycle plastics labeled 3–7, focusing on capturing various types of plastic waste. The laboratory is researching upcycling technologies and redesigning plastics for recyclability, aiming for a circular economy where every plastic produced has a viable path to reuse.
• Malik Hassanaly, a computational science researcher at NREL, specializes in uncertainty quantification, machine learning, and computational fluid dynamics spanning diverse areas like solar and wind energy, bioenergy, energy storage, and cybersecurity. His multidisciplinary approach enhances scientific innovation and practical problem-solving, emphasizing the importance of understanding various computational science use cases.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at [email protected]. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

Hosts Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle discuss recent stories from NREL:

• The LA100 Equity Strategies project, developed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in collaboration with NREL and the University of California, Los Angeles , envisions a future where Los Angeles achieves 100% clean electricity by 2035 through community-driven approaches. The project, born out of two years of community engagement, outlines strategic pathways to address inequities in the current energy system, focusing on issues such as affordable clean energy access, workforce development, and community involvement to ensure a just and inclusive transition to renewable energy.
• Ben Maurer, a scuba diver and ocean enthusiast working with NREL, leads the Waterborne Plastics Assessment and Collection Technologies project (WaterPACT) to address the issue of waterborne plastics. Through collaborative efforts with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and various partners, Maurer's team collects data on plastics in major rivers, including the Mississippi, Delaware, Columbia, and Los Angeles rivers, aiming to develop solutions to prevent plastic pollution from reaching the ocean and create a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. contribution to global ocean emissions.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at [email protected]. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.

In this week’s episode, our hosts Kerrin and Taylor discuss:

• A 30-year friendship that brings together NREL and minority-serving institutions through DOE’s Visiting Faculty Program to focus on unraveling the mysteries of photosynthesis. NREL researcher Juanping Yu and Alabama State University professor Harvey Hou research collaboration has resulted in research papers, an Energy Earthshots award, and new friendships.
• Upgrading the nation’s power grid is a huge undertaking, but one that must be done to ensure an affordable, sustainable, and reliable energy future. The recently released National Transmission Planning Study identifies solutions that can help planners and developers revamp the grid to support the next generation of transmission needs and provide broadscale benefits to electric customers.

Plus, special correspondent Jason Youngstrom shares an update on an event that brings science fiction writers and NREL researchers together to hypothesize about the future of our energy needs.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by James Wilcox, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Transforming Energy: The NREL Podcast is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. We express our gratitude and acknowledge that the land we are on is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute peoples. Email us at [email protected]. Follow NREL on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.