Science for Energy Technology Strengthening the Link between Basic Science and Industry

Basic Energy SciencesBasic Energy Sciences

Science for Energy TechnologyStrengthening the Link between Basic Science and Industry

The Full Report

Report co-ordinators

Alexis MalozemoffAmerican Superconductor Corporation

George Crabtree*Argonne National Laboratory

BESAC MeetingAugust 5, 2010, Rockville, MD

Today’s presenters

Alexis MalozemoffAmerican Superconductor Corporation

John SarraoLos Alamos National Laboratory

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Brinkman’s Charge

1. Summarize the science themes that emerged from the BESAC reports Basic Research Needs for a Secure Energy Future and the follow-on BES Basic Research Needs topical reports with an emphasis on the needs of the more applied energy technologies. Identify grand challenge science drivers that are likely to have an impact in the energy arena in the near term.

2. Identify how the suite of BES-supported and -managed scientific user facilities can impact basic and applied research on energy.

3. Identify other major impediments to successful achievement and implementation of transformative energy technologies, including potential deficits in human capital and workforce development, and possible solutions to these problems.

“I anticipate the need for two reports. The first would be a short report of a less technical nature… and the second would be a more detailed technical

report…”

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Co-chairs:George Crabtree (Argonne National Laboratory)

Alexis Malozemoff (American Superconductor Corporation)

Panel leads Charles Gay (Applied Materials) Kurt Edsinger (EPRI) Richard Esposito (Southern Company)Bart Riley (A123 Systems)Thomas Schneider (NREL)Bernd Keller (Cree)Gregory Powers (Verenium)Omkaram Nalamasu (Applied Materials)Simon Bare* (UOP LLC)* Member of BESAC# Ex Officio, Chair of BESAC

Subcommittee on Science for Energy Technology

Generalists

John Hemminger# (U. California, Irvine)Lori Greene (U. California, Irvine)Marc Kastner (MIT)Patrick Looney (BNL)Celia Merzbacher (SRC)John Sarrao (LANL)

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“SciTech” Workshop

Jan. 18-21, 2010, Rockville MD~ 100 participants from industry, national labs and academia8 panels on major energy technology areas, plus one on scientific user facilities3-4 priority research directions identified for each panelNon-technical barriers identifiedIndustry interaction with basic scientists

a highlight of the workshop

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The Two Reports

Concept report ~ 15 pagesFor wide distribution to decision makers in Congress, Administration, agencies, energy communityInspiring, exciting, high levelLimited number of high level actionable items

Approved by BESAC, issued April 2010

Full report ~ 200 pagesFor Office of Science, technically savvy industrial & scientific communitiesMore detailed recommendations and actionable items

Today’s discussion5


The Full Report - Status

• Full Report now completed subject to BESAC approval • It repeats and amplifies main themes of April Concept Report

o Many opportunities exist for BES science to make transformative near-term impact on nation’s energy problems

o Direct collaboration with industry important to achieve this impact

o BES scientific user facilities can play a major role• What is new vis-à-vis Concept Report?

o Detailed technical description of Priority Research Directionso Amplified discussion of non-technical barriers and solutions

- Facilitating industry/basic-research collaborations

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Relationship of BES to Industry

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Why Reach Out to Industry?

Technical motivationClean energy technologies operate far below their theoretical potential

e. g. Commercial PV at ~20% vs. combined cycle gas turbines ~60%

Industry roadblock is often basic science understanding of materials, chemistry and energy conversion at nanoscale

Basic science understanding can lead directly to industrial performance

innovations8



Societal motivationThe traditional economic driver – consumer spending leading to GDP and jobs growth – has paused or structurally declined

Addressing national energy needs and exporting clean energy technologies to the developing and developed world builds a reliable and enduring new economic foundation

Industry is the vehicle for commercializationBasic science supporting industry will enable

and accelerate the new economic foundation

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UrgencyOther countries striving to take the lead in establishing clean energy technology – Europe and Asia

Other parts of the US R&D enterprise starting to move into the science-to-industry space

- but BES is best positioned to address the need

- an opportunity to augment the role of BES The window of opportunity is short

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Report Highlights

Transformational near term research is not an oxymoron

BRN’s already identified two kinds of science contributions to energy

1. “Supernovas” – breakthroughs that change technical landscape

-high temperature superconductivity in 19862. Understanding and ultimately controlling existing phenomena

- complex materials and chemistry at the nanoscale- mechanisms of “droop” in high current solid state lighting- development of carbon sequestration plumes- conversion among photons, electrons and chemical bonds

SciTech PRDs focused on near-term industry impact- Echo many BRN PRDs- Emphasize sustained building of scientific knowledge base

underlying existing technologies (category 2 above)

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Develop foundational scientific understanding of at-scale production challenges in existing materials and processes

- Identify mechanisms for factor of two efficiency loss in full-scale solar cells over laboratory versions

Beyond empiricism: fundamental understanding of lifetime prediction of materials in extreme environments, especially ageing, degradation and failure

- Degradation mechanisms under the extreme irradiation, thermal, and corrosive conditions of nuclear reactors

Discovery of new materials or chemical processes with targeted functionality

- Modeling frameworks to predict performance of new biomass and other energy conversion catalysts

Three Overarching Themes

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Three Crosscutting Needs

New materials by design with specific properties or functionalities

Numerical modelingScience of synthesisCharacterization of outcomes

Interfaces: understand, predict and control optical, electrical, mechanical and chemical behaviorsolar cells, radiation hard materials, carbon dioxide

reactivity and migration, battery and fuel cell electrodes

Dynamic behavior away from equilibriumChemical reaction kinetics, degradation and failure

modes of materials, current flow in electric grid 13


Post Concept Report: Outreach efforts/Community feedback on the Concept Report

During April-May, concept report presented to

Brinkman, Koonin, Dehmer, Kung

House and Senate staffers

Positive feedback, but action awaits Full Report

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Part I: Panel Summary ReportExecutive SummaryBody of Report

Role of topic in national energy pictureStatus of present and ultimate industrial technology deployment Broad context/background for the three Priority Research DirectionBrief description of PRDs

Part II: Priority Research DirectionsProblem Statement (a few sentences describing the problem) plus context/background

Executive Summary industry need, scientific challenge, research direction, and potential impact

Context/background for PRD

Industry Need (upper left of quad chart)Explicit discussion of industry need and why science is needed to address it

Scientific Challenges (upper right of quad chart)Specific technical questions and brief discussion of why they’re significant

Research Directions (lower left of quad chart)A few enumerated possible research projects described in ~ one paragraph/each

Potential Impact (lower right of quad chart)Discuss how solving this problem impacts present/ultimate industry deployment

Overview of Full Report: Panel Report Chapters

Thanks to BESAC members for editorial help over the last month

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Panel 1: Solar Electricity from photovoltaicsCoordinator: Charles Gay, Applied Solar

• Fundamentals Properties of Photovoltaic Interfaces

• Advanced Photovoltaic Analysis and Computational Modeling for Scale-up

• Photovoltaic Lifetime and Degradation SciencePanel 2: Advanced Nuclear EnergyCoordinator: Kurt Edsinger, EPRI

• Materials Degradation Mechanisms • Scaling of Advanced Irradiation Effects • Back End of the Fuel Cycle

Panel 3: Carbon SequestrationCoordinator: Richard Esposito, Southern Co.

• Extracting High Resolution Information from Subsurface Imaging and Modeling

• Understanding Multi-scale Dynamics of Flow and Plume Migration

• Control Science and Tools to Handle Very Low Rate Processes

Panel 4: Electrical Energy StorageCoordinator :Bart Riley, A123 Systems

• New Materials for Enhanced Battery Performance

• New Architectures for Electric Energy Storage • Understanding and Controlling Heterogeneous

Interfaces

Priority Research Directions

Panel 5: Electric Power Grid TechnologiesCoordinator: Thomas Schneider, NREL

• High Performance and Reliability of Power Electronic Materials • High Temperature Superconductors for the Grid• Electric Insulation Materials for Power Cables• New Materials for Overhead Conductors

Panel 6: Advanced Solid State LightingCoordinator: Bernd Keller, Cree

• High Efficiency Visible Solid State Emission at High Current Density and Temperature

• White Emission Through Wavelength Conversion • OLED Materials and Structures

Panel 7: BiofuelsCoordinator: Gregory Powers, Verenium

• Diversity of Biomass and Its Intermediates in Biofuel Processing

• Influence of Transport Phenomena on Biomass Conversion • Catalyst Discovery, Characterization and Performance

OptimizationPanel 8: Energy Efficiency: Buildings, Fuel Cells and Wind PowerCoordinator: Om Nalamasu, Applied Materials

• Dynamic Optical and Thermal Properties of Building Envelopes• Fuel Cell Materials Understanding and Discovery • Enabling Materials Technologies for Next Generation Wind

Power

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Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems

SciTech Workshop PRDs complement BRN PRDs

Electrical Energy Storage

• Microstructure and property stability under extreme conditions • Predictive multiscale modeling of materials and chemical phenomena in multi-component systems under extreme conditions • Physics and chemistry of actinide materials - f-electron challenge

• Materials Degradation Mechanisms

• Scaling of Advanced Irradiation Effects

• Back End of the Fuel Cycle

• Rational materials design through theory and modeling• Novel designs and strategies for chemical energy storage• Solid electrolyte interfaces and interphases in chemical energy storage

• New Materials for Enhanced Battery Performance

• New Architectures for Electric Energy Storage • Understanding and Controlling

Heterogeneous Interfaces

SciTech PRDs

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BRN PRDs


Examples of Priority Research Directions

•Solar energy•Carbon Sequestration •Electricity Delivery•Advanced Lighting

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The Opportunity:Solar energy – the most abundant

renewable energy, could supply a large fraction of the world’s energy needs

Science needed:

The Problem:Photovoltaics - most promising converter

of photons to electricity. Need 2x lower $/watt to compete commercially.

But lose factor of 2 in efficiency from lab to commercial scale

Understand mechanisms of efficiency degradation in commercial-scale solar panels: which are critical features of

complex microstructures

Effic

ienc

y CIGS

PRD: Photovoltaics for Harnessing Solar Energy

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PRD: Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

The Problem:

Science needed:Models that• Translate pore scale to field scale, keeping barrier and easy-flow features• Predict effect of CO2 pressure on rock stability and seismicity

• Predict dynamics of CO2 displacement and escape if containment is lost

The Opportunity:Sequestering carbon dioxide in

underground sites enables clean use of fossil fuels

Must understand site capacity, and ability to inject and contain CO2 to

assure sequestration for thousands of years

Field scale

Mineral grain

WaterCO2

2 mm

Pore scale

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Achieve highest Jc

J c(M

A/c

m2 )

H(T)

Envisioned limit

Theoretical limit of (2G)100

10

0.1

0.1 1 100.01

T=77K

Presentperformance

1

B (T)

The Opportunity:Superconductors enable high capacity,

reliable grid, including efficient long-distance transmission of renewable energy

Science needed:Understand mechanisms of vortex

pinning Vortices which control achievable current density.

Current

Force on vortices

The Problem:Superconductors carry 10x less

current than theoretical limit

PRD: Superconductors for High Capacity Grid

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CA

The Opportunity:LEDs to save 22% of today’s

entire electricity use!

The Problem:

Droop!

Today’s lighting LEDscreens

LEDlighting

Lum

ens/

wat

t

Understandmechanisms

for droop

Auger recombination?

Stress?

Polarization?

Defects?

Science needed:

PRD: Solid State Lighting (LEDs)

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Panel 9: BES User Facilities

unique resources

structure spectroscopy

imaging

nanoscale synthesis and

characterization

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Four Recommendations for User Facilities

Enhance industrial outreach by SUFs and develop a systematic and sustained effort to engage targeted industrial sectors

Review and modify existing SUF user access policy and priorities to meet industrial research needs and foster use, and review and modify DOE policies to provide incentive for both industry and SUFs to develop a mutually engaging relationship

Current capabilities: Develop experimental capabilities to allow experimentation at scale on real materials/devices under real world conditions with imaging at all length scales to drive innovation in development of new materials

Future capabilities: Push limit of SUF capabilities for high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution to meet increasingly sophisticated measurement needs for discovery and development of materials and chemistries for next-generation energy systems and technologies

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Barriers and Solutions

Communication• Barrier: differing objectives and styles• Workshop: a promising opening• Need to reach out: advisory boards, personal relationships

Collaboration• Find challenges that exploit basic science to advance industrial performance

• Expand work on SciTech PRDs• Funding incentive / mechanism needed to promote collaboration

• Consortia for common problems• Academia-national laboratory-industry exchange programs• Intellectual property needs case by case solution – and recognition of the legitimate needs of both sides

Workforce• Collaborative research projects• Student and postdoctoral internships in industry• Exchange visits across university-national labs-industry

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Questions for Discussion and Feedback

First round of feedback from BESAC members already incorporated

Any further points?

How do BESAC and BES follow up?Workshops to update or develop the PRDs

Identify existing programs and gapsCommunication initiatives with industryIncentives and mechanisms for collaboration with

industryNew solicitations?

Thanks to BESAC for all your help during this project

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Science for Energy Technology Strengthening the Link between Basic Science and Industry

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