Research Themes +
Energy Technologies Area (ETA) researchers are continually building on the strong scientific foundation we have developed over the past 50 years. We address the world’s most pressing climate challenges by bringing to market energy-efficient innovations across the buildings, transportation, and industrial sectors. ETA is at the forefront of developing better batteries for electric vehicles; improving the country's aging electrical grid and innovating distributed energy and storage solutions; developing grid-interactive, efficient buildings; and providing the most comprehensive market and data analysis worldwide for renewable technologies like wind and solar.
Strategic Initiatives +
The Energy Technologies Area (ETA) Strategic Plan is the guiding force for our research and development for the next ten years. It clearly charts a path toward clean-energy solutions and focuses on five detailed Strategic Initiatives. The Plan provides an in-depth look at how ETA is accelerating research to provide affordable, clean energy to all while accomplishing deep, economy-wide decarbonization, looking to avoid a rise in global average temperature while simultaneously developing solutions to increase humanity's resilience to extreme weather volatility.
Publications
News +
For media inquiries,
please contact ETA
Interim Communications Manager
Kiran Julin

[email protected]
About Us +
The Energy Technologies Area (ETA) is unique in translating fundamental scientific discoveries into scalable technology adoption. Our approach combines an understanding of the marketplace and the role of state and federal regulation and policies. ETA's research drives real-world, practical results that affect and improve the everyday lives of Americans and those across the globe. Saving energy and battling the Climate Crisis are key to the foundation of our research, which is driven by technoeconomic analysis and in-lab experimentation and discovery.

Energy Efficient Air Conditioner Study

November 10, 2017

The International Energy Studies Group recently announced the release of a new Berkeley Lab study that will improve the energy efficiency of room air conditioners.

"Assessment of commercially available energy-efficient room air conditioners including models with low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants" reviews improvement of energy efficiency of room air conditioners (RACs) while transitioning to low global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants, which will be a critical step toward reducing the energy, peak load and emissions impacts of RACs while keeping costs low.

The report describes research performed to identify the best-performing (i.e., most efficient and low-GWP-refrigerant using) RACs on the market, to support an understanding of the best available technology for market transformation programs for high efficiency, low-GWP equipment such as minimum energy performance standards, labeling, procurement, performance assurance requirements for imports, and incentive programs.