News

A workshop to introduce Chinese government officials to a range of U.S. technology companies that could help them implement their low-emission action plans – thereby facilitating commercial opportunities for U.S. companies in China – was recently hosted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s China Energy Group in Shenzhen, China.More than 60 individuals from U.S. and Chinese government... Read more

Most Americans don’t realize cooking can be a major source of indoor air pollutants, unless they’ve recently burned something on the stove. But studies have shown that cooking-related contaminants can cause health problems such as respiratory illness and asthma attacks.To learn more, I spoke with Brett Singer, PhD, a scientist at Berkeley Lab who investigates indoor air quality. Recently, he... Read more

Berkeley Lab-led study suggests early exposure to thirdhand smoke may lead to greater health risks later in life.Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) identified thirdhand smoke, the toxic residues that linger on indoor surfaces and in dust long after a cigarette has been extinguished, as a health hazard nearly 10 years ago. Now a new... Read more

Nan Zhou recently delivered a keynote speech and participated in a panel discussion on “The Energy Transformation Imperative” at the World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF). Zhou discussed the techno-economic potential in key emerging economies to increase electrification rates across the transport, industrial, and buildings sectors, to reduce final energy demand by 2050.WSDF brings... Read more

Universities across the United States have set ambitious goals to shrink their carbon footprints, including the University of California, which launched its Carbon Neutrality Initiative in 2013, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025. But amid broad support for climate action within the UC system, a big question looms: how to actually hit that target.Now, a 27-member team uniquely comprised of... Read more

Ashok Gadgil redesigned a simple technology, the wood-burning stove, to help Sudanese refugee women cook more efficiently, thus sparing them from the dangers of gathering firewood far from camp.In the developing world, sometimes the simplest technology can have the largest payoff.That's the lesson learned by Ashok Gadgil, a UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering and Berkeley... Read more

Iris PV has changed its name to Tandem PV and is gaining great momentum with recent funding wins, including nearly $1 million in grants. The Cyclotron Road project is now busily pursuing pilot projects based on its perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell. The materials' printability could allow solar cells to be mass-produced cheaply. Read the full article on the Cyclotron News website.... Read more

A renowned Lab researcher presented information about coal-based industrialization in developing countries, the intermittency of wind and solar power, stubborn uncertainties regarding severe climate change, and the admissibility of geoengineering at a recent workshop.Rob Socolow, professor emeritus and senior research staff in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton... Read more

in light of changes in how electricity is being both generated and consumed, the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has written a new report analyzing challenges facing the nation's electric grid and making recommendations for ensuring continued reliability.The report was prepared for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Office of Electric... Read more

Berkeley Lab recently hosted a workshop where 43 faculty members from 32 colleges participated in activities designed to generate ideas for enhancing post-secondary level programs in commercial Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC), energy management and building automation.This was one day of a four-day annual institute held by the Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow Center... Read more

Cyclotron Road fellow Richard Wang, whose startup Cuberg enables safe, high-performance batteries for critical applications, has closed a second round of seed funding, led by Boeing HorizonX Ventures. This second round brings Cuberg's total funding to $3.3 million in grant funding and investment to date.Battery technology research has intensified in recent years, in a push to improve performance... Read more

With traffic congestion at a record high, some Bay Area officials would like to see more people take public transportation to work. Habits, however, are hard to break — and so the gridlock grinds on, with no solution in sight.But for Anna Spurlock, an environmental and behavioral economist in the Electricity Markets and Policy Group of the Lab's Energy Technologies Area, the path to changing our... Read more

Lab Director Mike Witherell, in partnership with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Office, has announced the launch of Berkeley Lab's DEI Senior Leadership Council. The purpose of the Council is to provide senior leadership support and guidance toward achieving the Lab's strategic DEI goals. Members will champion DEI culture throughout the Lab, and oversee the newly formed DEI Advisory... Read more

A new diagnostic tool for analyzing polymer-electrolyte (PEM) fuel-cell degradation has been developed by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Energy Conversion Group. The simple and fast tool, described in a paper published in January in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, is based on analyzing changes in polarization curves of a cell over its lifetime.The research found that... Read more

Through the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center Building Energy Efficiency (CERC-BEE) program, the U.S. Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and U.S. industry, are working together to accelerate the research, development and deployment (RD&D) of advanced building energy efficiency technologies. A cornerstone of the program is R&D on building energy... Read more

Paul Dabbar's visit on Jan. 18 focused on the Lab's user facilities and industry engagement programs. He toured the Integrative Genomics Building construction site, JBEI, NERSC, the Molecular Foundry, and the Advanced Light Source, and heard presentations on the proposed science to be conducted at the Lab's Biocampus site, and high-performance computing.... Read more

The 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development was held in Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on December 9–11, 2017. This important forum allows Chinese leadership to engage the international community on environment and development issues. The theme of the 2017 meeting was “Ecological Civilization in Action: a... Read more

Applications are due Jan. 24 for the spring cohort of DOE’s Energy I-Corps, an immersive training experience to help national lab research teams transition energy-related technologies into products that benefit society and the national economy. Visit IPO’s resources page for details, and join an informational webinar on Jan. 10 at noon. Interested in applying? Contact Russell Carrington.... Read more

On December 12th in Beijing, China, Carolyn Szum participated in a panel discussion entitled, “International Green Finance Experience Exchange,” alongside representatives from Citibank, HSBC, and the Green Climate Fund, to advise leading Chinese banks and government agencies, such as Ministry of Finance, National Development and Reform Commission), People’s Bank of China, China Banking and... Read more

Buildings of the future will operate from models that look at all the factors – outside temperature, the temperature desired inside, how many people are in the building and a number of other set points – to heat and cool buildings in the most energy-efficient manner possible.That was the crux of a recent presentation by Mary Ann Piette, director of the Building Technology & Urban Systems... Read more

According to the latest Abell Foundation report, cool roofs are becoming the hot new trend in sustainable architecture nationwide. These roofs are designed to reflect the sun’s rays and limit heat absorption. And environmentalists are looking at the practice as a way to help fight climate change. Baltimore's NPR affiliate, WYRP, looked at this trend as it’s occurring in Baltimore, and in other... Read more

On Saturday, October 13, Berkeley Lab welcomed more than 7000 visitors to explore the science and research conducted each day at LBNL. The Heat Island Group had the chance to interact with the general public, informing them about the basics of "cool science" (how reflective materials can keep homes and cities cooler), demonstrating various commercially available cool roof and pavement products,... Read more

Berkeley Lab Atmospheric Chemist Allen Goldstein and Theoretical Physicist Hitoshi Murayama received prestigious research grants from the Humboldt Foundation, which promotes collaborative research with German scientists. As part of the award, the two researchers will be invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating with colleagues at a research institution in Germany.Goldstein is a... Read more

Ronnen Levinson, Heat Island Group leader and staff scientist, was recently interviewed by Southern California Public Radio to discuss the new interactive rooftop reflectance map for California cities. You can view the article and listen to the radio segment here.... Read more

Two new papers to be published in early 2014 showcase recent Heat Island Group research efforts to improve the measurement and prediction of roofing albedo.A 13-author study titled "Soiling of building envelope surfaces and its effect on solar reflectance – Part II: Development of an accelerated aging method for roofing materials" will be published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. This... Read more