Feature Articles

On a humid, overcast day in central Minnesota, a dozen researchers crouch in the grass between rows of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Only their bright yellow hard hats are clearly visible above the tall, nearly overgrown prarie grasses -- which are growing exactly as expected.

The 2016 Renewable Energy Data Book PDF shows that US renewable electricity grew to 18.3 percent of total installed capacity and 15.6 percent of total electricity generation in 2016.

Beginning college as a 40-year-old might be considered a disadvantage, but US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researcher Dave Moore didn't see it that way. Instead, he thinks it gave him an edge, starting as a seasoned freshman at the University of Washington.

Paul King and Katherine Brown wanted answers. To produce ammonia from nitrogen, could they use a biomolecular reaction similar to one that boosts the production of hydrogen from water?

Watching cars zoom around and around an oval track isn't Jesse Hensley's idea of a good time. Making them run on biofuel would be. On the Colorado campus of the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where the posted speed limit is 20 mph, Hensley and his team have been racing toward a future where high-octane biofuel could push automobile performance further.

In the redwood country of northern California, where arboreal giants can live to be 2,000 years old and can reach heights of more than 375 feet, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe has also grown something historic: a vision of climate sustainability and leadership.

An energy audit tool that more accurately pinpoints potential energy savings while potentially costing 35 percent to 75 percent less than traditional audits is set to hit the multi-billion-dollar energy retrofit industry next year.

Keith Emery always had amazing computer programming skills, but he lacked that special gift for creating solar cells. So, 30 years ago he switched to something more in his wheelhouse -- characterizing and measuring the efficiency of solar cells and modules.

Tiny wood borers known colloquially as gribbles make their own enzymes and use them to eat through docks in harbor towns, earning enmity from fishermen all around the world.

They travel far and wide, from all corners of the country. They come from a diverse set of backgrounds, and they have very different plans for their futures. But the 54 student interns at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory this summer all have something in common -- a thirst for knowledge and a desire to apply what they have learned in school to real-world science in a state-of-the-art laboratory environment.