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American drivers have long been accustomed to quickly filling up at a gas station with plenty of fuel available, and electric vehicle drivers want their pit stops to mimic this experience. Driver uncertainty about access to charging during long trips remains a barrier to broader EV adoption, even as the U.S. strives to combat climate change by converting more drivers.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working to make EV charging more resilient. After identifying the major challenges, ORNL researchers found solutions to address two key causes of charger failure — the first triggered by voltage shifts in the electric grid, and the other originating within the charger itself. 

Jens Dilling has been named associate laboratory director for the Neutron Sciences Directorate at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective April 1.

Astrophysicists at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and University of California, Berkeley, used the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s Summit supercomputer to compare models of X-ray bursts in 2D and 3D. 

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted the second annual Appalachian Carbon Forum in Lexington March 7-8, 2024, where ORNL and University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research scientists led discussions with representatives from industry, government and academia to discuss ways to transition to clean energy.

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is providing national leadership in a new collaboration among five national laboratories to accelerate U.S. production of clean hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers. The Roll-to-Roll, or R2R, Consortium aims to scale up, speed up and reduce the cost of producing key components of fuel cells and electrolyzers where water molecules are split to make hydrogen.

Anna Douglas’ grand vision, strategic moves and laser focus have helped propel her through seven years of building her company, SkyNano, and land $16 million in government and commercial research and development contracts. Earlier this week, SkyNano hosted a ribbon-cutting event to open a new production facility in Louisville, Tennessee, just outside of Knoxville. The celebration drew friends and colleagues from across Tennessee and Washington, D.C., including representatives from the Department of Energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, peer Innovation Crossroads companies and LaunchTN.

Curiosity and enthusiasm for the beauty in every molecule inspire ORNL’s Canan Karakaya, who uses computational modeling to design, improve and scale up chemical reactors that make high-value chemicals and energy-dense fuels.

The United States could triple its current bioeconomy by producing more than 1 billion tons per year of plant-based biomass for renewable fuels, while meeting projected demands for food, feed, fiber, conventional forest products and exports, according to the Department of Energy’s latest Billion-Ton Report led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

A team of researchers at ORNL demonstrated that a light-duty passenger electric vehicle can be wirelessly charged at 100-kW with 96% efficiency using polyphase electromagnetic coupling coils with rotating magnetic fields.