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March 2024
From Instant Grits to Polymers: Scientist Kat Knauer Is Laser Focused on Plastics Pollution
As a polymer scientist and the chief technology officer of the NREL-led BOTTLE consortium, Knauer is responsible for helping solve one of the world's greatest challenges--plastic pollution.
February 2024
NREL Requests Proposals From US Manufacturers of Small and Medium Wind Turbine Technology
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has issued a request for proposals under the Competitiveness Improvement Project to support commercialization and market expansion of small and medium wind turbine technology.
Q&A With Kerry Rippy: Why You Should Be Optimistic About Industrial Carbon Emissions
In NREL's latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Kerry Rippy explains why she chose chemistry over literature, why carbon capture cannot be our only decarbonization solution, and how the mining industry could reduce emissions with the rocks it already digs up.
Unleashing the Power: BatMan Project Revolutionizes Battery Manufacturing
A recent battery manufacturing project—affectionately coined BatMan—has developed a novel laser patterning process to alter the microstructure of battery electrode materials.
January 2024
Copper Is King, But It Is Time for a Metal Meritocracy
Meet the four teams competing to create materials that can out-conduct pure copper in the $4.8 million Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric and thermal applications (CABLE) Conductor Manufacturing Prize.
MAKE IT Prize Helps Fuel US Clean Energy Boom
The United States is poised for a clean energy boom, with the new investments flowing from 2021's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act expected to unlock around $3 trillion in clean energy and energy efficiency investments.
NREL Awards $1.8 Million in Second Round of Contracts To Support Development of Cheaper, More Efficient Cadmium Telluride Solar Cells
NREL has awarded $1.8 million to fund seven projects to support the Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium.
December 2023
Recyclable, Plant-Based Material Could Take a Spin on Next Generation of Wind Turbines
Nicknamed PECAN, NREL's new, recyclable wind turbine blade resin boasts a novel composition. The name is an acronym representing the material's chemical structure, PolyEster Covalently Adaptable Network. NREL researchers designed the PECAN resin using biobased chemicals that can be easily extracted from plant waste.
NREL Will Lead Two $19M Research Centers To Spur Decarbonization Efforts as Part of DOE's Energy Earthshots Initiative
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has announced $264 million in funding for 29 projects to develop clean-energy solutions that will pave the way to achieving a net-zero-carbon economy by 2050.
Q&A With Scott Struck: From Frogs to Jerry Cans to Urban Drool
Scott Struck studies cyclical water supplies that keep humans and ecosystems happy and healthy. In the latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Struck explains how various water sources could help bolster dwindling water supplies across the country and around the world.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025