FY2010 - Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Introduction
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High-efficiency, low-grade waste heat energy convertor
Fusion energy R&D
Emerging Science and Technology for Sustainable Bioenergy. The intent of this focus area is to
integrate and strengthen ORNL’s comprehensive bioenergy-relevant research capabilities, including
geospatial science and technology, to support the nation’s creation of a sustainable bioenergy
generation and delivery infrastructure. In addition, because bioenergy infrastructure is inescapably
and tightly bound to geography, the competencies in geospatial science and technology that this
bioenergy focus area is expected to develop will also impact scientific advancement in other
disciplinary areas such as climate change science, computational science, national and homeland
security, environmental science, and transportation. Toward this goal, the Laboratory invested
$0.91 million during FY 2010 to support three projects to model and optimize the biofuel supply
chain; develop a bioenergy implementation strategy that addresses environmental, economic, and
climate concerns while meeting energy demand; and develop a spatiotemporal datamining framework
for remote monitoring of biomass on a regional and global scale.
Understanding Climate Change Impact: Energy, Carbon, and Water. The intent of this focus area is
to develop reliable integrated end-to-end climate prediction and assessment capabilities and to
develop unique competencies in climate change, climate impacts science, computational science,
observational capabilities, national and homeland security, environmental science, energy usage and
production, carbon management, and geospatial science and technology. Toward this goal, the
Laboratory invested $1.81 million during FY 2010 to support seven projects in the following areas.
― New methodologies to assess the predictive skills of climate model outputs and downscaling
approaches and reduce the uncertainties
― Models to estimate the impacts of climate change on energy infrastructure
― Models to estimate/quantify economic losses associated with climate extremes under climate
change and socioeconomic changes
― Insights into the molecular control of partitioning, transport, and fate of carbon fixed by
photosynthesis in plants and its correlation to other measured plant system properties by
leveraging SNS capabilities
National Security Science and Technology. The intent of this focus area is to make ORNL a desired
provider of innovative technical solutions to compelling national problems that materially improve
global, national, and homeland security. In support of this goal, seven LDRD projects were funded for
$1.88 million to develop (1) standoff chemical sensors; (2) a navigation system that will perform in
GPS-denied environments; (3) active response and countermeasures for cyber-threat; (4) a biological
signature identification and threat evaluation system; and (5) rapid radiochemistry for nuclear
forensics.
Energy Storage. The objective of this focus area is to enhance ORNL’s leadership in electrical-energy
storage research and development, with a focus on batteries and electrochemical capacitors, and to
deliver new insights with broad impacts for U.S. energy security, national security, and economic
competitiveness. In support of this goal, six LDRD projects were funded for $2.36 million to better
understand the material behavior underlying the electrochemical performance of advanced batteries
and to develop (1) a simulation tool for evaluating safety and performance of batteries; (2) a
multiscale, multi-physics model to design safe rechargeable batteries; (3) electrolytes for batteries
based on composites inspired by nature; (4) lithium air batteries through metal oxide electrocatalysts;
and (5) secondary aluminum ion batteries.
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