Robert Kostecki, a short-haired person poses for a headshot against a gray background.

Electrochemical energy storage

Materials discovery, synthesis, characterization, and diagnostics to develop next-generation batteries (including solid state) and flow batteries.

Chemical energy storage

Hydrogen and storage of hydrogen.

Thermal energy storage

Exploring low- and high-temperature materials and systems involving the subsurface, buildings, and the manufacturing sector.

Mechanical energy storage

Compressed air storage in porous media.

Systems, analysis, and markets

Researching policy and market factors that affect widespread energy storage adoption.

A blue and grey building standing in a foggy forested landscape.

The Molecular Foundry is a DOE-funded nanoscience research facility that provides scientists from around the world access to world-class expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

The sun obscured behind smokey skies over a blue building.

The world’s most advanced integrated building and grid technologies testbed.

Exterior view of the Advanced Light Source against blue skies.

The ALS is a specialized particle accelerator, known as a synchrotron light source, that generates bright beams of X-ray, infrared, and extreme ultraviolet light useful for research. It supports the research of 2,000 users annually.

Pink and orange clouds above a lithium brine landscape.

Guiding research and development into lithium extraction technologies through an environmental science lens.

Smart city and dot point connect Modern Telecom System.

Paving the way for energy storage and next-generation battery discovery that will shape the future of power.

Digitally generated image of various scientific graphs and charts hovering over a pair of outstretched hands. A full battery icon is centered in the image.

Developing innovative and fundamentally sound solutions to overcome the limitations of high energy density batteries.

Three scientists working together in a laboratory.

A science-to-systems lab conducting research in manipulating matter at nanoscale dimensions to improve a multitude of thermal, solar, and electrochemical energy devices, including batteries.

Colorful scientific image

Harnessing the power of supercomputing and structural methods, the Materials Project provides open, web-based access to information on known and predicted materials as well as powerful analysis tools to inspire and design novel materials.

A lab scientist wearing protective equipment holding out two glass viles.

Developing vehicle batteries and fuel cells that are safer, more powerful, cheaper, and longer-lasting. Collaborators include other national laboratories and university and industry partners.

People looking at scientific instrumentation in a lab.

Delivering transformative materials for batteries – including cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and interfaces – each modified with intentional defects and disorder to enhance performance.

Blurred car lights on a highway.

Pursuing seven research tasks aimed at the development of advanced batteries for Electric Vehicles.

Scientists holding a piece of machinery at a lab bench.

A multidisciplinary team focused on a diverse portfolio of advanced energy conversion technologies with the goal of providing the tools necessary to create and sustain a clean energy system.

Orange droplet of water and rippling pool.

Advancing new systems to efficiently generate liquid fuels from sunlight, water, CO2, and nitrogen.

Blurred blue and orange lights in a tunnel.

Advancing the efficiency, power, and durability of hydrogen fuel cell engines for heavy-duty vehicles to enable a fleet of clean, emission-free long-haul trucks.

A flyover image of a salton sea lithium plant.

This StoryMap is an immersive multimedia backgrounder and summary of geothermal lithium extraction around the Salton Sea. The piece uses rich photos and illustrations to tell the story of how geothermal power works, why lithium is important and what makes extracting it possible there, and how a lithium extraction industry might fit in with the social and environmental context of the region.

Chemical engineer Peng Peng is helping develop a 100% renewable energy grid by investigating new materials for storing hydrogen gas, which can be used like a battery to stash power generated from solar and wind farms. Peng uses computer models to study how lab-scale material prototypes would perform at the industrial scale, and how much they would cost – accelerating the green hydrogen movement from discovery to deployment.

In this episode, we speak to a policy leader and a researcher about the history of piggy-banking power to spend it later, and how this field is evolving to help us prevent extreme weather-related blackouts, adopt more renewable energy, and build bigger, better, more environmentally responsible batteries.

Gray particles of various sizes against a dark background. Ethan Crumlin (far right) and Staff Scientist Jin Qian in the Advanced Light Source. A flyover image of a salton sea lithium plant. Two scientists pointing at a screen in the lab. Kristin Persson, a brown-haired person wearing a black dress, points at her electrolyte genome 3D visualizations. A digital image of server racks forming a tunnel, with glowing lines and dots resembling data flow emerging from a central light source.