As a leader in climate science, clean energy innovations and national security, ORNL is in a unique position to harness extensive expertise and big science tools like the nation’s most powerful

ORNL scientists have designed and additively manufactured a first-of-its-kind aluminum device that enhances the capture of carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuel plants and other industrial processes.

Under a collaborative research and development agreement with Southern Company, ORNL researchers have developed a home energy optimization platform for 46 townhomes in Atlanta’s first Smart Neighborhood. The platform optimizes each home’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and water heating systems, in coordination with rooftop solar and batteries, to minimize costs and maintain comfort.

ORNL’s campus presents a unique opportunity to model campus sustainability by using energy and water efficiently and minimizing the generation of waste and other forms of pollution. 

Readers of ORNL Review know that our national laboratories are home to super-cool, state-of-the-art facilities where scientists and engineers develop amazing technologies. Equally important is the role national labs play in boosting the nation’s economy by teaming up with business and industrial partners to move these technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace.

In the pursuit of electric cars with better range and lower cost, researchers have sought improvements to every inch of the vehicle, from a lighter-weight chassis to more energy-dense batteries. ORNL scientists recently contributed a new material to the cause, creating a method to produce a composite that is both lighter and better at conducting electricity than standard electric motor components.

"In high school, I took a calculus class almost as a fluke and learned that I was good at it."