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Jiafu Mao, left, and Yaoping Wang discuss their analysis of urban and rural vegetation resilience across the United States in the EVEREST visualization lab at ORNL. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at ORNL completed a study of how well vegetation survived extreme heat events in both urban and rural communities across the country in recent years. The analysis informs pathways for climate mitigation, including ways to reduce the effect of urban heat islands.

Testing with ORNL tribology equipment found that new ionic liquid-based lubricant additives developed for water turbines significantly reduced friction and equipment wear. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed lubricant additives that protect both water turbine equipment and the surrounding environment.

New research predicts peak groundwater extraction for key basins around the globe by the year 2050. The map indicates groundwater storage trends for Earth’s 37 largest aquifers using data from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory GRACE satellite. Credit: NASA.

Groundwater withdrawals are expected to peak in about one-third of the world’s basins by 2050, potentially triggering significant trade and agriculture shifts, a new analysis finds. 

DOE national laboratory scientists led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed the first tree dataset of its kind, bridging molecular information about the poplar tree microbiome to ecosystem-level processes. Credit: Andy Sproles, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

A first-ever dataset bridging molecular information about the poplar tree microbiome to ecosystem-level processes has been released by a team of DOE scientists led by ORNL. The project aims to inform research regarding how natural systems function, their vulnerability to a changing climate and ultimately how plants might be engineered for better performance as sources of bioenergy and natural carbon storage.

The 2023 Billion-Ton Report identifies feedstocks that could be available to produce biofuels to decarbonize the transportation and industrial sectors while potentially tripling the U.S. bioeconomy. The map indicates a mature market scenario, including emerging resources. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

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 DOE’s latest Billion-Ton Report led by ORNL.

: ORNL climate modeling expertise contributed to an AI-backed model that assesses global emissions of ammonia from croplands now and in a warmer future, while identifying mitigation strategies. This map highlights croplands around the world. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

ORNL climate modeling expertise contributed to a project that assessed global emissions of ammonia from croplands now and in a warmer future, while also identifying solutions tuned to local growing conditions.

Using a better modeling framework, with data collected from Mississippi Delta marshes, scientists are able to improve the predictions of methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Matthew Berens/ORNL, U.S Dept. of Energy

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using a new modeling framework in conjunction with data collected from marshes in the Mississippi Delta to improve predictions of climate-warming methane and nitrous oxide.

Illustration of a nitrogen dioxide molecule (depicted in blue and purple) captured in a nano-size pore of an MFM-520 metal-organic framework material as observed using neutron vibrational spectroscopy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Image credit: ORNL/Jill Hemman

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Manchester, has developed a metal-organic framework, or MOF, material

Beneficial microbes, shown in red, aid Sphagnum mosses in using nitrogen from the air to fuel plant growth. ORNL scientists have shown this nitrogen fixing activity declines with warming temperatures. Credit: David Weston/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A team of scientists found that critical interactions between microbes and peat moss break down under warming temperatures, impacting moss health and ultimately carbon stored in soil.

Water and energy are inextricably linked, yet in our 20th-century water systems we use freshwater once then throw it away. With innovations designed to enhance desalination technologies, agricultural runoff, produced water from industry, and inland brackish groundwater that are now seen as untreatable could all be sources of clean, safe, and affordable water.

The National Alliance for Water Innovation, a partnership of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, other national labs, university and private sector partners, has been awarded a five-year, $100 million Energy-Water Desalination Hub by DOE to address water security issues in the United States.