News

Some parts of the world have been so successful in making inexpensive renewable electricity that we occasionally have too much of it. One possible use for that low-cost energy: Converting carbon dioxide into fuel and other products using a device called a membrane-electrode assembly.A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California... Read more

For decades, the food industry has used bipolar membranes for goals ranging from isolating proteins to preserving the color of apple juice. Now these specialized materials are at the scientific forefront of advanced energy conversion and storage and carbon capture, among other uses. A newly published review led by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) explores bipolar... Read more

Hydrogen, the smallest element in the universe, has huge potential as a clean energy source. Using hydrogen (H2) as a fuel and as a means of storing energy could reduce our dependence on petroleum and help us reduce air pollution and greenhouse emissions to meet our goals for a cleaner and better climate. However, adopting hydrogen power on a large scale requires advances in technology and the... Read more

The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will host two new centers dedicated to advancing clean energy technology and combating climate change. The awards are part of DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative that launched in 2021 with the goal of speeding up technological breakthroughs and lowering costs. DOE has so far launched seven Earthshots spanning clean... Read more

Two innovative technologies from the Energy Technologies Area (ETA) are among four at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) that have been honored with a 2023 R&D 100 Award. The award, presented by R&D Magazine and selected by an independent panel of judges, recognizes the year’s 100 most innovative and disruptive technology products from... Read more

Solid oxide electrolysis cells that operate at high temperature provide high performance and efficiency, and can make use of waste heat or steam from industrial or geothermal sources. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers are working to reduce the cost and increase the durability of electrolyzers and advanced pathways. The Science in Motion series from the Berkeley Lab... Read more

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced their 2022 Fellows, including six scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This lifetime honor, which follows a nomination and review process, recognizes scientists, engineers, and innovators for their distinguished achievements toward the advancement or... Read more

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a product of burning fossil fuels and the most prevalent greenhouse gas, has the potential to be sustainably converted back into useful fuels. A promising route for turning CO2 emissions into a fuel feedstock is a process known as electrochemical reduction. But to be commercially viable, the process needs to be improved, to select for, or to yield, a higher amount of... Read more

Earlier this summer, Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm launched the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Earthshots Initiative, and the first Energy Earthshot is the “Hydrogen Shot,” with the goal of accelerating development and deployment of clean hydrogen across sectors. DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) plays a leading role in the research and... Read more

Interest in hydrogen fuel cells as a sustainable source of clean energy is on the rise globally, and hydrogen fuel cells are widely seen as a viable, zero-emission option to power trucks, trains, ferries, and passenger vehicles. The heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) market could prove to be ideal for fuel cell development and deployment. Hydrogen fuel cells are well-suited for this market because of their... Read more

Methane is most commonly known as a ubiquitous cleaner energy source, while also being a potent greenhouse gas. It is produced from both natural sources, such as wetlands and large bodies of water, and anthropogenic sources, such as natural-gas reservoirs and livestock. At the same time, methane is a source of many important feedstock chemicals, including blue hydrogen and methanol, which is used... Read more

With its high energy-to-weight ratio, hydrogen has great potential to be an efficient and clean fuel for cars, auxiliary power, stationary power generation and also as an energy storage medium. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers have been working with various methods of hydrogen production to produce cleaner and more efficient hydrogen for decades. New successful... Read more

Cheap, clean power generation is becoming more of a reality, but energy storage is still one of the biggest barriers to widespread adoption. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) are continually working to advance technologies that generate, use, or store electricity at a large scale and for long duration (more than four hours). Electrochemical energy technologies... Read more

Two new videos highlighting ongoing collaboration and innovative research advancements promoting hydrogen as a large-scale renewable energy resource have recently been completed by a consortium of National Laboratories. Research Scientists from Berkeley Lab, along with Sandia National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Idaho National... Read more

Adam Weber’s research team sits together in a cluster of offices, cubicles, and laboratories deep in the labyrinth of the Department of Energy’s (DOE's) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab) Buildings 62 and 70.A staff scientist/engineer who won a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2014, Weber has now collected a solid and multidisciplinary group... Read more

Adam Weber, who leads the Energy Conversion Group within Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Energy Technologies Area, was recently named to the Electrochemical Society's 2018 Class of Fellows. The fellows are chosen for their scientific achievements, leadership and service to the society.Weber's current research involves understanding and optimizing fuel-cell and electrolyzer performance and... Read more

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Weber Group, a part of the Energy Conversion Group, have published new research that could have significant implications for how specific fuel cell materials perform in different environments. Their paper, "Exploring substrate/ionomer interaction under oxidizing and reducing environments," was published in the February 2018 issue of Electrochemistry... Read more

Adam Weber is the recipient of the 2014 Electrochemical Society’s Charles W. Tobias Young Investigator Award. The award, given at the Electrochemical Society annual meeting last week, was established to recognize outstanding scientific or engineering work, or both, in fundamental or applied electrochemistry by a young scientist or engineer, and is the top award the Electrochemical Society awards... Read more

On April 14, Adam Weber, a staff scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division (Berkeley Lab), stepped up in the East Room of the White House to shake hands with President Obama. Weber was one of 102 young scientists this year receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United... Read more

The White House has announced that Adam Weber has won a Presidential Early Career Award. Weber is a staff scientist at the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). His current research involves understanding and optimizing fuel-cell performance and lifetime; understanding flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage; and analysis of... Read more