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NREL.GOV — A new report from Blokable, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) details actionable pathways to developing and building net zero energy (NZE) housing without increasing costs yet still reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. IN² is managed by NREL’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Read More

E&E NEWS — In 2002, a young engineer from India, had an idea. He described it in a patent he later filed in the United States for a design improvement that made small electric motors much more energy-efficient. He had worked on them for 10 years. Piyush Desai realized his Read More

NREL.GOV — A true living laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) added a small but noticeable splash of color to its cafeteria building. Five quantum dot windows were installed this summer as a demonstration project evaluating innovative windows technologies, in collaboration with UbiQD and the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator Read More

NREL.GOV — The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been improving the energy efficiency of buildings, including residences, for more than 43 years. In fact, NREL’s Buildings Program was one of the laboratory’s first centers of research. In 2021 that work is no less important, because housing consumes 21 percent Read More

NREL.GOV — The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), reached a milestone: Its portfolio of startup companies has raised more than $1.1 billion in external funding since joining IN². This translates to the companies raising $95 for every dollar invested in them by Read More

NREL.GOV — Living the dream, for many researchers, might include seeing their inventions move from the lab bench to the marketplace. That is certainly an important goal of the funding used to conduct experimental investigations at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). While most efforts do not make it to Read More

BUSINESS WIRE — Global food demand is anticipated to grow by 60 percent within the next 30 years. To meet the demand sustainably, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), a technology incubator and platform funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Read More

BLOOMBERG NEW ECONOMY — Agriculture currently accounts for nearly 13 percent of global carbon emissions, representing a significant opportunity for technology advancements. Beyond increasing efficiencies within the sector, sustainable and regenerative agricultural solutions can also reduce emissions in the atmosphere. In other words, the process of identifying and implementing agriculture Read More

FORBES — We tend to treasure a gift most when it comes in a little package. Take Blokable at Phoenix Rising, the project name given to a new, tiny Seattle-area apartment complex, for instance. Soon home to 12 households whose residents may take home less than a third of area Read More

BLOOMBERG NEW ECONOMY — Almost every sector of our economy is in urgent need of efficiency improvements, but investing in advanced building technologies is arguably one of the most effective and impactful areas of opportunity. Glass materials, commercial energy management tools and HVAC systems are particularly ripe for disruption. Smarter Read More

BLOOMBERG — Electric motors power our world, they drive everything from AC systems to chillers, to fans and elevators. They account for 47% of global energy use, but they are hugely inefficient and many are based on a design that is more than a century old. A more innovative, efficient Read More

NREL.GOV — Now in its seventh year, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) is now a $50 million program. It was designed from the start to consider a diverse cross section of start-ups—many of which might appear risky to traditional venture capitalists—collect them into cohorts, connect them with technological expertise, Read More

NREL.GOV — The number of electric vehicles (EVs) on roadways worldwide is increasing. In the United States alone, EV volume grew by an average of 32 percent annually between 2012 and 2016. Globally, EVs are projected to reach 35 million by 2022. To many, this is good news. But it Read More

NREL.GOV — Often one innovation begets another. Take photovoltaics: the panels’ elegant tilt toward the sun leaves a sizable space behind them, especially if they are installed on a flat roof. That’s a lot of space, especially for design engineers whose job it is to pack things in as tightly Read More

NREL.GOV—Between research projects on agrivoltaics, sheep-friendly solar, and optimizing the energy-water nexus, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is increasingly connecting the dots between food and energy. Now as co-administrator for the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²), NREL will be implementing its expansion into digital agriculture. IN², a technology incubator Read More

NREL.GOV — On a humid, overcast day in central Minnesota, a dozen researchers crouch in the grass between rows of photovoltaic solar panels. Only their bright yellow hard hats are clearly visible above the tall, nearly overgrown prairie grasses—which are growing exactly as expected. Bent over white, square frames, some Read More

NREL.gov—If your laptop has ever become uncomfortably hot, you’ve had a taste of what data centers worldwide are up against: Server components approaching 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees F), with hundreds to thousands of servers per center. With data centers on average consuming an estimated 70 billion kWh per year, Read More

NREL.gov—A Colorado firm participating in the latest Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) Program is partnering with NREL to refine its building energy management control systems—but there’s a twist. While it is common to install what’s called “hardware-in-the-loop” (HIL) to validate products by using physical devices, EdgePower is drawing on NREL’s Read More

NREL.gov—Paul Schwartz, who recently traveled from New York to be part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s 2017 Industry Growth Forum (IGF), was beaming after his 10-minute presentation to assembled venture capitalists, government representatives, and cleantech experts. “The one investor I really wanted was on that panel, so it was Read More

NREL.gov—When researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) helped install a peel-and-stick energy-metering system in a Wells Fargo branch bank, they weren’t sure exactly what they would learn. After all, the system from Whisker Labs—an Oakland, California, startup—was the first “beta-ready” technology to emerge from Read More