ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Scientists from Sandia National Laboratories are studying ship tracks — clouds that reflect sunlight and are formed by moving ships, similar to contrails from planes — to help inform decision-makers of the benefits and risks of one technology being considered to slow climate change. To understand how these ship tracks move and […]
Author Archives: Mollie Rappe
Can clay capture carbon dioxide?
February 9, 2023 – 9:49 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The atmospheric level of carbon dioxide — a gas that is great at trapping heat, contributing to climate change — is almost double what it was prior to the Industrial Revolution, yet it only constitutes 0.0415% of the air we breathe. This presents a challenge to researchers attempting to design artificial trees […]
A fresh look at restoring power to the grid
January 31, 2023 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Climate change can alter extreme weather events, and these events have the potential to strain, disrupt or damage the nation’s grid. Sandia National Laboratories computer scientists have been working on an innovative computer model to help grid operators quickly restore power to the grid after a complete disruption, a process called “black […]
Surveilling carbon sequestration: A smart collar to sense leaks
December 13, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories engineers are working on a device that would help ensure captured carbon dioxide stays deep underground — a critical component of carbon sequestration as part of a climate solution. Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing CO2 — a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the Earth’s atmosphere — […]
Sandia studies vulnerabilities of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
November 15, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — With electric vehicles becoming more common, the risks and hazards of a cyberattack on electric vehicle charging equipment and systems also increases. Jay Johnson, an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, has been studying the varied vulnerabilities of electric vehicle charging infrastructure for the past four years. Johnson and his team recently […]
Burping bacteria: Identifying Arctic microbes that produce greenhouse gases
October 17, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As greenhouse gases bubble up across the rapidly thawing Arctic, Sandia National Laboratories researchers are trying to identify other trace gases from soil microbes that could shed some light on what is occurring biologically in melting permafrost in the Arctic. Sandia bioengineer Chuck Smallwood and his team recently spent five days collecting […]
Back to the drawing board: Reinventing offshore wind turbines
August 16, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Brandon Ennis, Sandia National Laboratories’ offshore wind technical lead, had a radically new idea for offshore wind turbines: instead of a tall, unwieldy tower with blades at the top, he imagined a towerless turbine with blades pulled taut like a bow. This design would allow the massive generator that creates electricity from […]
“We’ve Got the Power”: Sandia technology test delivers electricity to the grid
August 9, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For the first time, Sandia National Laboratories researchers delivered electricity produced by a new power-generating system to the Sandia-Kirtland Air Force Base electrical grid. The system uses heated supercritical carbon dioxide instead of steam to generate electricity and is based on a closed-loop Brayton cycle. The Brayton cycle is named after 19th […]
20th anniversary of Sandia tribal energy internship program
July 13, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — 2022 marks a major milestone for Sandia National Laboratories’ groundbreaking tribal energy internship program: two decades of meeting the growing renewable energy technical needs of Native American tribes and providing valuable, real-world experience for Native and Alaska Native STEM students. “My hope for the interns is for them to be leaders in […]
Using the power of the sun to roast green chile
July 6, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Every August and September the unmistakable pungent aroma of roasting green chile permeates the air across New Mexico and neighboring states. This delectable staple of regional cuisine is green in color, but roasting the chile pepper to deepen the flavor and make the inedible skin easier to remove is hardly environmentally friendly. […]
Exploring explosives for expanding geothermal energy
June 21, 2022 – 10:02 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Why are scientists setting off small-scale explosions inside 1-foot cubes of plexiglass? They’re watching how fractures form and grow in a rock-like substance to see if explosives or propellants, similar to jet fuel, can connect geothermal wells in a predictable manner. Geothermal energy has a lot of promise as a renewable energy […]
Powering the moon: Sandia researchers design microgrid for future lunar base
May 11, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is well-known for designing reliable and resilient microgrids for military bases and vital city services. Now, Sandia researchers are working with NASA to design one for the moon. This is not the first time Sandia has partnered with NASA to power equipment on the moon. In fact, Sandia provided […]
International collaboration compares geologic repository assessment tools
April 15, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and partner national laboratories will compare their Geologic Disposal Safety Assessment software framework to the safety assessment software of international peers at a late-April workshop. The Sandia-led Geologic Disposal Safety Assessment framework is a computer modeling system designed to answer critical safety assessment questions about future disposal […]
Record-breaking, ultrafast devices step to protecting the grid from EMPs
March 15, 2022 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Scientists from Sandia National Laboratories have announced a tiny, electronic device that can shunt excess electricity within a few billionths of a second while operating at a record-breaking 6,400 volts — a significant step towards protecting the nation’s electric grid from an electromagnetic pulse. The team published the fabrication and testing results […]