Thermal energy storage (TES) technologies and systems provide a major opportunity for better economic benefits and enhanced energy management.  This includes expected mismatches in supply and demand for cooling or heating requirements, thereby offsetting differences in time and magnitude of cooling or heating production.  TES can also jointly assist in harnessing and integrating “stranded” renewable power supply through possible co-location with distributed energy resources such as based on solar and wind energy.  This report provides an overview of the various developing and commercial TES technologies in the United States and includes a methodology for structuring the levelized cost of storage (LCOS).  

The purpose of this report is to analyze developments in natural oil production technologies. Natural oils (e.g., vegetable oils and animal fats) can be converted into a number of oleochemical, petrochemical, and fuel products—with potential to improve the GHG footprint of the process.  The purpose of this study is to assess the technical, commercial, and economic aspects of producing natural oils and their feedstocks.

The purpose of this report is to analyze technologies available and commercial developments for technologies that ethanol to other value added chemical and fuel products.  Bio-renewable ethanol-to-chemical technologies are currently being developed for the production of bio-monomers, bio-polymers, biofuels, and chemical intermediates.  The purpose of this study is to assess the technical, commercial, and economic aspects of producing several different products from ethanol, including: ethylene (and derivatives), butadiene, isobutylene, butanol, and gasoline among other possible products.

The purpose of this report is to analyze developments in the biofuels industry, mostly related to land and marine transportation.  This includes fuels for vehicles that utilize gasoline, diesel, or natural gas, and biobased functional and/or fungible replacements.  The report examines the technical, commercial, and economic aspects of producing several biofuels that can be used to power cars, trucks, trains, and/or boats and ships.