Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley, California, United States. Established in 1931 by the University of California (UC), the laboratory is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered by the UC system. Ernest Lawrence, who won the Nobel prize for inventing the cyclotron, founded the Lab and served as its Director until his death in 1958. Located in the Berkeley Hills, the lab overlooks the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy-related research, and energy conservation.
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers is a system of laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for scientific and technological research. The primary mission of the DOE national laboratories is to conduct research and development (R&D) addressing national priorities: energy and climate, the environment, national security, and health. Sixteen of the seventeen DOE national laboratories are federally funded research and development centers administered, managed, operated and staffed by private-sector organizations under management and operating (M&O) contracts with the DOE. The National Laboratory system was established in the wake of World War II, during which the United States had quickly set-up and pursued advanced scientific research in the sprawling Manhattan Project.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center.
The Under Secretary for Science and Innovation, formerly the Under Secretary for Science and Energy, is a high-ranking position within the United States Department of Energy. The position was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the first Under Secretary for Science, Raymond L. Orbach, was sworn in on June 1, 2006. The under secretary is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. In March 2009, Steven E. Koonin was nominated to replace Orbach. Franklin (Lynn) M. Orr was sworn in as the Under Secretary for Science and Energy on December 17, 2014, and served in this position through the end of the Obama administration. The most recent under secretary was Paul Dabbar.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by George W. Bush, was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539, by Donald Trump's October 22, 2019, Executive Order 13895, and by Joe Biden's February 1, 2021, Executive Order 14007.
Founded in 2001, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is a member-based, 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy.
According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for 8.4% of total primary energy production and 21% of total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States in 2022.
A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower. Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems are seen as one viable solution for renewable, pollution-free energy.
Dan William Reicher is an American lawyer who was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the Clinton Administration. Reicher is currently executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, a joint center of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he also holds faculty positions. Reicher joined Stanford in 2011 from Google, where he served since 2007 as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives for the company's venture Google.org.
Robert "Bob" T. McGrath is the director of RASEI, a joint institute of NREL and CU-Boulder. He was a senior vice president responsible for research partnership development in the office of the Executive Vice President for Research. He is also a former director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the applied research arm of Georgia Tech, a position he held from 2011 to 2014. Prior to his appointment as GTRI director, McGrath was involved with the Battelle Memorial Institute; his past experience also includes research leadership positions at the National Renewable Energy Lab, Ohio State University, and Penn State University.
Amit Goyal is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at SUNY-Buffalo. He leads the Laboratory for Heteroepitaxial Growth of Functional Materials & Devices. He is also Director of the New York State Center of Excellence in Plastics Recycling Research & Innovation, an externally funded center with initial funding of $4.5M for three years at SUNY-Buffalo. He is the founding director of the multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary RENEW Institute at SUNY-Buffalo in Buffalo, New York and served as director from 2015-2021. RENEW is an internally funded research institute at SUNY-Buffalo. For his contributions to UB, in 2019, he was awarded the University at Buffalo or SUNY-Buffalo President's Medal, which recognizes “outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.” This is one of the highest recognitions given at the university.
Executive Order 13514 was an Executive Order, entitled Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, which U.S. President Barack Obama issued on October 5, 2009. EO 13514 was replaced by Executive Order 13693, titled Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade, issued by Obama on March 19, 2015. The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, whose name was changed to the Office of Federal Sustainability by Executive Order 13693, is housed at the Council on Environmental Quality within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Its role is to oversee policy, guidance, and implementation of the sustainability Executive Order.
Arati Prabhakar is an American engineer and public official. Since October 3, 2022, she has served as the 12th director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to the President.
Paul M. Dabbar is Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Bohr Quantum Technology, a company developing quantum networking systems. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.
Peter F. Green is a materials scientist and the Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Maxine Savitz is the vice president of the National Academy of Engineering, and holds a Ph.D in organic chemistry. She has more than 30 years of experience as a manager for research, development and implementation programs in both the public and private sectors. She had been a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) from 2009 to 2016.
Johney Green is an American scientist who is the Associate Laboratory Director for Mechanical and Thermal Engineering Sciences at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His research considers additive manufacturing and renewable energy systems. He is Chairman of the National GEM Consortium.
Roderick Jackson is an American engineer and inventor who is based at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Whilst working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Jackson oversaw the demonstration of a fully 3D-printed house with solar panels that could wirelessly power a 3D-printed car.
Joseph J. Berry is an American scientist who is Principal Scientist at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He leads the United States Department of Energy Solar Energy Technology Office program on perovskite solar cells, and is Director of the U.S. Manufacturing of Advance Perovskites consortium.
