Better solar panels.
Solar is already booming, but with recent breakthroughs you can expect photovoltaic solar panels to be more efficient, more reliable and more affordable in the years to come. From a coating that improves efficiency by combining anti-reflective and water-repellant technologies to a new manufacturing technique that cuts costs and improves performance, National Labs are inventing the future of solar today.
Image: Nellis Air Force Base
Invisibility cloaks.
National Lab researchers recently proved that your Harry Potter dreams may soon be a reality. Working with brick-like blocks of gold nanoantennas, they devised an ultra-thin invisibility “skin” cloak that can conform to the shape of an object and conceal it from detection with visible light. Although this cloak is only microscopic in size, the principles behind the technology should enable it to be scaled up to conceal larger objects as well.
Image: Berkeley Lab
The world’s largest digital camera.
National Lab scientists are building a 3.2 gigapixel digital camera that will be the heart of the most advanced telescope on Earth when it is completed in 2022. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will capture images of the universe in unprecedented detail -- so much, in fact, that it would require 1,500 high-definition TV screens to display a single image in full resolution.
Image: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Smarter buildings.
Buildings are getting a heck of a lot smarter (and more efficient) these days. Smart buildings use less energy, which not only cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions but can also save money. Labs are designing the software that helps buildings “learn” how to best use energy, continuing to improve LED lighting and developing the most energy-efficient HVAC systems ever. These American-born technologies are making a big impact at home and abroad, even in the world’s second-tallest building, the Shanghai Tower (pictured).
Image: Vadim Makhorov/Caters News
Advanced nuclear reactors.
New generations of nuclear reactors are on the way. Scientists are designing and simulating (pictured) advanced reactors that open the door for safer, more affordable and more efficient carbon-free nuclear energy. Some designs utilize spent fuel to reduce the need for raw uranium, reducing cost and the environmental impact of mining. Others use pre-built components to drastically reduce the cost of building a reactor. And others are designed to withstand even the strongest earthquakes. While these aren’t technologies you’ll have in your garage, we all stand to benefit from improved low-carbon energy options.
Image: Idaho National Laboratory
Better batteries.
Teams of researchers are working to create a next-generation battery that performs five times faster at a fifth of the cost of current Lithium-ion varieties. These batteries will help electric cars drive farther and provide storage for solar and wind installations when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. In the next few years, scientists expect innovation to drive down the costs of these advanced batteries, making them feasible for factories, the grid, your home and more.
Image: Pew Charitable Trusts
Carbon capture and storage.
Once considered a pipe dream, carbon capture and storage technologies developed at the National Labs are demonstrating their potential in plants like the one pictured here. Earlier in 2015, demonstration projects reached a major milestone: 10 million tons of CO2 captured. In the next few years these technologies are poised to become an important part of our transition to a low-carbon economy.
Image: Vattenfall
Fuel cells.
In 2014, the first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (pictured) hit the market. Today, scientists at numerous National Labs are tweaking fuel cells to make them more energy efficient and cost effective. For vehicles, buildings, and more, fuel cells have potential to provide reliable, carbon-free power. Lab scientists are also figuring out how to make hydrogen fueling infrastructure feasible. In fact, they’re currently building the world’s largest hydrogen refueling station for a fleet of fuel-cell-powered ferries in San Francisco.
Image: Toyota
3D printing.
How do you top a 3D-printed sports car? By printing a house, of course! The National Labs are demonstrating that how we make things is about to change. Advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing create products that are lighter, stronger and less expensive to produce. After proving the concept by printing an electric sports car, a lab teamed up with industry to 3D print the house in this photo. What’s next?
Image: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Advanced composites.
Anything made out of metal today may soon be made of materials three times as strong and twice as light. These materials have the potential to revolutionize advanced manufacturing, from wind turbine blades (pictured) to vehicles (see 3D printing). These versatile composites are currently used for satellites, airplanes and luxury cars, but by driving down costs and making these materials more accessible to manufacturers across a number of industries, we could make virtually any product made out of metal lighter, stronger and less expensive.
Image: Siemens
The most powerful supercomputers ever.
Sometimes big science requires big resources. From modeling the Earth’s climate to simulating nuclear reactions to processing the massive amounts of data from the Large Hadron Collider, supercomputers crunch the numbers for the big jobs. We’re talking quadrillions (that’s 15 zeroes!) of calculations per second. National Labs are already home to more than 30 of the world’s fastest, most powerful supercomputers. To ensure we can continue leading the world in science, they’re teaming up to build even more.
Image: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Extremely bright X-rays.
We bet your doctor doesn’t use an X-ray machine quite like this one. Synchrotron light sources speed electrons in a circle near the speed of light -- a process that creates X-rays. Scientists use these X-ray beams like a microscope to peer into the inner workings of everything from batteries to proteins in order to uncover information that could lead to improved energy technologies, medicines and more. New light sources like the one pictured are the most advanced to date. With so many possible applications, it’s hard to predict what it -- and others like it -- might reveal, but you can count on these light sources to play a role in many of the breakthroughs on this list.
Image: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Biofuels.
Over the past few years, biofuels researchers from the National Laboratories and its partners have been revolutionizing the future of fuel, lowering the cost per gallon from $400,000 to $6. Soon that number will be even lower, making it competitive with today’s fossil fuels. While jet fuel poses the most significant challenges, researchers have discovered a method that could make it easier and more affordable to produce jet fuel from biomass. So get excited for some greener engines.
Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory
A step closer to fusion energy.
Scientists are working to create fusion -- the energy source of the sun and stars -- on Earth. One of the world’s leading fusion research facilities just received a massive upgrade to its flagship machine. The upgrade doubles its heating power and the strength of its magnetic field, improvements that will enable researchers to answer important questions on the quest to develop fusion energy as a clean, safe and virtually limitless fuel for generating electricity.
Image: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
There’s a lot to get excited about in the next few years. Research at the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories is poised to transform science and energy. From the most efficient solar panels ever to answers to questions about the origins of the universe, major breakthroughs are on the horizon.
Click through the photo gallery to see what you can get excited about from the National Labs in the future, and don’t miss these 20 Amazing Things the National Labs Have Done already.
