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Renewable Energy in Our Backyard: A Visit to NREL

Most people know Golden, Colorado as a bonafide hub for outdoor recreation. A lesser-known claim to fame for our beloved hometown? Golden also hosts the nation’s leading renewable energy research facility, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL. When NREL CFO, Owen Barwell, invited the Powder7 crew for a tour in late March, we hopped on the opportunity to learn more about what NREL does. Here’s a taste of what we learned.

 

Driving into NREL, past the RSF Building

 

Tucked against the south end of South Table Mountain, the NREL looks as progressive as it is. The 372-acre campus features abundant south facing glass, solar panels, and sleek metal designs, like a specialized research university (minus the house parties). The drive to the facility takes you to a majestic scene. And that’s just where the magic begins.

 

Our tour guide Jim Bosch goes over the NREL campus and the history of how and when the buildings were erected.

The campus is divided into three centers: the National Bioenergy Center, the National Center for Photovoltaics, and the National Wind Technology Center. Each of these centers conducts cutting-edge research in its respective field, and the findings are disseminated nationally through 684 tech partnerships. NREL also includes three collaborative research facilities and employs about 1,700 workers from 70 countries plus more than 1,000 visiting researchers, interns, postdoctoral students, and contractors.  The Department of Energy funds most of the operation with additional help from other centers and programs—to the tune of nearly $400 million per year.

 

The Outdoor Test Facility, where PV cells are put up against the elements and simulate a 20 year test over just a few weeks.

 

Our first stop on the tour was the Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility. Here, researchers and industry partners develop and test technologies in bio-based products and fuels. Think of E-85 gasoline, versatile and less harmful to the atmosphere than traditional gas. These fuels are often made from corn product, which is readily available in most areas of the United States. While solar and wind energy often dominate public conversation surrounding renewable energy, biofuels could offer at least as much potential for innovation. This innovation happens at the IBRF, which plays a major part in growing this industry.

 

Inside the IBRF facility with out guides and the other folks on the tour with us

 

The IBRF conducts research in every facet of bioenergy production, from biomass feed stock and pre-treatment processes to testing the fuels at the backend. The facility is built for collaboration, accommodating equipment from partners or third parties. The result? A fully operational and versatile workplace that encourages front-line innovation. For example, the new Biochemical Conversion Pilot Plant converts cellulosic biomass into a variety of fuels and chemicals with the ability to produce one ton of dry biomass per day.

 

The Solar Energy Research Facility & Science and Technology Facility

When you walk into the facility and see all the kettles, it’s natural to wonder whether biofuel or beer is brewing. But I think it’s safe to assume the feed stock rules out the latter. After viewing the large-scale batches in tanks ranging from ten liters to thousands of liters you can see the scale and variety of tests that can be run. Massive cylinders allow chemicals to be added throughout much of the process to adjust pH levels as temperatures are manipulated. While many labs have the ability to produce and test biofuels in small batches, the IBRF accommodates full-scale production.

 

Tour guide, Jim Bosch, going over the day to day sustainability efforts contributed by every employee at NREL.

Next, the tour took us to the Science and Technology Facility, which was the first LEED Platinum building in the federal system when it was completed in 2006. Within this building, the Process Development and Integration Laboratory, run by the National Center for Photovoltaics (PV), focuses on tool development, integrated data systems, integrated hardware, and integrated PV materials. Simply put, the PDIL seeks to make PV cells from the materials as efficiently as possible. Given the increasing prevalence of solar power and pressure to constantly improve efficiency, the lab’s work proves invaluable in the industry. The goal: make solar more readily usable throughout the country and around the world to remove our dependencies on fossil fuels.

 

The Solar Energy Research Facility with the Rocky Mountains in the distance.

Connected to the Science and Technology Facility by a pedestrian bridge, the Solar Energy Research Facility houses the building and testing of solar cell prototypes. Some of the highest efficiency standards in the world have come out of this particular lab. Much of the research is directed at developing semiconductor materials for crystalline solar cells and analyzing their applications. The lab features a unique step in the analysis process: the replication of one sunlight beam to accurately measure PV efficiency. With the help of this lab, humans have made huge strides in the solar field, able to create solar cells that can reach a 40% efficiency rate (most cells run closer to 10-20%). This would have been unheard of ten years ago.

 

Wrapping up the tour in the RSF, talking about the sustainability efforts within the office space.

 

The last stop on the tour was the Research Support Facility (RSF), another LEED Platinum and Net 0 building, meaning that the building does not use any more energy that it produces. Housing most of the offices, every piece of this space is optimized to save energy.  Shared printers save on energy cost over personal printers. Each desk is given an energy allotment that must be maintained, and day lighting takes the place of overhead lights in many of the offices. North and south facing windows lower the cost of heating and cooling  while still allowing plenty of natural light into the building.

 

Window treatments and air intake systems are only two small pieces allowing the RSF to be a Net-0 building.

 

Last but not least: lunch. NREL’s cafe, naturally another Leed Platinum building, offered good eats and a perfect setting for debriefing. Although we’re a ski shop, Powder7 takes a vested interest in renewable energy, green technology and practices. We live in a different industry than the folks at NREL, but it’s no secret that climate change directly threatens the sport we love. Ultimately, awareness is the vital first step to reducing your footprint and helping to foster the growth of renewable energy technology. There are so many people who live and breathe winter sports, especially here in Colorado, so it takes a collective effort of voicing opinions and working within communities to keep our passion alive. Having such an amazing facility in our backyard is pretty incredible, and I highly advise anyone interested in this field to check out NREL.

 

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