NREL launches transportation decarbonization strategy

In Colorado, to help light that path to net-zero emissions, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a comprehensive vision for deeply decarbonizing transportation. It is a strategy rooted in cross-cutting research and engineering to enable industry stakeholders, communities, government agencies, and early adopters to meet their climate goals. 

In NREL’s vision, adapting to such shifts and meeting the call to reduce emissions demands a research mindset that looks beyond individual technologies. Rather, it is a multi-pronged strategy that provides the scientific building blocks for advancing important research and engineering priorities, such as: 

• • Accelerating innovations in vehicle technologies, such as increased vehicle electrification (batteries and fuel cells), connectivity, and automation 
• • Increasing transportation efficiency by reducing emissions and decarbonizing transport across the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle; rail, aviation, and marine sectors 
• • Maximizing future use of renewable electrons through time- and sector-shifting, a process encompassing storing renewable electrons as hydrogen, liquid fuels, and chemicals (to be used in long-term storage) 
• • Optimally integrating transportation with buildings, the grid, and renewables to realize system-wide benefits.