Our federal labs are the envy of the world

It is the one clean energy asset that every U.S. state wishes it had – but only Colorado can claim. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, is the United States Department of Energy’s primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development (R&D).

NREL conducts renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D in 12 main programmatic areas. Each research area is enhanced by crosscutting functions, including industry partnerships and technology transfer, analysis, and program integration. Major areas include: wind, solar, biomass, energy analysis, building technologies, geothermal, and advanced fuels and vehicles.

A critical part of NREL’s mission is the transfer of NREL-developed technologies to renewable energy markets:

• NREL's Commercialization & Technology Transfer Office supports laboratory scientists and engineers in the successful and practical application of their expertise and the technologies they develop
• The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) collaborates with industry to further wind technology and to accelerate market commercialization. The NWTC's research has contributed to many wind industry success stories and the development of commercially successful utility-scale wind power plants
• NREL’s National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV) focuses on innovations in photovoltaic (PV) technology that drive industry growth in photovoltaic manufacturing nationwide
• The Hydrogen Technologies and Systems Center (HTSC) at NREL focuses on hydrogen production, delivery, and storage; fuel cells; technology validation; safety, codes, and standards; analysis; education; and manufacturing

Five additional federal labs in Colorado focus on energy and the environment:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - the federal government's top agency for monitoring our climate, the space environment, and ocean resources (Boulder)
• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) - dedicated to exploring and studying our atmosphere and its interaction with the sun, oceans, biosphere, and society (Boulder)
• National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) - managed by UCAR, is a National Science Foundation R&D Center (Boulder)
• Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) - directs research in the atmospheric sciences into practical applications in weather and climate (Fort Collins)
• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) - dedicated to research targeted at all aspects of earth system science and communicating its findings to the global scientific community (Boulder)

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