CLIMATE CHALLENGESBringing Big Science to Address the Climate Challenge
Tackling the climate crisis and achieving an equitable clean energy future are among the biggest challenges of our time. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest Department of Energy science and energy laboratory in the country, says it is deeply invested in the big science capabilities and expertise needed to address the climate challenge on multiple fronts.
Tackling the climate crisis and achieving an equitable clean energy future are among the biggest challenges of our time. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest Department of Energy science and energy laboratory in the country,says it is deeply invested in the big science capabilities and expertise needed to address the climate challenge on multiple fronts.
ORNL scientists are gaining a better predictive understanding of what the future may hold. The Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL is leading unique large-scale experiments and leveraging the nation’s fastest supercomputer, Summit, to analyze massive datasets to improve Earth system models that predict future climate. Researchers are using these models to simulate and analyze climate impacts on critical facets of our daily lives – from urban communities and health outcomes to electricity demands, infrastructure needs and national security.
Extensive resources and research efforts are focused on generating solutions. The lab’s unparalleled neutron sources, nanoscale science center and materials science experts are conducting foundational research that underpins technological innovation in clean energy. The DOE Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at ORNL is developing the plants, microbes and new approaches needed to produce sustainable jet fuels and a range of bioproducts. ORNL’s Transformational Decarbonization Initiative, or TDI, is tapping the lab’s applied energy user facilities to translate basic science into deployable solutions for carbon mitigation in all of the nation’s energy sectors.
The stakes are high, and it will take an unprecedented level of collaboration, investment and bold innovation to tackle these national and global challenges.
“Climate change is a big threat that we are facing today. And there’s a lot to be done, from understanding the extent of climate change, understanding the extent of the impacts of these extreme events, to finding ways in which we can adapt to these changes,” said Deeksha Rastogi, an ORNL computational scientist. Her work projects climate impacts at the regional and local scales.
