Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure

Water-Energy

The hydrologic cycle (California Department of Water Resources).

Develop approaches for sustainable groundwater management and identification of new water resources including groundwater storage opportunities while reducing associated cost and energy demands and insuring water quality. Anticipate, assess, manage, and mitigate potential impacts of emerging energy technologies on water systems and quality.

Highlights

Project

Integrated Risk Management and Decision Support System (IRMDSS)

Underground natural gas storage (UGS) in California serves winter heating and summer cooling demands, and there is no immediate alternative to meeting California’s demand for natural gas during peak periods in winter (e.g. CCST report, 2018). Therefore it is critically important to ensure the safety and integrity of UGS infrastructure, especially considering that many of…

Overview

Water-Energy is an Energy Geosciences Division initiative within the Resilient Energy, Water and Infrastructure Program Domain.

Featured Projects

Project

Integrated Risk Management and Decision Support System (IRMDSS)

News & Events

New EESA research explores impact of land-use policy on California’s terrestrial carbon and greenhouse gas budget

January 12, 2021

The 28 million acres of natural and working lands across California provide a unique opportunity to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals through various land-use strategies, such as expanding urban forest areas or restoring woodlands. However, the need to mitigate wildfire severity is also a critical priority for California, and one that can increase emissions…

Impacts of Climate Change on Our Water and Energy Systems: It’s Complicated

January 11, 2021

As the planet continues to warm, the twin challenges of diminishing water supply and growing energy demand are intensifying. But because water and energy are inextricably linked, as we try to adapt to one challenge – say, by getting more water via desalination or water recycling – we may be worsening the other challenge by…

Field Access Allows First-Ever Geothermal Basin Characterization Using Dark Fiber

December 16, 2020

We are thankful to have received approval to do limited field work as Berkeley Lab continues working under COVID-19 requirements. As an example, last month research scientist Verónica Rodríguez Tribaldos along with Michelle Robertson and Todd Wood of the Geosciences Measurement Facility deployed a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system on a “dark fiber” at a…

Berkeley Lab scientists design new framework for clean water

December 2, 2020

Artist’s illustration of water molecules. A research team led by Berkeley Lab has designed a new crystalline material that targets and traps copper ions from wastewater with unprecedented precision and speed. (Credit: Sashkin/Shutterstock) We rely on water to quench our thirst and to irrigate bountiful farmland. But what do you do when that once pristine water…

Multi-lab project developed computational approach to improve prediction of hydraulic fracture propagation

October 27, 2020

This news article originated on the website of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). A team of national laboratories, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with support from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory, is collaborating in a multi-scale modeling project that resulted in…

Martin Lesueur receives Mineral and Rock Physics section award from AGU

Martin Lesueur, a postdoc fellow in the Energy Geosciences Division, is the recipient of a 2020 section award from AGU: the Mineral and Rock Physics Graduate Research Award. Lesueur, whose research is focused on linking micro-scale digital rock physics to field-scale reservoir engineering, is one of seven postdocs and students from across the world…