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.

Overview

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

Featured Projects

News & Events

Berkeley Lab Signs Memorandum of Understanding with French Geological Survey

April 12, 2018

On April 10, Berkeley Lab and France’s Geological Survey, BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), signed a Memorandum of Understanding representing their intent to expand a collaborative partnership. The French geological survey is one of Berkeley Lab’s key European counterparts in working to address the need to protect and sustain Earth’s energy and environmental…

Scientists Unveil New Version of Popular Flow-Simulation Tool

March 22, 2018

Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have released the latest version of TOUGH (Transport Of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat), a suite of software codes used worldwide to simulate nonisothermal multiphase flow and transport in fractured and porous media. TOUGH3 builds on the impressive legacy of its TOUGH predecessors, which…

Berkeley National Lab Scientists Go Deep Underground to Study Rock Fractures in Geothermal Environments

March 5, 2018

In February EESA Staff Scientist Tim Kneafsey helped escort leadership from the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy on a journey 4,850 feet below the ground. They toured Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), an old South Dakota gold mine turned testing ground for studying how the process of extracting heat from rocks…

EESA Researchers Study How to Sustainably Remediate Contaminated Soil and Groundwater in Wake of Extreme Events

February 9, 2018

Researchers from the Earth and Environmental Sciences Area at Berkeley Lab are being recognized for developing advanced scientific tools that can inform how to sustainably remediate soil and groundwater contamination. Such remediation has become increasingly difficult in the wake of extreme climate events such as flooding. Hurricane Harvey, for example, caused flooding in 13 EPA-designated…

New EESA Study Indicates Greater Capacity for Carbon Storage in the Subsurface

February 6, 2018

New research from the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab shows that carbon dioxide can penetrate the inner layers of some non-swelling clay minerals which make up the dominant clays in the Earth’s deep subsurface. Results of the work performed at the Center for Nanoscale Controls on Geologic CO2 (NCGC) and the national lab’s Molecular Foundry could help inform practices intended to help limit carbon dioxide emissions, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

EESA Scientists Study Next-Generation Electric Meters’ Ability to Detect Regional Seismic Risk

A research team led by Kurt Nihei, a staff scientist in the Energy Geosciences Division of Berkeley Lab, has received a funding award through the lab’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. Over the next two years, the researchers will collaborate with Pacific Gas & Electric to evaluate the ability of next-generation electric meters to assess regional seismic risk.