    [Senate Hearing 115-484]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 115-484

                      FOSTERING INNOVATION: CONTRIBUTIONS
                         OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S
                             NATIONAL LABORATORIES

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                             SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY

                                     OF THE

                                  COMMITTEE ON
                          ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                               SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

                                   __________

                    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                           Printed for the use of the
                   Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                  ___________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

    26-874                     WASHINGTON : 2019

                   COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

                        LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska, Chairman
    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming               MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
    JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho                RON WYDEN, Oregon
    MIKE LEE, Utah                       BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
    JEFF FLAKE, Arizona                  DEBBIE STABENOW, Michigan
    STEVE DAINES, Montana                AL FRANKEN, Minnesota
    CORY GARDNER, Colorado               JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia
    LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee           MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
    JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota            MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii
    BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana              ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
    ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    LUTHER STRANGE, Alabama              CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
                                     ------

                             Subcommittee on Energy

                             CORY GARDNER, Chairman

    JAMES E. RISCH                       JOE MANCHIN III
    JEFF FLAKE                           RON WYDEN
    STEVE DAINES                         BERNARD SANDERS
    LAMAR ALEXANDER                      AL FRANKEN
    JOHN HOEVEN                          MARTIN HEINRICH
    BILL CASSIDY                         ANGUS S. KING, JR.
    ROB PORTMAN                          TAMMY DUCKWORTH
    LUTHER STRANGE                       CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO

                          Colin Hayes, Staff Director
                    Patrick J. McCormick III, Chief Counsel
      Brianne Miller, Senior Professional Staff Member and Energy Policy
                                    Advisor
               Angela Becker-Dippmann, Democratic Staff Director
                    Sam E. Fowler, Democratic Chief Counsel
               Scott McKee, Democratic Professional Staff Member

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Gardner, Hon. Cory, Subcommittee Chairman and a U.S. Senator from
      Colorado.......................................................     1
    Manchin III, Hon. Joe, Subcommittee Ranking Member and a U.S.
      Senator from West Virginia.....................................     2
    Duckworth, Hon. Tammy, a U.S. Senator from Illinois..............     4

                                   WITNESSES

    Tumas, Dr. Bill, Associate Lab Director, Materials and Chemical
      Science and Technology, National Renewable Energy Laboratory...     5
    Ratnayake, Anuja, Director, Emerging Technology Strategy, Duke
      Energy Corporation.............................................    16
    Kearns, Dr. Paul, Interim Laboratory Director, Argonne National
      Labora-
      tory...........................................................    25
    Anderson, Dr. Brian J., Director of the WVU Energy Institute,
      West Virginia University.......................................    32

              ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

    Anderson, Dr. Brian J.:
        Opening Statement............................................    32
        Written Testimony............................................    35
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    71
    Duckworth, Hon. Tammy:
        Opening Statement............................................     4
    Gardner, Hon. Cory:
        Opening Statement............................................     1
        ``75 Breakthroughs'' by the U.S. Department of Energy's
          National Laboratories......................................    39
    Kearns, Dr. Paul:
        Opening Statement............................................    25
        Written Testimony............................................    28
    Manchin III, Hon. Joe:
        Opening Statement............................................     2
    Ratnayake, Anuja:
        Opening Statement............................................    16
        Written Testimony............................................    18
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    68
    Tumas, Dr. Bill:
        Opening Statement............................................     5
        Written Testimony............................................     8
        Responses to Questions for the Record........................    63

                      FOSTERING INNOVATION: CONTRIBUTIONS
                        OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S
                             NATIONAL LABORATORIES

                                  ----------

                          TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

                                   U.S. Senate,
                                Subcommittee on Energy,
                     Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:06 p.m. in
    Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Cory Gardner,
    Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CORY GARDNER,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO

        Senator Gardner [presiding]. The Committee will come to
    order.
        Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for your patience as
    we had to delay the hearing start.
        Today the Subcommittee on Energy will hold its second
    hearing in the 115th Congress. I enjoy the opportunity, always,
    to work with the Ranking Member, Senator Manchin, to address
    these key topics in Energy.
        During today's hearing we will take a deeper look into the
    Department of Energy's National Laboratory system. In 2015, the
    Council to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy
    Laboratories stated that the 17 labs of the DOE ``are national
    assets that have contributed profoundly to the nation's
    security, scientific leadership, and economic
    competitiveness.'' I am excited to hear much more about these
    outcomes today.
        The constellation of national labs was born from our desire
    to harness nuclear energy. Through today's discussion, I
    suspect our witnesses will enlighten us on the dramatic
    transformations that the lab system has taken over the last 70
    years to continually address our nation's biggest challenges
    and leaders, and as you are leaders, on the global stage.
        The U.S. has been the leader in research and development
    for years, but China is close at our heels in research
    spending. How we choose to invest in our national labs and
    support the scientists within them is critical going forward.
        Today I hope to hear more about what has been accomplished
    with the world-leading unique facilities we have developed so
    far and insights into how our laboratories incubate creative
    experts responsible for life-changing outcomes.
        If I remember right from chemistry class, and according to
    my grades I may not have always remembered right, a catalyst is
    something that promotes or accelerates a reaction or outcome
    that would not normally happen. I believe our national labs are
    catalysts that have accelerated or made possible many
    innovations.
        Our national labs harness nuclear power. They have shown us
    how to draw energy from the sun and the wind. Medical imaging
    was made possible by national lab materials discoveries. They
    have continued to push the limits of computational power and
    software tools to analyze the most difficult problems to keep
    us all safe, both from nuclear weapons and even in the car as
    we drive.
        The national labs are truly a catalyst. The ability of
    national labs to encourage innovation, foster collaboration and
    accelerate outcomes results in significant value and impact.
        I expect our witnesses today can probably teach us a thing
    or two about catalysis science. Beyond that, I definitely look
    forward to hearing them elaborate on the discovery environment
    within the labs and examples of results providing societal
    value. I believe the national labs have demonstrated a great
    ability to our delivery on science over several generations and
    Administrations and will continue to enhance the lives of
    millions of Americans.
        I would like to welcome our four witnesses: Dr. Brian
    Anderson, Dr. Kearns, Ms. Ratnayake, if I got it right, and Dr.
    Tumas; but I will start first with turning to Senator Manchin
    for comments and introduction.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. JOE MANCHIN III,
                    U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

        Senator Manchin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank
    you for scheduling this hearing and for your work and support
    of our country's national lab system.
        Between the National Energy Technology Lab in Morgantown,
    West Virginia, and the National Renewable Energy Lab that calls
    Colorado home, Senator Gardner and I have a firsthand
    understanding and appreciation for the critical work that is
    done by the good men and women who make our national lab
    systems.
        I was happy to work with Senator Capito on the
    Appropriations Committee to ensure that NETL is funded at
    $72.66 million for NETL research and development and at $58.68
    million for NETL infrastructure and operations for the Fiscal
    Year 2018 Energy and Water bill.
        I also want to thank Senator Heinrich for his leadership on
    the Energy Technology Maturation Act of 2017. This bill is a
    commonsense approach to ensuring that the Department of Energy
    can incentivize small businesses and private sector interest to
    partner with the national laboratories to advance the growth of
    lab-based technologies into commercial markets. I am happy to
    be a co-sponsor also with him.
        And last, but not least, I appreciate that our witnesses
    are joining us today for this very timely discussion. In
    particular, I want to recognize Dr. Brian Anderson who leads
    the West Virginia University Energy Institute. I have worked
    with Brian for some time, and I am glad he is here today to
    give us the University Partner's perspective on the importance
    of the work being done in Morgantown at the National Energy
    Technology Lab.
        The network of 17 national labs have developed over a long
    history with many originating during the time of the Manhattan
    Project. The national labs focus on energy innovation,
    scientific research, national security and environmental
    stewardship. The national labs work at the forefront of basic
    science and fundamental research, and the work that our
    national labs do has led to some of the most significant
    innovations of the last century. Just a couple examples include
    making digital recording technology a reality and x-ray vision.
    It was actually the national labs who discovered the difference
    between good and bad cholesterol.
        Over the past year, the national laboratories provided
    expertise and support for the joint comprehensive plan of
    action which, as we know, is the Iran Nuclear Agreement and
    addressing and evaluating the impact of the leak at the Aliso
    Canyon Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility.
        Another unique but important aspect of our lab systems are
    user facilities. The labs have unique and leading-edge user
    facilities such as x-ray and neutron sources, advanced
    accelerators and laser facilities, and nanomaterials facilities
    that benefit the research of over 33,000 researchers from
    academia, research institutions and private industries,
    annually.
        The lab that I hold near and dear to my heart is the
    National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) which is headquartered in
    Pittsburgh. The NETL is the only government-owned, government-
    operated, GOGO lab, in the national lab system. Housed under
    the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy, it
    celebrated its 100th anniversary several years ago in
    recognition of a history of research stations dating back to
    1910.
        NETL implements a broad range of energy and environmental
    research and development programs that include enabling
    domestic coal, natural gas and oil to economically power our
    nation's homes, businesses and transportation in an efficient,
    environmentally sustainable way.
        With a sprawling complex in Morgantown, West Virginia, that
    employs approximately 612 people, NETL has delivered some of
    our most important energy innovations in recent decades. NETL
    has expertise in coal, oil and gas technologies as well as
    energy systems and international energy issues. For example,
    its work regarding the extraction of rare earth elements (REE)
    from coal byproducts is a testament to NETL's ability to think
    creatively to solve our nation's energy security and supply
    chain challenges.
        I was happy to help secure funding for the REE research in
    the Fiscal Year 2018 Energy and Water bill and look forward to
    working with WVU and NETL further as we work to redevelop a
    domestic energy industry for rare earth elements.
        And as Dr. Anderson will tell us today, NETL's
    partnerships, cooperative research and development agreements,
    financial assistance and contractual arrangements with
    universities and the private sector have led to extraordinary
    collaboration amongst the world's leading minds in energy
    innovation.
        West Virginia has a history of producing energy for the
    rest of the country and NETL has played a big role in ensuring
    that we are striving to do it in cleaner, more efficient and
    more cost-effective ways. That has contributed greatly to West
    Virginia's role as a net energy exporter.
        In conclusion, the national labs are the lifeblood of our
    innovation. The collaborative nature of this lab system makes
    our lab system dramatically important to the future of science
    and energy innovation in this country; therefore, the proposed
    budget cuts to our national lab system are concerning to say
    the least. The Fiscal 2018 proposed budget would cut $1.25
    billion in funding from the national labs which could eliminate
    about 7,000 jobs. That is obviously going to result in a brain
    drain that will cause major disruption to the ongoing work at
    these facilities, at our universities and in the private
    sector.
        I look forward to working with Chairman Gardner and my
    colleagues to ensure our nation's labs are given the resources
    they need to continue their vital work.
        Thank you all for being here.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Manchin, and thank you
    for the introduction of Dr. Anderson, one of our witnesses
    today.
        Senator Duckworth, I know, has an introduction as well.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. TAMMY DUCKWORTH,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS

        Senator Duckworth. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        It is a real pleasure to introduce Dr. Paul Kearns, Acting
    Director at Argonne National Laboratory, which is in my home
    State of Illinois.
        I was warned by my staff not to make this claim because we
    do not actually have the hard data for it, but I am going to
    claim it anyway--I think, with our two national labs, we have
    more particle physicists per capita than any other state in the
    nation and I dare anyone to come up with the data to prove me
    wrong.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Gardner. I am going to have to look into that.
        Senator Duckworth. Go for it. Go for it.
        Senator Franken. I am on it too.
        Senator Duckworth. There you go, there you go.
        [Laughter.]
        Dr. Kearns heads up one of those critical, critical, crown
    jewels of scientific innovation in Illinois. We also have the
    privilege of having the first national lab in the country,
    Argonne.
        Dr. Kearns has a long and decorated career as a scientist
    having served across the country at several national labs. His
    experiences are especially relevant to this hearing on
    innovation.
        At Argonne, Dr. Kearns guides the development and
    implementation of the laboratory's strategic vision. He is
    leading Argonne in its efforts to continue delivering world
    class performance in science and technology, operations,
    employee health and safety and environmental protections.
        Dr. Kearns promotes a culture of innovation and
    collaboration within the laboratory which will serve it well as
    it enters into its 75th year, and he also promised to put in a
    good word for Fermilab, our other national laboratory as well.
    So I am incredibly happy that Dr. Kearns was able to join us
    for this very important conversation.
        Thank you for being here and welcome.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Duckworth.
        We will begin with the lab that just happens to be located
    in the great State of Colorado, the National Renewable Energy
    Laboratory, Dr. William Tumas, Associate Laboratory Director,
    Materials and Chemical Science and Technology.
        Dr. Tumas is responsible for overall leadership,
    management, technical direction and workforce development of
    the materials and chemical science and technology capabilities
    at NREL, spanning fundamental and applied research and
    development for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
        Dr. Tumas received his undergrad degree in chemistry from
    Ithaca College, his Ph.D. from Stanford and then did his post-
    doctoral research at Caltech. I hope you have paid your student
    loans.
        [Laughter.]
        With that, I look forward to hearing your testimony. Thank
    you.

    STATEMENT OF DR. BILL TUMAS, ASSOCIATE LAB DIRECTOR, MATERIALS
    AND CHEMICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY
                               LABORATORY

        Dr. Tumas. Thank you, Senator Gardner, thank you, Ranking
    Member Manchin and the rest of the Subcommittee for the
    opportunity to talk about the value of the national
    laboratories today.
        As Senator Gardner said, I'm the Associate Lab Director for
    Materials and Chemistry at the National Renewable Energy Lab,
    commonly called NREL. I lead programs in material science,
    nanoscience, chemistry, energy storage, solar energy, hydrogen
    and fuel cells. I also lead an Energy Frontier Research Center
    in Materials by Design.
        I started my career at DuPont Central Research and six
    years later I moved to the Los Alamos National Laboratory and
    in 2010 I moved to NREL.
        What attracted me to the national labs, as we heard from
    our Chair and the Ranking Member, is the ability to really
    address big science challenges, complex problems and to work in
    a real teeming science environment with superb colleagues and
    excellent facilities.
        As we heard already, the national labs have contributed
    significantly to our national security, our energy security,
    our economic prosperity and our scientific leadership.
        Other examples include optical disc recording to explosive
    detection, many examples we heard from our everyday lives can
    track their origin to national laboratories, strengthening the
    metal on aircraft, 22 elements were discovered at the national
    laboratories, everything from lead-free solder to nuclear
    deterrents to airport security.
        Another thing that I'd like to point out is the national
    labs really are one of the only groups that you can pull
    together, essentially, on a moment's notice to create very
    large, multi-disciplinary teams to tackle really pressing
    needs, whether it's disaster forecast, disaster recovery or
    other things that are even classified that we can't discuss in
    this arena, there are many examples today.
        The national labs, as we heard, have a scientific use, set
    a specialized science user facilities. They also have a pool of
    highly-
    talented individuals and researchers, and that really forms the
    backbone of a national lab system that I would purport really
    is a huge engine for maintaining and developing our country's
    science and technology capability.
        In addition to allowing access to tens of thousands of
    scientists from universities and industry to the user
    facilities, the lab serves as a magnet and, I would argue, a
    training ground for our next generation of scientists and
    engineers.
        There are a number of examples where we've seen significant
    impact in energy as well. Cost-efficient shale gas can trace
    its way back to national lab work. We'll hear about carbon
    capture and storage, perhaps, from NETL and the University of
    West Virginia. Photovoltaics, near and dear to my heart, from
    our own laboratory, and I'm sure we'll hear about advanced
    battery technologies from our colleague from Argonne.
        NREL work encompasses fundamental science but also applied
    science and engineering, technical analysis and assessment and
    systems integration. And we're proud to have made significant
    contributions in partnership with many others to a number of
    areas. Thin film solar cells are made by a U.S. company and
    create tens of gigawatts of clean power. Multi-junction, high-
    efficiency solar cells power satellites and are finding
    increasing use by the U.S. military for energy.
        The U.S. industry, solar industry, employs over 370,000
    employees today. The wind industry employs 100,000 and is on
    track for a quarter million employees in the U.S. by 2020.
        NREL has contributed significantly to power variable power
    strategies and pitch control that are used in almost every
    turbine in many, many states in our country.
        Making energy more affordable and domestically available,
    of course, also makes U.S. industry more competitive. In
    addition to working on affordability, NREL works a lot on
    resiliency. Through our energy systems integration facility, we
    work with other laboratories, you'll hear examples from Duke
    Energy today, on trying to make the grid more stable, more
    reliable and more secure. And we have a co-lead of 14 lab
    consortium that aims to modernize our grid and also guard it
    against both manmade and natural threats.
        Despite all these great advances, we live in a world of
    great opportunity and a world of great challenge.
    Supercomputers coupled with experiment can help us discover
    materials; but in the future, it can also help us design
    entirely new processing concepts that could lead to advanced
    manufacturing. Understanding the Earth subsurface is critical
    for fossil fuel extraction, for nuclear waste disposal and for
    maintaining and assuring high-quality water resources across
    our country.
        From a catalysis science standpoint, Senator Gardner, I'm
    fascinated by what we can do in the future of taking carbon
    dioxide and not thinking of it as a waste product, but actually
    converting it to materials and to products of commerce.
        In energy, we aren't done yet. There's still much to be
    done on cost, on efficiency, on accelerating the deployment and
    on getting more energy on to the grid, a true above all
    strategy. As we'll hear from our colleagues, likely, energy
    storage is critical as well.
        Through the energy materials networks we've seen that
    laboratories now can work on big data, computation and
    experiment and partnership with industry and companies and
    address a myriad of challenges, like lightweight materials,
    electrocatalysis for hydrogen production and for fuel cells,
    caloric materials for refrigeration and one that I like that we
    lead with NREL with three other labs, looking at photovoltaic
    materials for photovoltaic modules. So we certainly aren't done
    yet. Continued innovation is critical.
        I think it's unrealistic to expect the private sector,
    though, to pick up the massive R&D void that significant
    curtailment in our federal R&D budgets could cause. In fact, I
    would argue that the Bell Labs, Westinghouse Labs and, as of
    last year, my own former employer, DuPont Central Research,
    don't even exist anymore.
        Our current ecosystem really depends much more on public-
    private partnerships between national laboratories and industry
    and companies, and that's what's needed to turn scientific
    discoveries into beneficial use.
        Success comes not only from fundamental research on
    materials discovery, as we've seen in solar and batteries, but
    also laboratory engagement with partners on devices,
    prototypes, testing, reliability and durability, the entire
    technology development spectrum.
        We're not the only country making major investments. As you
    know, other countries are making massive investments, as
    Senator Gardner told us.
        Cutting-edge science is going to be critical to the future
    of America and it's going to be critical to maintain our
    competitive edge. And I would argue if we fail to take
    advantage of the science assets and the prior investments
    already made, we risk depending on others for the ideas,
    knowledge and the innovation we surely will need in the future.
        So I'd just like to close by telling you that, in summary,
    national labs bring an unmatched expertise, I think, in
    science, but also a very strong and very key link to connecting
    science to the technological advances that we require.
        With that, I want to thank you for the opportunity to talk
    to you and thank you for your leadership.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Tumas follows:]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Tumas.
        Our next witness, Ms. Ratnayake, who is joining us today,
    is the Director of Emerging Technology Strategy for Duke
    Energy. The Emerging Technology organization is responsible for
    monitoring technology-driven megatrends, identifying and
    developing utility technologies, and informing Duke Energy's
    long-term strategy.
        Ms. Ratnayake has over a decade of experience in the energy
    industry as she earned her Bachelor's degree in Business
    Administration from Berea College and holds a Master's degree
    in both Business Administration and Diplomacy and International
    Commerce from the University of Kentucky.
        A native of Sri Lanka, Ms. Ratnayake and her husband have
    two sons.
        Thank you for joining us today.

      STATEMENT OF ANUJA RATNAYAKE, DIRECTOR, EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
                   STRATEGY, DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION

        Ms. Ratnayake. Thank you, Senator.
        Good afternoon, Chairman Gardner, Ranking Member Manchin
    and members of the Subcommittee. My name, as I was introduced,
    is Anuja Ratnayake. I'm the Director of Emerging Technology
    Strategy at Duke.
        Our team, as Senator Gardner mentioned, we are the front
    end of Duke Energy, where we lead emerging technology pilot
    projects, including a focus on energy storage, microgrids and
    renewable energy integration and we continuously work with a
    number of national labs.
        If I may, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge Duke
    Energy's customers and employees, who have been affected by
    Hurricane Irma which has caused widespread devastating damage
    across Florida, as well as damage and outages in the Carolinas.
        In the storm's aftermath personnel safety continues to be
    the most important focus as we work as quickly as possible to
    restore power to critical infrastructure and all of our
    customers.
        Today, I appreciate the opportunity to provide the
    Subcommittee with the perspective of regulated electric utility
    on the value that the Department of Energy's national labs
    provide to the electric power sector and our customers.
        Duke Energy is one of the largest energy companies in the
    U.S., serving a population of about 24 million people with
    electric and gas services. We operate under a regulatory model
    that prioritizes lowest cost for customers which is met through
    prudent commercialized technology. This regulatory structure
    does not incentivize utilities to undertake research,
    development and early adoption of new and emerging solutions
    due to the inherent technology risk during the early stages of
    their commercialization. This creates significant challenges as
    potentially transformational but nascent solutions are unable
    to prove their abilities without extensive testing. This is
    exactly the gap the DOE research programs and ARPA-E fill,
    serving a vital role for the entire energy sector.
        New technologies that are meant to operate on their own can
    take years of R&D in lab settings before they become
    scientifically viable and then more R&D in field settings
    before they're economically competitive.
        The energy grid is the largest and most complex machine in
    the world, comprised of many millions of subcomponents, all
    working seamlessly together to keep your lights on. Adding a
    single, new subcomponent, not only requires years of R&D by
    itself, but it must also prove it can work with the millions of
    existing components, as well as other future requirements
    driven by parallel technology developments.
        This is not the kind of R&D even the most well-funded,
    sophisticated company should do on its own. For if a technology
    doesn't work, it could literally turn out we're dark. This is
    why we strongly believe the true transformative potential of
    today's emerging technologies cannot be realized without
    partners like the national labs. They have expertise with this
    complex system as well as the unique tools necessary to test
    and validate emerging tech capabilities.
        In my written testimony, I have described specific project
    examples on increasing efficiency in fossil generation,
    expanding grid resiliency and enabling seamless renewable
    integration. The fundamental point of these projects is to
    position our industry to embrace the changing energy future and
    evolving customer expectations.
        To highlight one of these examples our collaborative
    partnership with Pacific Northwest National Lab looked at
    impacts of integrating solar PV on the grid. The lessons
    learned from this study have proven essential for understanding
    intermittency and maintaining reliability while we add more
    solar to our system.
        With PNNL we further evaluated leveraging energy storage,
    smart inverters and demand site management to effectively and
    economically integrate the increasing levels of solar
    generation. This work was an essential building block for us to
    rethink how to plan a smart energy future for our customers.
        Our mandate as electric utilities is to provide safe,
    reliable and affordable energy for our customers. Your support
    and investments in the national labs enable us to leverage new
    technologies, to modernize the power grid and stimulate
    economic growth while we continue to meet this mandate.
        The capabilities offered by the national labs are
    unattainable anywhere else in the industry and are critical to
    the industry's ability to understand how to better operate and
    plan our system for the future. This ultimately ensures
    customers and our communities have the lowest cost, most
    reliable, resilient and advanced clean energy system in the
    world.
        Thank you for the opportunity to be here today, and I look
    forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Ratnayake follows:]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Ms. Ratnayake.
        Dr. Kearns, as introduced by Senator Duckworth, the Interim
    Director at the Argonne National Laboratory.
        Thank you.

      STATEMENT OF DR. PAUL KEARNS, INTERIM LABORATORY DIRECTOR,
                      ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

        Dr. Kearns. Chairman Gardner, Ranking Member Manchin and
    members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    appear before you today.
        I am Paul Kearns, the Interim Director of Argonne National
    Laboratory which is located in Lemont, Illinois. For nearly
    three decades I've held senior management positions in the
    Department of Energy's national laboratories. I am passionate
    about securing our nation and encouraging breakthrough
    discoveries in science and technology.
        For more than 70 years the U.S. Department of Energy and
    its national laboratories have been delivering scientific
    discovery and innovation focused on understanding nature's
    deepest secrets, improving the way our nation generates,
    distributes and uses energy, and enhancing global, national and
    our homeland security. Time and again the laboratories have
    been called upon to overcome the world's greatest scientific
    challenges, from answering urgent questions about outbreaks of
    Ebola to mitigating weather-related risk with innovative
    detailed computer models.
        The Department of Energy operates five light sources,
    including our Advanced Photon Source at Argonne. Each offers a
    different way of characterizing materials at the atomic and
    molecular level so that we may understand, predict and
    ultimately control material properties.
        From these facilities come life-changing discoveries. Drugs
    used to treat and halt the progression of conditions, including
    advanced kidney cancer, malignant and inoperable skin cancer, a
    common type of leukemia and HIV all got their start at
    Argonne's Advanced Photon Source. Research there has also led
    to greater understanding of diseases ranging from autism to
    osteoporosis.
        This ability to view matter in great detail has led to many
    other inventions as well. The intense x-rays of the Argonne
    Advanced Photon source has helped us design the technology
    that's used in the battery cell that powers the Chevy Volt. It
    has also led to insights about how to improve the reliability
    of additive manufacturing, the efficiency of the internal
    combustion engines and the possibility of hypersonic flight.
    These insights flow from open and productive partnerships with
    a range of industries including pharmaceuticals, oil and gas
    and transportation.
        As we upgrade Argonne's Advanced Photon Source, researchers
    will be able to peer deeper in near real time and develop, for
    example, next generation quantum materials with extraordinary
    properties and create 3-D images of the human brain. In other
    words, the ultimate 3-D microscope is within the nation's
    grasp.
        More than 30 of the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world
    can be found at DOE laboratories. At Argonne, we've helped
    industry perform simulations in support of more efficient jet
    engines and wind turbines and help doctors arrive at prognosis
    and treatment plans designed specifically for individual cancer
    patients. Scientists also use these resources to enhance the
    creation of nanocircuits to usher in the next generation of
    electronic circuitry.
        We design, build and operate distinctive scientific
    instrumentation and facilities making supercomputing, imaging
    and other resources available to the wider research community.
    This multiplies the value the national laboratories deliver
    through collaboration with more than 30,000 users of our
    facilities from academia and industry.
        With our unique talent and tools, national laboratories
    play a critical role in large-scale, long-term research and
    development that compliments the pursuits of universities and
    industry to discover new knowledge and better human lives.
        Argonne's material science and chemistry research has
    yielded a spectrum of innovations ranging from some of the
    toughest ceramic ever produced--perfect for energy and
    transportation applications--to innovations that demonstrate
    the doubling of the carrying capacity of the best commercial
    superconductors.
        DOE laboratories and universities mutually benefit from
    developing strategic partnerships. These partnerships
    capitalize on the different strengths of their respective
    organizations and bring unique solutions to regional and broad
    national challenges.
        As an example, the Institute for Molecular Engineering
    created, as a partnership between Argonne and its parent
    organization, the University of Chicago, looks to impact major
    society issues with innovative technologies achieved through
    molecular scale, design and manipulation.
        The Argonne Joint Center for Energy Storage Research,
    JCESR, DOE's battery and energy storage hub, is an example of a
    successful public-private partnership, bringing together
    collaborators from universities, industry, and other national
    laboratories. The hub's mission is to look beyond lithium ion,
    today's technology, to create next generation battery
    technologies that will transform the transportation sector and
    the electrical grid, the way today's lithium ion batteries have
    transformed personal electronics.
        In addition to energy storage, national laboratories are
    working to create a more reliable and resilient power
    infrastructure for U.S. energy and economic security, as has
    been mentioned already today. The laboratories increase the
    mobility of our citizens with new transportation systems
    through diversified fuel sources and increased efficiency.
        We integrate combustion, fuels and lightweight materials
    research to improve internal combustion engine efficiency. We
    explore the possibility of cost-effective and durable hydrogen
    storage materials for fuel cells and develop and deploy new
    energy storage technologies for electric and hybrid electric
    vehicles.
        Specialists in backgrounds in engine and combustion system
    development, as well as high-octane and bio-derived fuel
    chemistries collaborate with our leading experts in advanced
    engine simulations allowing for comprehensive assessment of
    alternative fuels to optimize fuel economy gains for a range of
    applications.
        National laboratories make us more secure by advancing
    nuclear materials management, detection, and forensic
    capabilities to protect the nation. They also enhance the
    safety, security and reliability of the nation's nuclear
    deterrent. We provide the targeted, sophisticated data
    collection and lightning-paced parsing necessary to inform
    national security decision-making, and create an advantage with
    energy and power solutions specifically designed to fulfill
    national security missions.
        The success of the national laboratories is being noticed
    by other countries. They are looking at our model to replicate
    its unique interdisciplinary nature. We must continue to invest
    in this system to remain at the forefront of research and
    development as we overcome the greatest scientific challenges.
        Thank you for your time and interest in how the national
    laboratories bring greater security, health, and prosperity to
    Americans.
        I welcome any questions that you might have.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Kearns follows:]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Kearns.
        Dr. Anderson, introduced by Senator Manchin, the Director
    of the West Virginia Energy Institute.
        Thank you, Dr. Anderson.

    STATEMENT OF DR. BRIAN J. ANDERSON, DIRECTOR OF THE WVU ENERGY
                  INSTITUTE, WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

        Dr. Anderson. Chair Gardner and the rest of the Committee,
    I thank you very much for your attention today. And I do,
    certainly, thank Senator Manchin for his kind introduction.
        As he mentioned, I am the Director of the WVU Energy
    Institute at West Virginia University. We are the central
    umbrella organization to help coordinate interdisciplinary and
    multidisciplinary research across our 14 colleges and schools
    and that includes 167 affiliate faculty members who work in the
    energy space.
        I am the GE Plastics Materials Engineering Professor of
    Chemical Engineering and have 17 years of energy research
    experience, primarily in chemical engineering, CO2
    sequestration, natural gas hydrates, unconventional gas
    production and geothermal energy. In all of these research
    areas I have personally collaborated with NREL, Argonne, Los
    Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Idaho National
    Lab and, of course, NETL.
        West Virginia University is a public, land-grant, research-
    intensive university. It is one of the Carnegie Classification
    Research 1 universities, which is the top 115 universities
    performing research in the country.
        Our Morgantown campus hosts the University Energy
    Institute, the National Research Center for Coal and Energy,
    the Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions which
    discovered the Volkswagen was cheating on their emissions tests
    last year.
        The University has active and ongoing research related to
    operating improvements on existing coal-fired power generation,
    the recovery of rare earth elements from coal wastes,
    instrumentation and sensor development to accurately measure
    fugitive emissions from shale gas wells, analysis of sub-
    surface geologic structures and their applicability to store
    gas liquids, carbon sequestration or to produce natural gas.
        We have also developed sophisticated software systems and
    algorithms that can model complex fossil fuel combustion
    systems, as well as complex electric transmission grids
    responding to variable generation from intermittent sources
    like solar and wind.
        In the renewable space, we are a leader in biomass as well
    as geothermal energy and in energy storage to enable renewable
    energy technologies onto the grid.
        Additionally, the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center
    (CERC) Advanced Coal Technology Consortium is based in the WVU
    Energy Institute at West Virginia University. That consortium
    is one of five consortia across the country that was created
    through a bi-lateral protocol signed in 2009 between the United
    States Department of Energy and two agencies of the People's
    Republic of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology and
    the National Energy Administration. The initial phase of this
    Center's Protocol spanned five years and in 2015 was extended
    another five years.
        As with most of our major research initiatives at WVU, this
    CERC program involves a number of Department of Energy National
    Laboratory collaborations. The CERC program has national
    laboratory project partners, such as Lawrence Livermore
    National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Lab, the National
    Energy Technology Laboratory. And these lab partners are in
    addition to the number of private sector and academic
    institutions including Duke Energy.
        A second project that I would draw your attention to is
    called the Marcellus Shale Energy Environment Laboratory
    (MSEEL). Again, this is a collaboration between the National
    Energy Technology Lab and WVU.
        As we know, much of our power sector is shifting to natural
    gas and a lot of natural gas is being produced from Appalachia.
    Our MSEEL site is the world's first transparent well in the
    sense that all the data collected in terms of its water
    footprint, its air footprint, noise, light and the full cycle
    of the production of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale site
    in Morgantown is open to the public.
        This is one of the most instrumented wells in the world and
    we have a full record of all of the emissions through the cycle
    with the design on reducing emissions during production as well
    as emissions during transportation and distribution of natural
    gas. Not only is this project funded by the DOE Fossil Program,
    it does heavily involve NETL as a research partner.
        In addition to the partnership between CERC and MSEEL, the
    University has active relationships with the NREL in
    geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric, Brookhaven National Lab,
    Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Lawrence Berkeley National
    Lab, not to leave them out, but these are our major research
    collaborations.
        We have worked with NETL since 1946 supporting their R&D
    activities. In '46 the research came to Morgantown in the form
    of a synthesis gas branch experiment station, specifically
    focused on coal gasification research at WVU.
        WVU has collaborated with the NETL when it was the
    Morgantown Energy Center. The Morgantown Energy Technology
    Center, the Federal Energy Technology Center and, of course,
    now, NETL.
        So for the better part of the last decade we have, through
    the onsite research contract, been a part of the Regional
    University Alliance with our partners at Carnegie Mellon
    University, the University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and
    Penn State, where many students have completed their Ph.D. work
    onsite at the laboratory, including many of my own. Not only
    does this provide a broad and talented research workforce for
    the laboratory, but it also has resulted in a number of R&D 100
    awards that have been awarded to RUA researchers.
        So generally, innovation ecosystems often include
    innovation clusters at the scale of metropolitan areas that
    form a core research group of universities or companies. These
    innovation clusters are typically driven by the interaction of
    early stage technology ideas or firms with financing and
    related companies in a geographically concentrated area that
    has an enabling environment.
        Geographic proximity often encourages rapid
    commercialization; however, the DOE national laboratories act
    not only as a convening party, but that catalyst in a hub for
    innovation ecosystems across the United States.
        I do sincerely thank the Committee for your time and
    attention today and for allowing me to speak about West
    Virginia University and our partnerships with the many national
    laboratories.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Anderson follows:]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Anderson, and thanks to all
    of you for being here, again, today.
        I think this panel is a great representation of what our
    national labs stand for and how research and development in
    this country really works because we have not only the
    scientists from our great laboratories across the country, but
    we have the private sector involvement, we have our
    universities and research institutions that are all at the
    table to talk about innovations in research science and how we
    are going to maintain, in this country, the leading edge of
    innovation.
        I encourage everybody who is listening or a part of this on
    the dais to check out this ``Breakthroughs'' by America's
    national laboratories, 75 breakthroughs, the highlights in
    2017.
        [The information referred to follows:]

        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        I just thought I would go through a few of these. It is
    pretty phenomenal.
        Our labs fabricated the smallest machines. The world's
    smallest synthetic motor, as well as radios, scales and
    switches that are 100,000 times finer than a human hair were
    designed at our national labs. And it is important to talk
    about, okay, that is great, but how do you turn on a radio that
    is that small? Well, these are the forays into nanotechnology
    that could lead to life-saving pharmaceuticals and more
    powerful computers.
        We are talking about a national lab discovery on freezing
    smoke and the smoke is actually fireproof which, there is an
    irony there, it is incredible to think about why would you
    freeze smoke and how did we come up with this, but what can it
    do? Well, it is heat-
    resistant aerogels that are candidates for insulation in
    buildings, vehicles, filters in appliances. These are things
    that are life-altering, life-changing, life-improving.
        Ms. Ratnayake, in your comments and testimony you stated,
    ``There's this role, an appropriate role, for industry. There
    is an appropriate role for the national lab system.''
        These discoveries and the partnerships you do together in
    industry, tell me the importance of federally funding and
    assuring appropriate and full robust funding for our national
    labs. What does that mean to Duke and to private industry?
        Ms. Ratnayake. Certainly, Senator.
        You gave some really good examples. They may not
    necessarily be anything specific, but the energy examples are
    equally transformational.
        We work with a number of national labs to understand how to
    integrate the new technologies that are coming to us. So it's
    not necessarily fundamental sciences, but the fact of the
    matter is we can't operate on a system with technology
    solutions that doesn't have history.
        That's where the national labs have helped us, particularly
    NREL has helped us immensely. The capability NREL has within
    its campus allowed us to test different components before any
    of it went on our system--we had to operate in real time and
    our customers would be impacted.
        Most of the studies we've done with them has helped us to
    understand--when I have a large amount of solar, for example,
    on a single circuit, how do I operate it without the end
    customer being impacted because of the variability you see in
    its production?
        We've had multiple opportunities to work with NREL to
    visualize what that future looks like which, within our
    facilities, we can't. We don't have those tools. As I
    mentioned, we don't have the resources or the incentives as an
    industry to look at that.
        So our back-up position is to say, you're an unproven
    technology, I can't adopt you. In the absence of a lab, that's
    all in the absence of a lab, then public-private partnerships,
    that's really my back-up position or I have to wait until
    somebody else puts a solution on our system and hope that I
    know what I'm doing when I have to operate it. This gives us
    that, sort of, fail-proof approach process to experience things
    before they become reality on my system.
        Hopefully I'm answering your question.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you.
        Then there are some who might say that our national labs or
    the research labs in the Federal Government are infringing or
    duplicating the work that is being done by the private sector.
    But that is simply not true because of what you just answered
    and explained, that you would not be doing what you do without
    that.
        Ms. Ratnayake. Right.
        So you can think of us in, sort of, with two different
    roles. We, as the utility industry, are really the end user of
    a number of technologies that get developed by various
    entities. Some of them, I would say a very large number of the
    ultimately commercialized technology, would have started in a
    place like a national lab or in a place like an ARPA-E funded
    program. By the time it comes to us, the remaining research and
    development is all about how do I take a scientifically proven
    component and make it a part of this grid that we have to
    operate with 100 percent reliability every single day if we
    possibly can. I can't take the risk of putting that component
    without knowing how it would interact with 12 other parts.
        None of the equipment manufacturers who deliver individual
    components have that interest. That's the unique place that
    national labs help us to bridge the gap. If they did not have
    the ability, if each individual component wasn't able to go and
    become a part of these testing facilities and proving, it's
    just not going to be commercially viable.
        So anybody who says the national labs are infringing upon
    the potential of the private sector perhaps doesn't understand
    the complexity of the system we are operating.
        Senator Gardner. Thanks, Ms. Ratnayake.
        Dr. Tumas, you are off the hook for this round. I am going
    to come back to you though next time.
        We will go to Senator Heinrich.
        Senator Heinrich. Well, I want to start by thanking the
    Chair for holding today's hearing and the witnesses have
    already presented an incredibly strong case for how valuable
    the Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories are to our
    energy future and to our nation's economy.
        In New Mexico, we are proud to be home to two of DOE's
    largest national laboratories, Los Alamos and Sandia. Both labs
    play critical roles in both national security and development
    of advanced energy technologies.
        For a number of years now I have worked here in Congress
    and with our two national labs in New Mexico to improve the
    process to transfer those innovative technologies from the labs
    into the private sector. Technology transfer and partnering
    with the private sector is a critical part of a laboratory's
    mission and key to increasing the economic impact of federal
    research dollars.
        Our national labs produce a steady stream of advanced
    technologies that we have heard about a little bit today that
    can yield big dividends in commercial markets. To improve the
    rate of transition of laboratory-developed energy technologies
    into commercial development, I believe we need to strengthen
    DOE's programs to promote stronger, direct partnerships with
    that private sector.
        To do that, today I am proud to say I am introducing a bill
    with Senator Gardner, the Energy Technology Maturation Act,
    which authorizes a program at DOE to provide dedicated funding
    to help bridge the gap between lab research and development and
    a commercial product the private sector can produce and market.
        I am also pleased to say that, in addition to Senator
    Gardner and I, Senators Bennett, Durbin, Manchin and Harris are
    original co-sponsors on that bipartisan bill and we are looking
    forward to hearing from Senator Franken, why he is not on that
    list.
        [Laughter.]
        Tech transfer is a major job creation opportunity that we
    cannot afford to miss, even in Minnesota----
        Senator Gardner. He is still----
        Senator Heinrich. ----and our bill will create an
    environment that strengthens our economy while encouraging
    future innovations.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Franken. I have never been blindsided like this.
        Senator Heinrich. So I want to thank all of you for joining
    us today, and I am going to yield for a moment because I think
    my colleague from Minnesota is a little upset with me.
        Senator Franken. I have never been blindsided like that,
    Senator, and I resent it. I am joking, I don't.
        Senator Heinrich. Okay.
        Senator Franken. It looks good. I will look at the bill. If
    you guys are doing it, it sounds good.
        Senator Heinrich. Great.
        [Laughter.]
        Back to our witnesses.
        I want to thank our lab witnesses and just ask your
    thoughts, from the perspective of the labs. What is working in
    the world of tech transfer? What are you seeing that is
    enabling that to happen more effectively? And what isn't? And
    what can we do about it?
        Do any of you want to share your thoughts on that? We will
    start with Dr. Kearns.
        Dr. Kearns. Yes, let me jump right in because this is an
    area, as I said, I'm pretty passionate about and excited to be
    able to answer the question or at least start the discussion.
        I think there are two things that I would cite as working
    well. And one is really thinking beyond the transactional
    relationships with industry to, really, more strategic
    relationships with industry.
        No offense to our panelists here, but we have recently
    struck a long-term agreement to provide science and technology
    and strategic planning support for Exelon, one of the larger
    utilities in the U.S. So we're pretty excited about that. It's
    fairly open and it's a cooperative research and development
    agreement which allows us to have a great deal of flexibility
    and really allows us to pursue many different avenues of
    potential interest that Exelon may have in thinking about their
    own research and development activities.
        As has been commented on, they've turned--utilities today
    in a regulatory, regulated environment, have great difficulty
    in conducting research and development activities. So they've
    turned to not only Argonne National Laboratory, but they've
    turned to MIT and Northwestern with similar kinds of
    arrangements, really, to pull the laboratories and those
    universities in to their thinking in terms of what the future
    might look like, how they might best position themselves for
    the future and what new technologies they should explore. So
    that's one.
        A second is a new activity at Argonne we call chain
    reaction innovations which is sponsored by the DOE's Office of
    Advanced Manufacturing. It kind of turns things around in terms
    of how we do tech transfer and that actually invites innovators
    and entrepreneurs, they turn out to be fairly young for the
    most part, to the laboratory to actually use our facilities and
    to work with our researchers, side by side.
        It's done through a competitive process and we are just
    launching the second cohort, if you will, where we can actually
    have young, fresh minds just out of college, or perhaps they've
    just finished their postdocs, really present their ideas.
    They're selected through a competitive process. As I said, we
    team them with researchers at the laboratory, as well as a
    business mentor to really help create a winning environment for
    them so they can really be successful in terms of what they do.
    And it really spans the field of interest, the ones we have,
    all the way from basic fundamental science to new ideas in
    chemistry, to all the way to looking at advances in nuclear
    energy technologies. So it's really been well received in those
    regards.
        So those are two things that I would cite as that are
    working very well.
        Senator Gardner. Since we gobbled up a little bit of your
    time, Senator Heinrich, if you would like to ask a little bit
    more, you can.
        Senator Heinrich. Actually, I would, if either of our other
    witnesses from either NREL or West Virginia want to chime in, I
    am more than----
        Dr. Tumas. Yes, thank you, Senator.
        At NREL we think we need to be as innovative in reaching
    out to partners as we are in our research. And clearly, I think
    that true partnership is important. I like to tell my
    international colleagues in some of our collaborations that
    collaboration is much like American football. It's a contact
    sport.
        And access to the labs for small companies--there are many
    innovative mechanisms that have been developed over the years
    for that.
        I joined Los Alamos about the time in 1993 that craters
    started to become very important. I spent 17 years there. One
    of our energy frontier research centers is led by Los Alamos,
    but NREL is an active participant. And you may know that some
    of the quantum dot technologies developed there are actually in
    spin-off companies in Los Alamos County today.
        Senator Heinrich. Right, absolutely.
        Dr. Tumas. It's very clear that innovative mechanisms are
    important.
        We've developed some partnerships. One is with the Wells
    Fargo Foundation where we have 20 startup companies that have
    access to national lab capabilities for testing, proof of
    concept, and de-risking. Wells Fargo has just elected, the
    foundation has just elected to go select another 30 companies
    to participate there. Very different mechanisms.
        We have energy material networks that were just set up that
    I talked about. One is DuraMAT. It focuses on materials for
    photovoltaic modules. It's led by NREL, but it has three other
    labs: Sandia, the Stanford Linear Accelerator and Lawrence
    Berkley lab. Each has a role in big data, materials
    reliability, materials modeling, but there's an industry board
    of active photovoltaic companies as well as along the supply
    chain with companies that sit on that board, help guide the
    research, but it's a mechanism to actually provide ready, as
    needed, access to laboratory capabilities. And so, they're
    there when they're needed.
        Senator Heinrich. Great.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator.
        I am grateful to be a co-sponsor of the legislation which
    links the two together, meaning the kind of value stream that
    we need when it comes to those investments, getting them
    commercialized. So I appreciate your leadership in this area,
    Senator Heinrich.
        Senator Franken.
        Senator Franken. Thank you.
        It is like football, you were saying? What were your
    degrees from what schools?
        Dr. Tumas. I had the pleasure of watching John Elway for
    three years at Stanford, Sir.
        Senator Franken. No, no, no.
        [Laughter.]
        Oh, you were at Stanford?
        Senator Gardner. Great answer, thank you.
        Senator Franken. Okay, but I thought I heard Caltech and
    MIT, whose football programs rival Yeshiva's.
        [Laughter.]
        I am concerned about the budget cuts that President Trump
    is making in research, funding for research and development
    across the government which, I think, puts at risk our
    international competitiveness and innovative edge, not to
    mention jobs, is especially pronounced at the Department of
    Energy.
        The budget slashes energy science and research programs by
    $3.1 billion, including cutting renewable energy and energy
    efficiency research by 70 percent, and it completely ends ARPA-
    E.
        These cuts would have serious impacts on our national labs
    which, truly, are the envy of the world. The Administration
    justifies these cuts by expecting the private sector to pick up
    the slack, stating that the budget, ``reflects an increased
    reliance on the private sector to fund later stage research,
    development and commercialization of energy technologies.''
        It seems like the Administration is buying into, kind of,
    the Heritage Foundation fantasy that ignores the long-standing
    research model that has been so effective in the United States
    and are now subscribing to, really, a dangerous approach and, I
    think, a naive one, that innovative technologies do not need
    assistance to transition from the lab and that there is no
    federal role through public-private partnerships and other
    types of support. They are rejecting the model that played a
    critical role in the development of the internet, for just one
    example.
        Also, Mr. Tumas, you talked about getting oil and gas from
    shale, that kind of partnership.
        Ms. Ratnayake, you work in the private sector. Is Duke
    Energy planning on substantially increasing its investment in
    energy research and development in lieu of those proposed DOE
    cuts? Are any industry consortiums contemplating the next Bell
    Labs, say, for energy innovation?
        Ms. Ratnayake. We are not, Senator Franken.
        Senator Franken. And I would like to hear from the rest of
    the panel.
        If these cuts go through, how will that impact the lab's
    ability to create and retain top talent?
        Dr. Anderson. I know from a university perspective it would
    have a dramatic effect on the next generation of innovators,
    the next generation of scientists, who are funded through the
    Department of Energy programs at our universities and through
    our national laboratories.
        And while I have the mic, Senator Franken, as you alluded
    to earlier, in terms of our national competitiveness, I can
    speak frankly with our U.S./China Clean Energy Research Center
    Advanced Coal Technology Consortium, that through that
    partnership, through that bilateral partnership, we get to see
    firsthand the innovation engine that exists in China. And so,
    cuts to our scientific endeavors in the United States, both at
    the basic level as well as applied and tech transfer, there is
    a vast economy that is ready to take our place.
        Senator Franken. So if we pass the President's budget, we
    are ceding our leadership to China and to other countries, in
    your opinion?
        Dr. Anderson. It makes it very difficult for us to maintain
    our foothold, yes.
        Senator Franken. That is what I believe.
        I am going to turn to energy storage because, Ms.
    Ratnayake, you were talking about solar energy and the problem
    you have with it being intermittent and how to deal with that.
        I believe that energy storage is a key to facilitate
    widespread deployment of renewable energy. It can also be used
    to improve grid reliability and resilience or to avoid more
    expensive upgrades. Do you agree with that?
        Ms. Ratnayake. Yes, Senator Franken. Energy storage has
    multiple characteristics that could help across our entire
    value chain. And I would perhaps say all the components you
    recognize, that there are many different ways to solve them.
    Energy storage definitely has a role to play there.
        Senator Franken. Thank you.
        May I just continue on this path here?
        Mr. Kearns, can you talk about some of the recent advances
    in energy storage that are coming out of Argonne National Lab
    as part of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research?
        Dr. Kearns. Yes.
        We have a very active program in energy storage research.
    Working with today's technology, as well as what we call beyond
    lithium ion, there's been a real significant investment by the
    Department of Energy, certainly with support of Congress, in
    the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research over the last four
    years.
        Great progress has been made in looking at transportation,
    energy storage technologies through transportation
    applications, but also grid storage applications which has been
    the focus.
        New materials, a great deal of fundamental, scientific
    research has been done as well to help us understand those
    materials and how they would perform, if you will, in terms of
    deployment at a battery cell whether it be for a vehicle or in
    the electric grid.
        So, very good news, really, lots of promising development.
    We're not done. We have work yet to do. We have some
    fundamental science questions that need to be answered before
    we can actually move to, really, deployment of those
    technologies to industry. But great, significant work has been
    accomplished.
        Senator Franken. What can this Committee do to support you
    as you develop more reliable, efficient, and cost-effective
    advanced energy storage?
        Dr. Kearns. Certainly, continued investment, continued
    funding is really essential. I think support of active
    partnerships, which we've talked about a great deal today. The
    Joint Center for Energy Storage Research includes five national
    laboratories and four prominent universities, as well as four
    industrial partners. And so, that collaboration across the full
    spectrum of interest and capabilities is really needed.
        Industry participation involvement has really helped us
    keep the eye on the target, if you will, and really understand
    some of the challenges that they foresee in terms of actually
    manufacturing materials and moving those materials into the
    marketplace. So that full spectrum of partnership support is
    really needed as well in engagement.
        Senator Franken. Yes.
        Thank you for letting me run over. Thank you to all of our
    witnesses. You are all terrific.
        I just want to emphasize that I really think that we
    disinvest in this research at our peril and that the
    Administration has budgeted Draconian cuts, as far as I am
    concerned, to our labs and to the advanced research that we do
    there and that we would be ceding leadership to China and
    probably other countries as well, that if anything, at this
    time when we know that we are in a period of, we are seeing the
    results of climate change around the world and we know that it
    is happening. And whether you believe it is manmade or not,
    which 97 percent of peer-reviewed scientists believe it is
    changing and there is something we can do about it, and just
    from the standpoint of it is cheaper to do wind.
        You know that in Colorado, my goodness.
        Senator Gardner. And in Congress.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Franken. Yes.
        It is cheaper to do solar and--China is choking on its
    fumes, and we want the business. I want the business coming
    from New Mexico and Colorado and from Minnesota.
        If we don't invest in our labs, in our research, it is
    really so counterproductive for our country's future. I just
    cannot emphasize that enough.
        I want to thank you all, again, for your work and your
    testimony.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Franken.
        We will go another round if you would like. Is that alright
    with you, to go a little bit more?
        Senator Heinrich. Yes. Absolutely.
        Senator Gardner. Dr. Tumas, Senator Franken mentioned
    battery storage. Did you want to talk a little bit about some
    of the storage work you are doing at NREL as well?
        Dr. Tumas. Sure. Sure, I would.
        I think there's really--Dr. Kearns did a great job and
    Argonne's been actively engaged for a long time.
        I think what we're going to see in energy storage is we're
    going to have to couple energy storage with energy generation.
    We're going to see systems integration be important.
        I like to think of our work at NREL and among the national
    labs as, kind of, systems-driven and analysis-based research.
    We both have to look at what are the fundamental limitations of
    current technologies but we have to develop the future, next
    generation concepts as well. And we know some of those limits.
        The other thing that I think is really important is, as a
    chemist I'm fascinated by, not only what we can do by putting
    electrons into electrodes, but what can we do by putting
    electrons into chemical bonds?
        And so, we know how to electrolyze water to make hydrogen
    and oxygen and we know how to take hydrogen and oxygen back to
    electricity. We know some of the limits of those, but we know
    that those can help very much with grid integration at large
    scale.
        As we think about energy on very different--what we do for
    the car might be very different than what we do for the grid,
    long-term. So thinking about how to interconvert electrical and
    chemical energy is a grand challenge that all the labs and a
    number of universities need to address, how to make those
    efficient.
        The other one--it's really important and we've done this in
    solar for a long time and now, I think, we're going to have to
    do it in PV battery systems. And that's the, not just
    understanding, but actually predicting lifetimes, predicting
    reliability, predicting durability. All the kind of de-risking
    that our colleague from Duke Energy talked about to really make
    technologies viable.
        And we can't just try to predict 30 years by studying
    something, testing it for 30 years and then moving forward. We
    have to understand degradation mechanisms. There's fundamental
    science there, but there's plenty of applied science as well.
        Senator Gardner. Yes, thank you.
        I am sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt, I am
    sorry, did I interrupt you?
        Dr. Tumas. No, that's fine, sir.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you.
        Dr. Tumas, just looking at your background, you went
    through industry, research and development. You went through
    two national laboratories and we have talked about other
    nations that are copying the successes that we have had in our
    national laboratory system, other nations that are ramping up
    significantly their investments, the concern I have with the
    reduced funding for our national lab system.
        But I also worry about the fact that, you know, if there is
    this uncertainty in our national lab system, does it continue
    to draw the brightest minds? Does it continue to be the magnet
    for the best and the brightest in innovation and research and
    science?
        So tell me a little bit about mission-driven science, the
    system of engineering that DOE has that brought you and kept
    you in the national lab system and what it is about that system
    that draws people from within the 50 states, but also from
    around the world to these magnets of innovation?
        Dr. Tumas. So I think it's a couple of things. As I talked
    a little bit in my testimony, big challenges that require big
    solutions.
        I think that one of the cultures you see at national
    laboratories, and you see it much more so even at some of the
    research institutions across the world, is the idea of teaming.
    I love storming, informing new teams to go after new
    challenges. It's really exciting to get a set of awesome
    scientists who have never worked together, working together
    from different disciplines on a very complicated problem.
        We have a lot of postdocs and graduate students in my
    Energy Frontier Research Center. Almost all of them have spent
    some time at the Stanford Linear Accelerator where we can
    actually look at the synthesis of molecules in real time. And
    so, there's the kind of training and access to these
    facilities.
        We now live in a world--I grew up in a world that was very
    discipline-focused. We now live in a world where graduate
    students and postdocs work very multidisciplinary. They spend
    time talking with theorists. They spend time doing advanced
    experimental work. We have many students and postdocs who are
    interested in policy and some of the analytical ramifications
    and scenarios of their research. So I think this ability for
    the lab system to really bring this multidimensional,
    multidisciplinary approach, in addition to specialized tools
    that can't be found anywhere else in the world, is really a
    critical magnet.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you.
        Senator Heinrich.
        Senator Heinrich. Storage has been touched on quite a few
    times, and I think I might want to return to that a little bit
    with Dr. Kearns and Dr. Tumas.
        But I wanted to mention, it is worth noting today that the
    DOE--and some of us following open source data have suspected
    this for a number of months--but the DOE has now said that we
    have officially hit our SunShot goals of $1.00 per watt. And we
    not only hit that goal, but we hit it three years early, Dr.
    Tumas. And back in 2011 when that was set, I think the
    equivalent is about $.06 unsubsidized per kilowatt-hour. Is
    that right, more or less? I think we were at $.27 per kilowatt-
    hour in 2011 for solar, to give you a sense of how steeply we
    are coming down that curve.
        If you were to look out a few years, what in photovoltaics,
    in terms of new designs or new panel technologies, do you see
    that gets you excited, whether it is from the perspective of
    declining costs or increases in efficiency or even just
    integrated systems? What are you excited about that you see out
    there in the future that has not made it into the news just
    yet?
        Dr. Tumas. Great. Most of it is probably in the news
    somewhere but maybe it's not well-known, but I'd be glad to
    address that. Thank you for the question.
        First of all, we, if you look at--so we're all delighted
    that the SunShot goal has been met and it's always great to
    meet your goals ahead of time. What's interesting is we're
    meeting it at a time where that slope of cost reduction is not
    yet flattening out. It's very clear, and there are road maps in
    EERE--the people that run the SunShot program have a road map
    for how to get to $.03 a kilowatt-hour. They suggest by 2030. I
    would suggest that that could be accelerated, potentially.
        There also are major issues, as we talked about, with
    storage and intermittency on how to deal with a more reliable
    grid, how a two-way grid allows us to get even more solar onto
    the grid and wind and other things.
        But from a material scientist standpoint, from a
    fundamental research, I think we're not done yet either. The
    four absorbers that are in commercial PV systems were actually
    known when I was in graduate school watching John Elway play
    football. And it turns out that only recently, there was a
    material 15 years ago that was worked on at IBM, and only about
    four or five years ago people in England and people in
    Switzerland took these materials, perovskites, and showed they
    could actually be a new solar material. In fact, NREL has an
    efficiency curve that plots the efficiency over time, and this
    has a slope that's been unprecedented.
        And so, all of a sudden there's a whole set of new
    materials. At our own Energy Frontier Research Center we're
    trying to understand, as well as others, what is it about these
    materials that make them special? And while we're doing that
    we're also understanding that you can actually solution process
    these. We, and others, can actually do roll-to-roll printing of
    these materials and make 19 percent solar cells that could be
    printed like newspaper. And so, we start to see new form
    factors.
        What's interesting about solar panels despite all the cost
    reduction and all the efficiency increases is they, kind of,
    still look like they did 35 years ago.
        Senator Heinrich. Very much.
        Dr. Tumas. And you can imagine building integrated
    photovoltaics, photovoltaics everywhere else, that might bring
    you power for different applications.
        Clearly we, and a number of others, are working with the
    Department of Defense on how to take very high-efficiency
    solar, put it into flexible form factors.
        So, there's many--much we can do, not just on materials
    discovery, but it turns out for solar cells, it's not just the
    material that matters, but it's how the materials interact.
    There's several layers in a solar cell. It's how those
    materials interact over time. It's how those materials are
    manufactured at a large scale and what that position looks like
    held up to a small scale. It really covers this whole spectrum
    from discovery, but then really marching it all the way through
    to a reliable, predictable, potentially new product.
        Senator Heinrich. Dr. Kearns, same question, but storage in
    terms of either additional chemistries----
        Dr. Kearns. Sure.
        Senator Heinrich. ----about thermal storage which we have
    not touched on, non-lithium ion applications, flow batteries,
    et cetera. What has you excited about the future?
        Dr. Kearns. Oh, a number of things, really, have us excited
    about the future of energy storage and thinking beyond lithium
    ion. There's a great deal of interest in multivalent batteries
    which is, you know, part of the challenge associated with any
    battery is its capacity to store energy. By going from lithium
    ion to multivalent ion of some sort, you really increase the
    ability to store a great deal more energy. And so, we're very
    excited about that potential.
        It's a great deal of literature that's been really created,
    scientific literature, to really, kind of, validate the thought
    and the idea and really begin to move toward some applications
    in that space.
        I think also, certainly, new materials. If we look at
    electrolytes and cathodes and certainly a high interest in all
    kinds of different materials and new applications. Thoughts
    about membranes as well in this space that could really drive,
    if you will, greater efficiencies.
        Big challenge, really, for energy storage, not only in
    terms of storage capacity, but also reducing the cost. And you
    see that real time, if you will, in terms of today's lithium
    ion technology.
        We'd like to leapfrog, if you will, in terms of thinking
    about the next generation battery in terms of beyond lithium
    ion. There's something that is cost competitive to start in
    terms of where we're at today with lithium ion technology and
    drive it and improve it from there. So, a lot of excitement in
    terms of great promise, great potential there.
        Flow batteries, you mentioned, certainly of high interest
    in terms of grid storage.
        Senator Heinrich. Great. Thank you very much.
        Senator Gardner. Thank you.
        Well I can certainly tell from the panel the great pride
    that you approach your work with. Of course, the benefit to the
    country has been phenomenal over the past many decades, the
    work that you have all done in research innovation and
    development beginning with an idea of how we were going to win
    a war to today's ability to grow jobs, economy and remain the
    world's superpower of innovation.
        I want to thank you for being here today, and thank all the
    panelists for your time and testimony today.
        For the information of members, the record of this
    Committee hearing will remain open until Friday for questions
    for the record.
        This is your homework assignment. I would ask that you
    respond to those questions as quickly as possible.
        With the thanks of this Committee, the Committee is now
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4:19 p.m. the hearing was adjourned.]

                          APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

                                  ----------

                 [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                   [all]