The $10 million HPC will advance the lab’s work in materials research and serve to develop a better understanding of biological and chemical processes. The ability to use high performance computing for modeling and simulation will allow research into fully integrated energy systems that otherwise would be too costly, if not impossible, to study directly. The petascale capability of the HPC means the system can perform 1 million billion calculation every second, making it the world’s largest computing capacity dedicated solely to renewable energy and efficiency research.

NREL’s new HPC will not only be the world’s biggest, baddest HPC data center for energy research, it will be the most energy-efficient one as well. Data centers typically consume vast amounts of energy, producing waste heat in the process. According to 2009 data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, the average data center runs at a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.91. The NREL HPC is designed for an annualized PUE of 1.06 or better. Efficiency is further enhanced by the facility’s compact design, which results in shorter electrical cable and plumbing lines, as well as a new technology that uses warm water to cool the servers.

“This unique capability sets NREL apart in our ability to continue groundbreaking research and analysis,” said NREL Director Dan Arvizu. “In partnership with HP and Intel, NREL is acquiring one of the most energy efficient, high performance computer systems in the world for our research.”

Much of the waste heat that is produced will be used to heat the offices of the Energy Systems Integration Facility and other buildings on the NREL campus. Overall, the HPC data center is expected to provide a significant reduction in both energy consumption and operating cost.

“The industry is more and more cognizant of the amount of energy being used in our nation’s data centers,” said NREL Computational Science Center Director Steve Hammond. “NREL’s new HPC data center in the ESIF will set the standard for sustainable and energy efficient computing. The data center will have a world-leading PUE and reuse nearly all waste heat generated. Most data centers do only one or the other, not both.”

The new HPC system will be deployed in two phases based on HP ProLiant SL230s and SL250s Gen8 servers with Intel eight-ccore Xeon E5-2670 processors. The first phase will begin in November 2012 and reach full petascale capacity by summer 2013.

 Main image credit: SmithGroup JJR/National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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In its study, NREL defines what is technically achievable considering topographic limitations, land-use and environmental constraints for each state. Using state-level maps and tables incorporating available land area, installed capacity in gigawatts, and electric generation in gigawatt-hours for each technology, the study lays out in detail the broad “sense of the scale regarding the potential for renewables and which technologies are worth examining,” says report co-author Anthony Lopez.

“Decision-makers using the study will get a sense of scale regarding the potential for renewables, and which technologies are worth examining,” said Lopez. “Energy modelers also will find the study valuable.”

The report “normalizes” its assessment of the six clean energy technologies, unifying methods and assumptions in the comparison to give a clear picture of the technical potential for renewable energy across the country.

Some states and regions stand out for particular technologies. For instance, Hawaii has the most potential for offshore wind; the Lone Star State is prime for Texas-sized utility-scale PV solar (with California on its boot heels); the Rocky Mountain states roil with geothermal energy; the Great North of Alaska and the northwest offer the most potential for hydropower. In all, “it looks like every state has something to work with,” says Lopez.

According to the study the U.S. has 481,800 terawatt-hours of potential generating capacity from all renewable energy sources combine – 212,224 gigawatts. Those are big numbers, and more than enough to meet our current needs.

Of course, it isn’t as easy as simply mapping potential. The report  does not take into account economics and market forces, and the question of energy transmission remains- getting the power where it is needed. But the NREL study makes clear the potential of clean energy to transform the nation into a leader of the new energy economy – if we are up to the challenge.

Main image credit: fotopedia.com
Map credit: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

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