Tackling the climate crisis and achieving an equitable clean energy future are among the biggest challenges of our time. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the largest Department of Energy science and energy laboratory in the country, is deeply invested in the big science capabilities and expertise needed to address the climate challenge on multiple fronts.

ORNL scientists are gaining a better predictive understanding of what the future may hold. The Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL is leading unique large-scale experiments and leveraging the nation’s fastest supercomputer, Summit, to analyze massive datasets to improve Earth system models that predict future climate. Researchers are using these models to simulate and analyze climate impacts on critical facets of our daily lives – from urban communities and health outcomes to electricity demands, infrastructure needs and national security.

Extensive resources and research efforts are focused on generating solutions. The lab’s unparalleled neutron sources, nanoscale science center and materials science experts are conducting foundational research that underpins technological innovation in clean energy. The DOE Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at ORNL is developing the plants, microbes and new approaches needed to produce sustainable jet fuels and a range of bioproducts. ORNL’s Transformational Decarbonization Initiative, or TDI, is tapping the lab’s applied energy user facilities to translate basic science into deployable solutions for carbon mitigation in all of the nation’s energy sectors.