The USA’s Department of Energy has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) the National Laboratory of the Rockies, with immediate effect. The facility will no longer focus its efforts mainly on research concerning renewables, a change that reflects the Trump administration’s attitude to the value of research into renewable energy sources.
Founded in response to the 1973 oil crisis, NREL spearheaded the development and integration of a broad array of technologies for every facet of the energy system, from generation to distribution to end use. The new name reflects the Trump administration’s ‘broader vision for the lab’s applied energy research’, which historically emphasised alternative and renewable sources of generation.
“The energy crisis we face today is unlike the crisis that gave rise to NREL,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy (EERE) Audrey Robertson. “We are no longer picking and choosing energy sources. Our highest priority is to invest in the scientific capabilities that will restore American manufacturing, drive down costs, and help this country meet its soaring energy demand. The National Lab of the Rockies will play a vital role in those efforts.”
Jud Virden, laboratory director of the National Laboratory of the Rockies, commented: “This new name embraces a broader applied energy mission entrusted to us by the Department of Energy to deliver a more affordable and secure energy future for all.”
