12 Genesis Awards, One Membrane Center, and 5 Emerging Aviation Fuels

Peaks to Power is back with updates in advanced computing, materials science, and flight! In this episode, find out about: 

• 12 project awards NLR received in the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission 
• A new collaboration with Argonne and Oak Ridge national laboratories to establish a national center for membrane technologies 
• A recently published report evaluating the real-world potential of five emerging aviation fuels.

This episode was hosted by Kerrin Jeromin and Taylor Mankle, written and produced by Allison Montroy, Hannah Halusker, and Kaitlyn Stottler, and edited by Taylor Mankle, Joe DelNero, and Brittany Falch. Graphics are by Brittnee Gayet. Our title music is written and performed by Ted Vaca and episode music by Chuck Kurnik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. Peaks to Power is created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden, Colorado. Email us at podcast@nlr.gov. Follow NLR on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Threads, and Facebook.  

Transcript

Taylor Mankle 0:05

Welcome to Peaks to Power, a podcast brought to you by the National Laboratory of the Rockies. I'm Taylor Mankle.

Kerrin Jeromin 0:11

And I'm Kerrin Jeromin. It's Wednesday, August 12th. Hey, Taylor, how's it going, my friend?

Taylor Mankle 0:16

Hey, Karen. Oh, you know, not too shabby. It's a busy time of year around here. How about yourself? How are you doing?

Kerrin Jeromin 0:21

Yeah, yeah, busy. Loving summer, really loving summer. Don't want it to end ever. You know, uh, Taylor, the laboratory is on the heels of some really exciting announcements that we'll be getting into today.

Taylor Mankle 0:31

Yeah, that's right, Kerrin. Last month, NLR received 12 project awards in the Department of Energy's Genesis mission. And the lab announced a collaboration with Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories to create a new National Center for Membrane Technologies.

Kerrin Jeromin 0:47

That's right. And we'll share about a recently published report that evaluates the potential of five emerging aviation fuels.

Taylor Mankle 0:54

Got some really impactful headlines there. Let's get into it.

Kerrin Jeromin 1:04

Okay, you might have heard some chatter recently about the Genesis mission, the Department of Energy's national initiative to build the world's most powerful integrated science discovery platform through advanced AI, high-performance computing, and expertise from leading researchers across the country.

Taylor Mankle 1:21

On July 22nd, the Department of Energy announced the first projects selected in the Genesis Mission Phase 1 request for applications. After a historic number of applications, 278 projects were selected, and NLR received 12 project awards.

Kerrin Jeromin 1:39

NLR will lead four of those projects, ranging from semiconductor research to smarter weather modeling, and our researchers will be key collaborators on the other eight awards.

Taylor Mankle 1:50

Phase 1 projects are intended to design and demonstrate research workflows that integrate AI with scientific investigation, and then evaluate whether those approaches can accelerate discovery, improve predictive capabilities, enhance experimentation, or generate new scientific insights.

Kerrin Jeromin 2:08

That's right. NLR's four projects cover a lot of ground, from predicting how turbulent flow causes dangerous vibration in infrastructure before it fails, to analyzing the science of electricity in next generation semiconductors, developing weather models that better predict rainfall and water availability for the grid, and deploying AI agents to accelerate the development of fuel cell catalysts.

Taylor Mankle 2:32

NLR's director Jud Verdon said, quote, these capabilities and partnerships are critical to our ability to reliably advance and scale energy sources and infrastructure and reduce reliance on imported critical materials, unquote.

Kerrin Jeromin 2:47

Twelve projects that are extending the laboratory's work on promising pathways toward transformative scientific capabilities. Now that is important stuff. Our next story is an announcement that spans from Colorado to Illinois, Tennessee, and everywhere in between. And, well, around as well. This is something the whole nation can benefit from.

Kerrin Jeromin 2:56 Taylor Mankle 3:13

In collaboration with Argonne and Oak Ridge national laboratories, NLR is leading the creation of a national user-focused membrane center to help national laboratories, industry, and academia develop and pilot new membrane technologies.

Kerrin Jeromin 3:29

We're saying membrane a lot, but what does that actually mean? Membranes are thin layers of selective, semi-permeable materials that allow the separation of certain molecules from others. They're widely used for liquid and gas separation and electrochemical processes, and you can find them in a range of industries, including water purification, food and beverage production, chemical manufacturing, critical mineral recovery, and petroleum refining.

Taylor Mankle 3:55

A $12 million award by the Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Office will establish membrane engineering for manufacturing, benchmarking, research, analysis, and next-gen evaluation. That acronym is, as you may have guessed, MEMBRANE, as a national center, which will enhance the existing capabilities at the three national laboratories.

Kerrin Jeromin 4:19

That's right. A key goal of the MEMBRANE Center will be to bridge what's called the Valley of Death, that step between basic laboratory research and industrial scale where ideas struggle to take off.

Taylor Mankle 4:31

To address this challenge, researchers from the MEMBRANE Center will establish the United States' first membrane market development facility that will host the equipment needed to manufacture new membrane materials at large sizes, package them in industrially relevant modules, and then test them under the same conditions they'll encounter in industrial applications.

Kerrin Jeromin 4:53

The center will rely on input from and close collaboration with industry partners to ensure its work is addressing key industry needs, supporting membrane development and device prototyping and testing.

Taylor Mankle 5:05

By accelerating and optimizing the scale-up of new membrane materials, researchers can reduce the energy costs and water demand of American industries, helping to make those industries more cost competitive, which ultimately saves money for consumers.

Kerrin Jeromin 5:21

Ah, yes, that's the good old technology transfer pipeline at work.

Taylor Mankle 5:25

  Our final story today features new research that could help with sticker shock when purchasing plan tickets by looking at the fuels that fly passengers from point A to point B.

Kerrin Jeromin 5:42

Tight jet fuel supplies and a growing demand for jet fuel are intensifying interest in an aviation fuel mix that extends beyond jet A and A1, the most widely used aviation fuels in the world.

Taylor Mankle 5:56

Boosting production of emerging aviation fuels could help stabilize the domestic market, helping insulate the aviation industry and travelers from rising costs caused by supply chain volatility.

Kerrin Jeromin 6:08

NLR researchers are actively working to clear those new fuels for takeoff with a newly released flagship report funded by NASA that explores the production potential of five fuels: SAF, liquid hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, liquefied ethane, and jet X.

Taylor Mankle 6:26

Of all the potential fuels surveyed in the report, SAF is already a commercial available drop-in aviation fuel that can replace up to 50% of the Jet A required by traditional aircraft.

Kerrin Jeromin 6:39

But if SAF is going to meet future jet fuel demands, it needs buy-in from many stakeholders and further efforts to reduce costs. Producing SAF at the same price as Jet A or A1 today would prove very challenging. Lower capital and operating costs for new plants and refinery conversions, as well as enough feedstocks, would all be needed to produce fuel at scale.

Taylor Mankle 7:01

As for fuels of the liquefied variety, liquid hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, and liquefied ethane, these are not quite drop-in solutions for aircraft at this time. Known as cryogenic fuels, these fuels are stored in insulated tanks, often at low temperatures, to maintain their liquid state.

Kerrin Jeromin 7:20

That means airports would need to install new fueling infrastructure, and manufacturers would need to bring new planes to market that could be fueled by hydrogen, liquefied natural gas, or ethene. International standards would need to be developed for safely handling and dispensing cryogenic fuels.

Taylor Mankle 7:37

Even still, cryogenic fuels are worth exploring because they could help diversify our fuel supply using domestic energy sources, says Christy Moriarty, a senior vehicle and infrastructure analysis researcher at NLR, who led the study. Using domestic energy sources has important consequences for our energy security, and the prices airlines and consumers ultimately have to pay.

Kerrin Jeromin 9:02

The last fuel in the analysis is Jet X, which is in such early stage research that it would need extensive long-term studies to prove its compatibility with airport and aircraft equipment. Much too early to tell with this one, Taylor.

Taylor Mankle 9:02

Right. But NLR researchers are on it. The laboratory's fuels and combustion researchers are using NLR's virtual jet engine to create ultra-detailed simulations of how new jet fuel chemistries perform, which can help speed up production and certification of new synthetic fuels.

Kerrin Jeromin 9:02

Research teams are also helping to prepare the aviation sector for the rise of advanced air mobility, which leverages aircraft that require less jet fuel or none at all. The lab's work is informing designs for very futuristic feeling things, like electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, that's planes that take off vertically, like a helicopter. Also propulsion systems for passenger aircraft. And ultra-efficient power electronics to help aircraft travel farther on less fuel.

Taylor Mankle 9:02

And with continued research, scientists can help lower costs and scale up production to bring emerging fuels to the marketplace, building momentum towards the future of flight.

Kerrin Jeromin 9:19

Twelve Genesis projects, one new membrane center, and a look toward the future of aviation.

Taylor Mankle 9:24

Future technologies are moving fast. Listeners, thanks for coming to Peaks to Power to learn all about them.

Kerrin Jeromin 9:31

And if you like this episode, give us a review on your favorite podcast player, or you can send us an email at podcast at nlr.gov.

Taylor Mankle 9:39

Stay curious, everyone, and we'll see you in two weeks with more news from the National Laboratory of the Rockies. This episode was adapted from National Laboratory of the Rockies news articles from July 2026, written by Harrison Dreves, Wayne Hicks, and Anna Squires. Our theme music is written and performed by Ted Vaca, and episode music by Chuck Kernik, Jim Riley, and Mark Sanseverino of Drift BC. This podcast is produced by the National Laboratory of the Rockies Communications Office.