Dispatches from the Energy Front
One of the central problems of our time is how to produce the energy required by modern society in a way that's affordable, sustainable, and non-polluting. In the past, energy has meant gasoline for our cars and electricity for our homes and factories – all powered by fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. However, we're moving towards a more balanced energy economy where renewable resources, like energy from solar, wind, and waste materials, will be used to offset some of our dependence on traditional fuels.
In recent years, the Texas Advanced Computing Center, already a leader in high-performance computing, has broadened its collaborations with the energy community, adding software, support and expertise to multiply the number of cutting-edge research projects that are carried out on our advanced computing systems. TACC has supported the discovery of designer enzymes for biofuel production; assisted in the construction and analysis of the Pecan Street Project, a smart grid for research centered in Austin; and even helped map wind patterns in West Texas to help site wind turbines.
Exciting research continues to pour out of the sustainable energy field. Throughout April and May, we will highlight projects that illustrate the breadth of energy research taking place on TACC systems. Each project, briefly described below, advances our understanding of energy production and helps improve society. Come back each week to read about these groundbreaking projects.
Promising Materials for Next-Generation Solar Cells Cornell researchers use XSEDE supercomputers to investigate nanocrystals for photovoltaics and catalysis | Training Tomorrow's Energy Scientists Researchers organize advanced computing workshop in Chile to enhance student supercomputing skills, encourage networking across the Americas |
Better Batteries through Simulation MIT researchers use computer simulations to discover and explore new materials for high-density energy storage | Biologically Inspired Energy Researchers use TACC's Ranger supercomputer to investigate photosynthetic materials |
April 2012
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the leading centers of computational excellence in the United States. The center's mission is to enable discoveries that advance science and society through the application of advanced computing technologies. To fulfill this mission, TACC identifies, evaluates, deploys, and supports powerful computing, visualization, and storage systems and software. TACC's staff experts help researchers and educators use these technologies effectively, and conduct research and development to make these technologies more powerful, more reliable, and easier to use. TACC staff also help encourage, educate, and train the next generation of researchers, empowering them to make discoveries that change the world.
