OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Energy Science 

and Technology

The Energy Science and Technology Directorate (ESTD) at Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory (ORNL) plays a pivotal role in America’s drive toward a flexible, secure, 

and decarbonized energy future. ESTD researchers deliver breakthroughs in energy 

science and technology, including generation, distribution, storage, and end 

use, all in support of US Department of Energy (DOE) priorities. ESTD is intensely 

focused on developing and demonstrating advanced technologies for at-scale 

deployment to address the immediate global carbon challenge while performing 

long-term research and development to enable future technologies at the nexus 

of energy and security.

ESTD researchers draw on the immense scientific and engineering capabilities at 

ORNL to develop applied solutions to address national energy priorities. A culture 

of creativity and innovation in action drives partnerships with some of America’s 

best innovators, businesses, and academic institutions. This effort is enabled by four 

unique DOE national user facilities and several collaborative centers within ESTD.

ESTD brings a multidisciplinary focus to some of the biggest challenges in energy, 

developing new technologies for buildings and transportation, driving innovations 

to increase US competitiveness in efficient manufacturing, and developing 

technologies for a flexible and secure future energy grid.

460

Staff

4

National user

facilities

3

Research

divisions

$269M

FY 2022 revenue

3

UT-ORNL

Governor’s

Chairs

“ESTD is focused on conducting and leveraging world-leading fundamental science 

to develop and deploy technologies that can advance and revitalize manufacturing, 

transportation, buildings and integrated energy infrastructures and systems. We do 

this through partnerships and collaborations to provide solutions that will have rapid 

impact in achieving national energy goals.” —Interim Associate Laboratory Director 

Energy Science and Technology Directorate

Rick Raines
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy January 2023

Research

Buildings and Transportation Science—Delivers scientific discoveries to accelerate transformative 

buildings- and transportation-related technical solutions to ensure a safe, secure, and sustainable energy future

• Propulsion science—Drives decarbonized mobility solutions, including electrification and efficient 

utilization of net-zero carbon fuels with a focus on hard-to-electrify sectors in marine, rail, air, and 

other off-road applications

• Vehicle and mobility systems research—Accelerates development of advanced vehicles and 

mobility systems through autonomous vehicles, systems integration, and decision science

• Building technologies research—Develops and integrates advanced building equipment and dynamic 

envelope materials to enable affordable, efficient, and resilient buildings

Manufacturing Science—Develops advanced manufacturing technologies through research and 

scale-up of processes and technical capabilities enabling new materials, systems, and products

• Composites science and technology—Develops sustainable advanced fiber and polymer processing to 

create lightweight structures for multiple applications

• Energy and industrial decarbonization—Scales up renewable feedstocks for manufacturing processes 

to reduce energy use and conducts technoeconomic and life-cycle analyses

• Precision manufacturing and machining—Designs and implements next-generation manufacturing 

systems by integrating robotics, automation, controls, and machine tools

• Secure and digital manufacturing—Develops a digital manufacturing platform and cyber-secure ecosystem 

by integrating manufacturing systems enabled by data analytics, process control, and secure communications

Electrification and Energy Infrastructure—Generates innovative capabilities for electric energy devices and systems to improve 

reliability, sustainability, and efficiencies of energy storage systems, electric grid protections and controls, and power electronics 

• Electrification—Develops innovative energy storage technology solutions and charging infrastructures at 

scale for transportation and grid

• Energy systems integration and controls—Advances energy systems integration and controls to improve 

the efficiency and resiliency of systems-of-systems architectures

• Energy sensing, analytics, and communications—Creates sensing and communications solutions by 

using advanced sensors, computational sensing, and analytics

CONTACT

Rick Raines 

Interim Associate Laboratory Director 

Energy Science and 

Technology Directorate

cleanenergy@ornl.gov

865-576-3711

One Bethel Valley Road 

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

www.ornl.gov/

estd

~2,000 journal publications

890 invention disclosures

262 patent applications

224 issued patents

69 patent licenses

241 cooperative R&D

agreements

148 strategic partnership 

projects

2015–2022 By the numbers

DOE Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) houses integrated capabilities that drive the development of new 

materials, software, and systems for various advanced manufacturing technologies. MDF delivers manufacturing energy 

efficiency improvements and supports the secure production of clean energy products.

DOE National Transportation Research Center helps industry, academia, and other agencies accelerate 

the development and deployment of efficient and secure transportation technologies. Research 

focuses on electrification, emissions reduction, connected and autonomous vehicles, 

materials, and data and decision science for a decarbonized future.

DOE Building Technologies Research and Integration Center delivers breakthroughs 

to improve the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of residential and 

commercial buildings, focusing on building envelopes, equipment, building systems 

integration, energy storage, building-to-grid interactions, sensors, transactive 

controls, and modeling and simulation. 

DOE Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) provides a platform for evaluating 

new processing technologies and identifying high-potential low-cost raw 

materials, including textile, lignin, polymer, and hydrocarbon-based precursors. 

Leveraging the CFTF’s capabilities, ORNL is developing low-cost carbon fiber 

materials with desired structural properties and is co-optimizing feedstocks and 

processing conditions.

ORNL Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center delivers hardware 

and software solutions for the grid, including power electronics and battery 

innovations from concept to deployment, in support of decarbonizing the 

utility, buildings, and electric vehicle infrastructure sectors while advancing 

an integrated, secure, and resilient power grid.

Research Facilities