Physical Sciences & Engineering
Energy and renewables research: data, funders, standards and journals
Energy research is organised by technology programme rather than by a single index or preprint server, and most of its shared infrastructure is run by intergovernmental agencies and national energy departments. The International Energy Agency was founded in 1974 and publishes the annual World Energy Outlook; its Technology Collaboration Programmes, established in 1975, now run 38 active collaborations grouped into Buildings, Electricity, Industry, Transport, Renewable energy, Fossil energy, Fusion power and Cross-cutting. IRENA, founded in 2009, publishes renewable capacity statistics and generation cost reports.
In the United States, the Department of Energy funds and shares most of the field's results. Its Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation now covers the focus areas formerly under the efficiency and renewable energy office, the Office of Nuclear Energy covers reactors and the fuel cycle, ARPA-E funds high-risk early-stage work, and Basic Energy Sciences runs user facilities and Energy Frontier Research Centers. OSTI.GOV indexes over 4 million DOE records, and the Open Energy Data Initiative lists about 2,887 datasets. The EIA publishes energy statistics and the Annual Energy Outlook, built on the National Energy Modeling System. The National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly NREL, lists 17 research areas.
Methods that cut across technologies include life-cycle assessment under ISO 14040 and 14044, levelized cost of electricity comparisons, whose results depend heavily on the discount rate, and technology readiness levels. Flagship journals include Nature Energy, Joule, Energy Policy and Applied Energy, and the main societies include ISES and the IEEE Power & Energy Society. Technology-specific resources sit with the specialization hubs below.
Reviewed 5 November 2026 by CASRAI Editorial Board
- EIA Annual Energy Outlook(read 5 November 2026)
- International Energy Agency (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
- UKRI Energy(read 5 November 2026)
- Idaho National Laboratory (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (Wikipedia)(read 5 November 2026)
- Nature Energy(read 5 November 2026)
- Joule(read 5 November 2026)
- Energy Policy(read 5 November 2026)
- Applied Energy(read 5 November 2026)
- International Solar Energy Society (ISES)(read 5 November 2026)
- IEEE Power & Energy Society(read 5 November 2026)
- IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes(read 5 November 2026)
- DOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI)(read 5 November 2026)
- DOE Office of Nuclear Energy(read 5 November 2026)
- ARPA-E(read 5 November 2026)
- DOE Basic Energy Sciences(read 5 November 2026)
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL)(read 5 November 2026)
- Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)(read 5 November 2026)
- EIA statistics and data tools(read 5 November 2026)
- IEA data and statistics(read 5 November 2026)
Field at a glance
Journals
- Nature Energy
- Monthly peer-reviewed journal from Nature Portfolio, first published in 2016, covering energy research.Website ↗
- Joule
- Cell Press sustainability and energy journal established in 2017 as a sister journal to Cell.Website ↗
- Energy Policy
- Elsevier monthly journal established in 1973 on energy policy and energy supply.Website ↗
- Applied Energy
- Elsevier monthly journal established in 1975 on energy conversion, efficient use and sustainable energy systems.Website ↗
Societies
- International Solar Energy Society (ISES)
- UN-accredited membership organisation promoting renewable energy, founded in 1954 and based in Freiburg, Germany.Website ↗
- IEEE Power & Energy Society
- Oldest IEEE society, tracing to 1884; publishes IEEE Transactions on Power Systems and Sustainable Energy and holds the PES General Meeting.Website ↗
Funders and programmes
- IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes
- Network set up in 1975; 38 collaborations underway, in eight groupings from Buildings to Fusion power.Website ↗
- DOE Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI)
- DOE office now served at the former EERE page; focus areas include Building Technologies, Hydropower and Hydrokinetic, Industrial Technologies and Analysis and Strategy.Website ↗
- DOE Office of Nuclear Energy
- Funds R&D on advanced and commercial reactors, the fuel cycle and HALEU, and university support through NEUP.Website ↗
- ARPA-E
- DOE agency launched in 2009, modelled on DARPA, funding high-risk, high-reward energy technology projects.Website ↗ · Our guide →
- DOE Basic Energy Sciences
- Funds basic research on materials and chemical processes for energy; runs user facilities and Energy Frontier Research Centers.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Archives, facilities and data
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL)
- Lists 17 research areas, from Solar and Wind to Energy Systems Analysis, plus a Data & Tools section and software page.Website ↗
- Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
- Data lake of datasets from DOE programmes and national laboratories; the page lists about 2,887 datasets, CC BY 4.0 unless noted.Website ↗
- EIA statistics and data tools
- US energy statistics by fuel, plus the RECS, CBECS and MECS consumption surveys and an open API.Website ↗
- IEA data and statistics
- Includes World Energy Statistics and Balances (restricted access) and free Monthly Electricity Statistics and Monthly Gas Statistics.Website ↗
- IRENA
- Founded in 2009; publishes Renewable capacity statistics and Renewable Power Generation Costs reports.Website ↗
Standards and formats
- ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 life-cycle assessment
- Principles and requirements for LCA, with four phases: goal and scope, inventory, impact assessment, interpretation.Website ↗
- Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE)
- Lifetime average cost per unit of energy; results are sensitive to discount rate and omit timing and grid costs.Website ↗
- Technology readiness levels
- Nine-level maturity scale conceived at NASA in 1974 and now applied to energy and other domains.Website ↗ · Our guide →
Preprints and indexes
- OSTI.GOV
- Primary search tool for DOE research results: over 4 million records, including citations to 1.8 million journal articles.Website ↗ · Our guide →
14 pages across 4 topic areas
Laboratory Operations & Safety
- Advanced Test Reactor (ATR): What It Is and How Researchers Use It
The Advanced Test Reactor at INL: sourced specifications, how its core runs simultaneous experiments, and how outside researchers apply for access.…
- Fish Passage: Engineering Criteria & Standards
Fish passage engineering criteria, hydraulic flow standards, and biological monitoring protocols for hydropower facilities and aquatic research.…
- Hydrogen Embrittlement: What It Is and How It Happens
Hydrogen embrittlement explained: affected metals, four sourced mechanisms compared, and DOE findings on hydrogen in steel pipelines.…
- International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)
Guide to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC): model energy rules, compliance pathways, DOE determinations, and research facility standar…
- NRC ADAMS: Nuclear Regulatory Records Guide
NRC ADAMS provides public access to millions of official nuclear regulatory records. Search PARS, decode ML accession numbers, and locate licensing do…
- Ocean Energy: Principles, Types & IEC Standards
Comprehensive guide to ocean energy: wave, tidal, thermal, and osmotic power technologies, IEC TS 62600 standards, and testing laboratory protocols.…
- Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: Formulas & Table
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) generates baseload power from thermal gradients. Explore thermodynamic formulas, lookup tables, and Python code…
- Solar Irradiance: Components, Standards & Sensors
Solar irradiance measures instantaneous solar power per unit area in W/m2, encompassing direct, diffuse, and global components per ISO 9060.…
- Solar Power Tower: Systems, Receivers and Storage
Solar power tower systems concentrate sunlight via heliostat fields onto central receivers, driving high-temperature power cycles with thermal energy…
Grants Management & Research Funding
- DOE BER: Biological and Environmental Research Program Explained
DOE BER explained: scope, the FY2026 Open Call, eligibility, pre-applications, user facilities and related Office of Science programs.…
- DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC): Program Structure, Funding, and Scale
How the DOE Office of Science's Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) program funds large, multi-institutional basic energy science centers, includi…
Research Tools & Software
- EnergyPlus: Building Energy Simulation Program Explained
EnergyPlus explained: what an energy model is, the IDF, EPW and output files, command-line options and what to record to reproduce a run.…
- OpenStudio Building Energy Modeling Platform Explained
How OpenStudio's SDK, Application, SketchUp plug-in, EnergyPlus and Radiance fit together, who develops it, and where to find code and help.…
Research Methods & Statistics
- What Is Nuclear Engineering? Research Areas, Regulation, Funding, and Careers
A thorough answer to what nuclear engineering is: what it studies, its subfields, the tools researchers use, how the NRC, DOE and export-control rules…
