Fact sheet describes the study being conducted on fuel cell buses at AC Transit.

This document reports the technical results of the Next Generation Turbine Development Project conducted by GE Wind Energy LLC. This project is jointly funded by GE and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.The goal of this project is for DOE to assist the U.S. wind industry in exploring new concepts and applications of cutting-edge technology in pursuit of the specific objective of developing a wind turbine that can generate electricity at a levelized cost of energy of $0.025/kWh at sites with an average wind speed of 15 mph (at 10 m height).

In 2004 and 2005, Afghanistan adopted a permanent constitution and elected a president and a parliament. The parliament is emerging as a significant force in Afghan politics, as shown in debate over a new cabinet proposed in March 2006. However, insurgent violence continues to threaten Afghan stability. See CRS Report RL30588, Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, by Kenneth Katzman.

The Advanced Graphite Capsule (AGC) irradiation test program supports the acquisition of irradiated graphite performance data to assist in the selection of the technology to be used for the VHTR. Six irradiations are planned to investigate compressive creep in graphite subjected to a neutron field and obtain irradiated mechanical properties of vibrationally molded, extruded, and iso-molded graphites for comparison. The experiments will be conducted at three temperatures: 600, 900, and 1200°C. At each temperature, two different capsules will be irradiated to different fluence levels, the first from 0.5 to 4 dpa and the second from 4 to 7 dpa. AGC-1 is the first of the six capsules designed for ATR and will focus on the prismatic fluence range.

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Air tightness is an important property of building envelopes. It is a key factor in determining infiltration and related wall-performance properties such as indoor air quality, maintainability and moisture balance. Air leakage in U.S. houses consumes roughly 1/3 of the HVAC energy but provides most of the ventilation used to control IAQ. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been gathering residential air leakage data from many sources and now has a database of more than 100,000 raw measurements. This paper uses that database to develop a model for estimating air leakage as a function of climate, building age, floor area, building height, floor type, energy-efficiency and low-income designations. The model developed can be used to estimate the leakage distribution of populations of houses.

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The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is seeking government, private, or non-profit partners to design, construct, and assist in operating one or more wind turbine blade test facilities capable of testing blades up to at least 70 m (230 ft) in length. DOE/NREL encourages interested parties to respond to this CRADA announcement with a proposal by September 1, 2006.

This report talks about Assessment of Load and Energy Reduction Techniques (ALERT) Report for Department of Energy Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center Casper Wyoming.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the causes of the unanticipated funding shortfall in the Foundation School Program identified in June 2005, whether the Texas Education Agency's State Funding Division and Budget Office have controls in place to detect future funding shortfalls and ensure that accurate financial information is produced, and whether the development and implementation of new automated processes that support the Foundation School Program have controls that are adequate to (1) protect data from unauthorized alteration, loss, or improper use; (2) ensure that distributions to school districts are accurate and made in accordance with law; and (3) ensure the effective and efficient use of state resources.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether the Commission on Jail Standards is accurately reporting its performance measures to the Automated Budget and Evaluation System of Texas (ABEST) and has adequate controls in place over the collection and reporting of its performance measures.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether the Texas Ethics Commission (Commission) has effective controls for receiving revenues, ensuring expenditures are for valid purposes, and maintaining accurate and complete accounting and record keeping of revenues and expenditures.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to certain significant security-related weaknesses which the Texas Lottery Commission should make efforts to correct, particularly in the area of system access.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining if the Texas Racing Commission (Commission) has the appropriate controls in place to ensure that racetracks are reporting all wagers completely and accurately and forwarding the appropriate portion to the State; if the Commission is ensuring that funds from the Texas Bred Incentive Program are distributed in accordance with all program requirements; if the Commission's enforcement function is compliant with the Texas Racing Act and Commission Rules of Racing; and if the Commission is performing all required human and animal testing as required by the Texas Racing Act and the Commission's Rules of Racing.

This DOE Industrial Technologies Program spotlight describes how Boise Paper is saving 498,000 kWh annually after improving the process pumping system efficiency of its Wallula, Washington, mill.

Because there are more than 101 million residential households in the United States today, it is not surprising that existing residential buildings represent an extremely large source of potential energy savings. Because thousands of these homes are renovated each year, Building America is investigating the best ways to make existing homes more energy-efficient, based on lessons learned from research in new homes. The Building America program is aiming for a 20%-30% reduction in energy use in existing homes by 2020. The strategy for the existing homes project of Building America is to establish technology pathways that reduce energy consumption cost-effectively in American homes. The existing buildings project focuses on finding ways to adapt the results from the new homes research to retrofit applications in existing homes. Research activities include a combination of computer modeling, field demonstrations, and long-term monitoring to support the development of integrated approaches to reduce energy use in existing residential buildings. Analytical tools are being developed to guide designers and builders in selecting the best approaches for each application. Also, DOE partners with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase energy efficiency in existing homes through the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program.

This report provides a short overview of Canada’s political scene, its economic conditions, and its recent security and foreign policy, focusing particularly on issues that may be relevant to U.S. policymakers. This brief country survey is followed by several summaries of current bilateral issues in the political, trade, and environmental arenas.

Ionizing Radiation (IR) Resistance in Bacteria. Until recently, there have been no clear physiologic predictors of a cell's ability to recover from ionizing radiation (IR) and other DOE-relevant oxidative stress conditions. In general, the most resistant bacteria have been Gram-positive (e.g., Deinococcus, Arthrobacter, Lactobacillus & Enterococcus spp.) and the most sensitive have been Gram-negative (e.g., Pseudomonas, Shewanella & Neisseria spp.). However, there are several reported exceptions to this paradigm, the Gram-negative cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis is extremely resistant to IR, whereas the Gram-positive Micrococcus luteus is sensitive. We have identified biomolecular signatures for radiation sensitivity and resistance which are independent of phylogeny, where very high and very low intracellular Mn/Fe concentration ratios correlated with very high and very low resistances, respectively; and restricting Mn(II) in the famously resistant Deinococcus radiodurans sensitized this eubacterium to IR.

From 1994 through 2005, the Environmental Management Department of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) at the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), NV, has collected soil samples at numerous locations on-site, on the perimeter, and off-site for the purpose of determining potential impacts to the environs from operations at TTR. These samples were submitted to an analytical laboratory of metal-in-soil analyses. Intercomparisons of these results were then made to determine if there was any statistical difference between on-site, perimeter, and off-site samples, or if there were increasing or decreasing trends which indicated that further investigation may be warranted. This work provided the SNL Environmental Management Department with a sound baseline data reference against which to compare future operational impacts. In addition, it demonstrates the commitment that the Laboratories have to go beyond mere compliance to achieve excellence in its operations. This data is presented in graphical format with narrative commentaries on particular items of interest.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining whether state agencies conform to the Position Classification Plan by ensuring proper classification of positions.

Newsletter features articles on Clean Cities, such as coalition news, stakeholder success stories, and Technical Assistance projects. Industry news, EPAct updates, and new resources are also covered.

The objectives of this project are to evaluate the feasibility of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) sequestration in Texas low-rank coals and to determine the potential for enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM) recovery as an added benefit of sequestration. The main objectives for this reporting period were to (1) determine the effects of permeability anisotropy on performance of CO{sub 2} sequestration and ECBM production in the Lower Calvert Bluff Formation (LCB) of the Wilcox Group coals in east-central Texas, and (2) begin reservoir and economic analyses of CO{sub 2} sequestration and ECBM production using horizontal wells. To evaluate the effects of permeability anisotropy on CO{sub 2} sequestration and ECBM in LCB coal beds, we conducted deterministic reservoir modeling studies of 100% CO{sub 2} gas injection for the 6,200-ft depth base case (Case 1b) using the most likely values of the reservoir parameters. Simulation results show significant differences in the cumulative volumes of CH{sub 4} produced and CO{sub 2} injected due to permeability anisotropy, depending on the orientation of injection patterns relative to the orientation of permeability anisotropy. This indicates that knowledge of the magnitude and orientation of permeability anisotropy will be an important consideration in the design of CO{sub 2} sequestration and …

With increasing concerns about energy independence, job outsourcing, and risks of global climate change, it is important for policy makers to understand all impacts from their decisions about energy resources. This paper assesses one aspect of the impacts: direct economic effects. The paper compares impacts to states from equivalent new electrical generation from wind, natural gas, and coal. Economic impacts include materials and labor for construction, operations, maintenance, fuel extraction, and fuel transport, as well as project financing, property tax, and landowner revenues. We examine spending on plant construction during construction years, in addition to all other operational expenditures over a 20-year span. Initial results indicate that adding new wind power can be more economically effective than adding new gas or coal power and that a higher percentage of dollars spent on coal and gas will leave the state. For this report, we interviewed industry representatives and energy experts, in addition to consulting government documents, models, and existing literature. The methodology for this research can be adapted to other contexts for determining economic effects of new power generation in other states and regions.

Well ER-12-3 was drilled for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office, in support of the Nevada Environmental Restoration Project at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The well was drilled in March and April 2005 as part of a hydrogeologic investigation program for the Rainier Mesa-Shoshone Mountain Corrective Action Unit. The overall purpose of the well was to gather subsurface data to better characterize the hydrogeology of central Rainier Mesa, especially in the older Tertiary volcanic rocks and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The main 47.0-centimeter hole was drilled to a depth of 799.2 meters and cased with 33.97-centimeter casing to 743.1 meters. The hole diameter was then decreased to 31.1 centimeters, and the well was drilled to a total depth of 1,496.0 meters. The completion string consisted of 13.97-centimeter stainless steel casing, with two slotted intervals open to the lower carbonate aquifer, suspended from 19.37-centimeter carbon steel casing. A piezometer string was installed outside the 33.97-centimeter casing to a depth of 467.1 meters to monitor a zone of perched water within the Tertiary volcanic section. Data gathered during and shortly after hole construction include composite drill cuttings samples collected every 3 meters (extra cuttings …