“Molecular dissection of the roles of the SOD genes in mammalian response to low dose irradiation " was started on 09/01/03 and ended on 08/31/07. The primary objective of the project was to carry out mechanistic studies of the roles of the anti-oxidant SOD genes in mammalian cellular response to low dose ionizing radiation.

The Greenidge Multi-Pollutant Control Project is being conducted as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Power Plant Improvement Initiative to demonstrate an innovative combination of air pollution control technologies that can cost-effectively reduce emissions of SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x}, Hg, acid gases (SO{sub 3}, HCl, and HF), and particulate matter from smaller coal-fired electrical generating units (EGUs). The multi-pollutant control system includes a hybrid selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR)/in-duct selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to reduce NOx emissions by {ge}60%, followed by a Turbosorp{reg_sign} circulating fluidized bed dry scrubber system to reduce emissions of SO{sub 2}, SO{sub 3}, HCl, and HF by {ge}95%. Mercury removal of {ge}90% is also targeted via the co-benefits afforded by the in-duct SCR, dry scrubber, and baghouse and by injection of activated carbon upstream of the scrubber, as required. The technology is particularly well suited, because of its relatively low capital and maintenance costs and small space requirements, to meet the needs of coal-fired units with capacities of 50-300 MWe. There are about 440 such units in the United States that currently are not equipped with SCR, flue gas desulfurization (FGD), or mercury control systems. These smaller units are a valuable part of the nation's …

This report documents the input from key stakeholders of the National Security Technology Incubator (NSTI) in developing a new technology incubator and related programs for southern New Mexico. The technology incubator is being developed as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP), funded by a Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. This report includes identification of key stakeholders as well as a description and analysis of their input for the development of an incubator.

This strategic plan contains information on the vision, mission, business and technology environment, goals, objectives, and incubation process of the National Security Technology Incubation Program (NSTI) at Arrowhead Center. The development of the NSTI is a key goal of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP). Objectives to achieve this goal include developing incubator plans (strategic, business, action, and operations), creating an incubator environment, creating a support and mentor network for companies in the incubator program, attracting security technology businesses to the region, encouraging existing business to expand, initiating business start-ups, evaluating products and processes of the incubator program, and achieving sustainability of the incubator program. With the events of 9/11, the global community faces ever increasing and emerging threats from hostile groups determined to rule by terror. According to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Strategic Plan, the United States must be able to quickly respond and adapt to unanticipated situations as they relate to protection of our homeland and national security. Technology plays a key role in a strong national security position, and the private business community, along with the national laboratories, academia, defense and homeland security organizations, provide this technology. Fostering innovative ideas, translated into relevant technologies answering …

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Report on two short courses: [1] Fluid-fluid Equilibria in the Crust: Petrology - Geochemistry - Economic potential. August 16-17, 2007 preceding the Goldschmidt Conference in Cologne, Germany) and [2] Paleoaltimetry: Geochemical And Thermodynamic Approaches. October 26-27, 2007 (preceding the GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado)

Closing report for project DOE-FG02-03ER15436. The project studied obligate autotrophy in the ammonia oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea. Nitrosomonas europaea can obtain all of its energy and reductant for growth from the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and is, therefore, classified as a chemolithotroph. This bacterium is also an autotroph, which can derive all cellular carbon from carbon dioxide. N. europaea seems incapable of growth with other carbon or energy sources. This restricted capability is surprising given that ammonia is a poor energy source. The main goal of the project was to examine the basis of autotrophy in N. europaea or, thought of another way, to determine the barriers to heterotrophy. The approach was enabled by the N. europaea genome sequence, stimulating new ways of thinking about this physiological paradox—an insistence on a single, albeit poor, energy source. Objective 1 was to examine the expression and regulation of the genes coding for alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, determine if the enzyme’s activity is present, and determine whether alteration of the expression levels influences autotrophic growth. Although Nitrosomonas europaea lacks measurable alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase activity, the genome sequence revealed the presence of the genes encoding the enzyme. A knockout mutation was created in the sucA gene …

This invention is comprised of an iron-based alloy containing chromium and optionally, nickel. The alloy has a surface barrier of silicon or silicon plus oxygen which converts at high temperature to a protective silicon compound. The alloy can be used in oxygen-sulfur mixed gases at temperatures up to about 1100{degrees}C.

This invention is comprised of a process for converting PuO{sub 2} and U0{sub 2} present in an electrorefiner to the chlorides, by contacting the PuO{sub 2} and U0{sub 2} with Li metal in the presence of an alkali metal chloride salt substantially free of rare earth and actinide chlorides for a time and at a temperature sufficient to convert the U0{sub 2} and PuO{sub 2} to metals while converting Li metal to Li{sub 2}O. Li{sub 2}O is removed either by reducing with rare earth metals or by providing an oxygen electrode for transporting 0{sub 2} out of the electrorefiner and a cathode, and thereafter applying an emf to the electrorefiner electrodes sufficient to cause the Li{sub 2}O to disassociate to 0{sub 2} and Li metal but insufficient to decompose the alkali metal chloride salt. The U and Pu and excess lithium are then converted to chlorides by reaction with CdCl{sub 2}.

The General Services Administration is not just replacing aging heating and cooling equipment and reducing maintenance costs at the 670-acre Denver Federal Center (DFC). The GSA is also helping the government save about $450,000 in annual energy costs, conserve nearly 11 million gallons of water per year, and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 15.9 million pounds, all by making use of the Department of Energy's Super Energy Savings Performance Contracts (Super ESPCs) at the DFC. Under these contracts, an energy services provider pays the up-front project costs and is then repaid over the contracts term out of the resulting energy cost savings. This two-page case study, prepared by NREL for the DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), demonstrates how the GSA forged new project partnerships, improved the DFCs boiler plant, and acquired efficient new chillers, motors, controls, and lighting by placing two delivery orders for this work under FEMPs Central Region Super ESPC.

This is one of a series of technology fact sheets created to help housing designers and builders adopt a whole-house design approach and energy efficient design practices. The fact sheet advises how to create a comfortable basement environment that is free of moisture problems and easy to condition.

Summarizes General Electric's work under contract to DOE's Distribution and Interconnection R&D, including the development of a virtual test bed and a universal interconnection system design.

Fact sheet features the challenges the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) faced and overcame in complying to a Texas legislation that calls for the acquisition of only alternative fuel vehicles.

Summarizes the work of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers P1547 Working Group to develop a set of standards to guide the interconnection of distributed generation.

This fact sheet explains the Clean Cities Program and provides contact information for all coalitions and regional offices. It answers key questions such as: What is the Clean Cities Program? What are alternative fuels? How does the Clean Cities Program work? What sort of assistance does Clean Cities offer? What has Clean Cities accomplished? What is Clean Cities International? and Where can I find more information?

At Formosa Plastics Corporation's plant in Point Comfort, Texas, a plant-wide assessment team analyzed process energy requirements, reviewed new technologies for applicability, and found ways to improve the plant's energy efficiency. The assessment team identified the energy requirements of each process and compared actual energy consumption with theoretical process requirements. The team estimated that total annual energy savings would be about 115,000 MBtu for natural gas and nearly 14 million kWh for electricity if the plant makes several improvements, which include upgrading the gas compressor impeller, improving the vent blower system, and recovering steam condensate for reuse. Total annual cost savings could be $1.5 million. The U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program cosponsored this assessment.

This 16-page brochure is a management tool that can help companies minimize waste and maximize energy efficiency for many types of systems including pumping systems.

RadHeat is a one dimensional finite difference heat transfer code that can determine the transient temperature evolution of layered targets in pulsed penetrating radiation environments. It makes use of energy dependent opacity and stopping data to model the volumetric deposition of any number of photon or ion spectra each incident at arbitrary angles. Convective and radiative boundary conditions are handled as well as the ability to impose any initial temperature profile. The heat diffusion equation is formulated implicitly to eliminate timestep dependent stability issues. Simulations are, therefore, able to achieve high fidelity during times of thermal activity and greater speed elsewhere. The prototypical physical situation simulated by RadHeat is illustrated. RadHeat was originally written to study the temperature response of tungsten-armored target-facing walls to the pulsed photon and ion radiation emanating from fusion microexplosions in future IFE power plants. RadHeat's implementation is quite general, though, and the code can be applied to a very broad range of problems. Anything from the heating of the Earth's crust on a warm summer day to the temperature rise in a mirror after a laser pulse could potentially be modeled. This manual was written to help new users learn how to run the code …

This 2-page fact sheet provides general information regarding Clean Cities International, including background, successful activities, importance of partnerships, accomplishments, and plans.

The overall project objective was to apply high throughput experimentation and combinatorial methods together with novel syntheses to discover and optimize efficient, practical, and economically sustainable materials for photoelectrochemical production of bulk hydrogen from water. Automated electrochemical synthesis and photoelectrochemical screening systems were designed and constructed and used to study a variety of new photoelectrocatalytic materials. We evaluated photocatalytic performance in the dark and under illumination with or without applied bias in a high-throughput manner and did detailed evaluation on many materials. Significant attention was given to -Fe2O3 based semiconductor materials and thin films with different dopants were synthesized by co-electrodeposition techniques. Approximately 30 dopants including Al, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Mo, Ti, Pt, etc. were investigated. Hematite thin films doped with Al, Ti, Pt, Cr, and Mo exhibited significant improvements in efficiency for photoelectrochemical water splitting compared with undoped hematite. In several cases we collaborated with theorists who used density functional theory to help explain performance trends and suggest new materials. The best materials were investigated in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet-visual spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photoelectrocatalytic performance of the thin films was evaluated and their incident photon

PETRO Project: The Danforth Center will optimize light utilization in Camelina, a drought-resistant, cold-tolerant oilseed crop. The team is modifying how Camelina collects sunlight, engineering its topmost leaves to be lighter in color so sunlight can more easily reflect onto lower parts of the plant. A more uniform distribution of light would improve the efficiency of photosynthesis. Combined with other strategies to produce more oil in the seed, Camelina would yield more oil per plant. The team is also working to allow Camelina to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) more efficiently, providing more carbon input for oil production. The goal is to improve light utilization and oil production to the point where Camelina produces enough fuel precursors per acre to compete with other fuels.

Individual datastreams from instrumentation at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility fixed and mobile research sites are collected and routed to the Data Management Facility (DMF) for processing in near-real-time. Instrument and processed data are then delivered approximately daily to the ARM Data Archive, where they are made freely available to the research community. For each instrument, we calculate the ratio of the actual number of processed data records received daily at the Data Archive to the expected number of data records. The results are tabulated by (1) individual datastream, site, and month for the current year and (2) site and fiscal year dating back to 1998.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: ITN is addressing the high cost of electrochromic windows with a new manufacturing process: roll-to-roll deposition of the film onto flexible plastic surfaces. Production of electrochromic films on plastic requires low processing temperatures and uniform film quality over large surface areas. ITN is overcoming these challenges using its previous experience in growing flexible thin-film solar cells and batteries. By developing sensor-based controls, ITN’s roll-to-roll manufacturing process yields more film over a larger area than traditional film deposition methods. Evaluating deposition processes from a control standpoint ultimately strengthens the ability for ITN to handle unanticipated deviations quickly and efficiently, enabling more consistent large-volume production. The team is currently moving from small-scale prototypes into pilot-scale production to validate roll-to-roll manufacturability and produce scaled prototypes that can be proven in simulated operating conditions. Electrochromic plastic films could also open new markets in building retrofit applications, vastly expanding the potential energy savings.

Solar ADEPT Project: Satcon is developing a compact, lightweight power conversion device that is capable of taking utility-scale solar power and outputting it directly into the electric utility grid at distribution voltage levels—eliminating the need for large transformers. Transformers “step up” the voltage of the power that is generated by a solar power system so it can be efficiently transported through transmission lines and eventually “stepped down” to usable voltages before it enters homes and businesses. Power companies step up the voltage because less electricity is lost along transmission lines when the voltage is high and current is low. Satcon’s new power conversion devices will eliminate these heavy transformers and connect a utility-scale solar power system directly to the grid. Satcon’s modular devices are designed to ensure reliability—if one device fails it can be bypassed and the system can continue to run.