Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: Ceres is developing bigger and better grasses for use in biofuels. The bigger the grass yield, the more biomass, and more biomass means more biofuel per acre. Using biotechnology, Ceres is developing grasses that will grow bigger with less fertilizer than current grass varieties. Hardier, higher-yielding grass also requires less land to grow and can be planted in areas where other crops can’t grow instead of in prime agricultural land. Ceres is conducting multi-year trials in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia which have already resulted in grass yields with as much as 50% more biomass than yields from current grass varieties.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: In a battery, metal ions move between the electrodes through the electrolyte in order to store energy. Envia Systems is developing new silicon-based negative electrode materials for Li-Ion batteries. Using this technology, Envia will be able to produce commercial EV batteries that outperform today’s technology by 2-3 times. Many other programs have attempted to make anode materials based on silicon, but have not been able to produce materials that can withstand charge/discharge cycles multiple times. Envia has been able to make this material which can successfully cycle hundreds of times, on a scale that is economically viable. Today, Envia’s batteries exhibit world-record energy densities.

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.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: ASU is engineering a type of photosynthetic bacteria that efficiently produce fatty acids—a fuel precursor for biofuels. This type of bacteria, called Synechocystis, is already good at converting solar energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) into a type of fatty acid called lauric acid. ASU has modified the organism so it continuously converts sunlight and CO2 into fatty acids—overriding its natural tendency to use solar energy solely for cell growth and maximizing the solar-to-fuel conversion process. ASU’s approach is different because most biofuels research focuses on increasing cellular biomass and not on excreting fatty acids. The project has also identified a unique way to convert the harvested lauric acid into a fuel that can be easily blended with existing transportation fuels.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: GM is using shape memory alloys that require as little as a 10°C temperature difference to convert low-grade waste heat into mechanical energy. When a stretched wire made of shape memory alloy is heated, it shrinks back to its pre-stretched length. When the wire cools back down, it becomes more pliable and can revert to its original stretched shape. This expansion and contraction can be used directly as mechanical energy output or used to drive an electric generator. Shape memory alloy heat engines have been around for decades, but the few devices that engineers have built were too complex, required fluid baths, and had insufficient cycle life for practical use. GM is working to create a prototype that is practical for commercial applications and capable of operating with either air- or fluid-based heat sources. GM’s shape memory alloy based heat engine is also designed for use in a variety of non-vehicle applications. For example, it can be used to harvest non-vehicle heat sources, such as domestic and industrial waste heat and natural geothermal heat, and in HVAC systems and generators.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: Delphi is developing power converters that are smaller and more energy efficient, reliable, and cost-effective than current power converters. Power converters rely on power transistors which act like a very precisely controlled on-off switch, controlling the electrical energy flowing through an electrical circuit. Most power transistors today use silicon (Si) semiconductors. However, Delphi is using semiconductors made with a thin layer of gallium-nitride (GaN) applied on top of the more conventional Si material. The GaN layer increases the energy efficiency of the power transistor and also enables the transistor to operate at much higher temperatures, voltages, and power-density levels compared to its Si counterpart. Delphi is packaging these high-performance GaN semiconductors with advanced electrical connections and a cooling system that extracts waste heat from both sides of the device to further increase the device’s efficiency and allow more electrical current to flow through it. When combined with other electronic components on a circuit board, Delphi’s GaN power transistor package will help improve the overall performance and cost-effectiveness of HEVs and EVs.

A final report made to the US Forest Service that addresses savannah restoration research findings from research conducted at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: EaglePicher is developing a sodium-beta alumina (Na-Beta) battery for grid-scale energy storage. High-temperature Na-Beta batteries are a promising grid-scale energy storage technology, but existing approaches are expensive and unreliable. EaglePicher has modified the shape of the traditional, tubular-shaped Na-Beta battery. It is using an inexpensive stacked design to improve performance at lower temperatures, leading to a less expensive overall storage technology. The new design greatly simplifies the manufacturing process for beta alumina membranes (a key enabling technology), providing a subsequent pathway to the production of scalable, modular batteries at half the cost of the existing tubular designs.

Check of $279.32 for remittance envelopes made on March 1, 2010.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: UIUC is experimenting with silicon-based materials to develop flexible thermoelectric devices—which convert heat into energy—that can be mass-produced at low cost. A thermoelectric device, which resembles a computer chip, creates electricity when a different temperature is applied to each of its sides. Existing commercial thermoelectric devices contain the element tellurium, which limits production levels because tellurium has become increasingly rare. UIUC is replacing this material with microscopic silicon wires that are considerably cheaper and could be equally effective. Improvements in thermoelectric device production could return enough wasted heat to add up to 23% to our current annual electricity production.

Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq & Afghanistan held March 1, 2010 in Washington, D.C. This hearing includes testimony from the U.S.Departments of Defense and State, and from the U.S. Agency for International Development on coordinating reconstruction and stabilization in Contingency Operations.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: FastCAP is improving the performance of an ultracapacitor—a battery-like electronic device that can complement, and possibly even replace, an HEV or EV battery pack. Ultracapacitors have many advantages over conventional batteries, including long lifespans (over 1 million cycles, as compared to 10,000 for conventional batteries) and better durability. Ultracapacitors also charge more quickly than conventional batteries, and they release energy more quickly. However, ultracapacitors have fallen short of batteries in one key metric: energy density—high energy density means more energy storage. FastCAP is redesigning the ultracapacitor’s internal structure to increase its energy density. Ultracapacitors traditionally use electrodes made of irregularly shaped, porous carbon. FastCAP’s ultracapacitors are made of tiny, aligned carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes provide a regular path for ions moving in and out of the ultracapacitor’s electrode, increasing the overall efficiency and energy density of the device.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) military compensation package, which is a myriad of pays and benefits, is an important tool to attract and retain the number and quality of active duty servicemembers it needs to fulfill its mission. Compensation can be appropriate and adequate to attract and retain servicemembers when it is competitive with civilian compensation. However, comparisons between military and civilian compensation present both limitations and challenges. As we noted in 1986, exact compensation comparisons are not possible because no data exist which would allow an exact comparison of military and civilian personnel with the same levels of work experience. Also, nonmonetary considerations complicate military and civilian pay comparisons because their value cannot be quantified. Specifically, military service is unique in that the working conditions for active duty service carry the risk of death and injury during wartime and the potential for frequent, long deployments unlike most civilian jobs. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 required that we conduct a study comparing pay and benefits provided by law to members of the Armed Forces with that of comparably situated private-sector employees to assess how …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Skiles. Skiles joined the Army in March 1943. He was sent to the Pacific as a replacement. Skiles eventually joined the 96th Infantry Division and landed at Leyte. He served as a switchboard operator and company clerk with a headquarters company. He was later sent to Okinawa and landed in one of the first waves of the invasion. He was wounded by a mortar shell and evacuated to Hawaii. During his time on Okinawa he witnesses a kamikaze attack on the USS Morrison (DD-560). He also was near Yontan Airfield when it was attacked by Japanese commandos and witnessed the aftermath.

Medicine Lake Volcano is a Quaternary shield volcano located in a tectonically complex and active zone at the transition between the Basin and Range Province and the Cascade Range of the Pacific Province. The volcano is topped by a 7x12 km elliptical depression surrounded by a discontinuous constructional ring of basaltic to rhyolitic lava flows. This thesis explores the possibility that the depression may have formed due to regional extension (rift basin) or dextral shear (pull-apart basin) rather than through caldera collapse and examines the relationship between regional tectonics and localized volcanism. Existing data consisting of temperature and magnetotelluric surveys, alteration mineral studies, and core logging were compiled and supplemented with additional core logging, field observations, and fault striae studies in paleomagnetically oriented core samples. These results were then synthesized with regional fault data from existing maps and databases. Faulting patterns near the caldera, extension directions derived from fault striae P and T axes, and three-dimensional temperature and alteration mineral models are consistent with slip across arcuate ring faults related to magma chamber deflation during flank eruptions and/or a pyroclastic eruption at about 180 ka. These results are not consistent with a rift or pull-apart basin. Limited subsidence can be …

Metric for Quarter 3: Report comparisons of aerosol/CCN relationship parameterizations with data collected in the first quarter and best parameterization for VOCALS data set.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William Garlic. Garlic joined the Navy to become an aviator in 1941. He trained to become a pilot of a F6F Hellcat night fighter. He tells stories of his experiences through training on the USS Ranger (CV-4) in the Atlantic to his service in VF(N)-78 aboard the USS Lexington (CV-16) in the Pacific. Garlic downed three Japanese torpedo planes in one mission while protecting the Lexington .

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This document supersedes GAO-07-1SP, GAO Strategic Plan, 2007-2012, March 2007. This document presents GAO's strategic plan for serving the Congress for fiscal years 2010 through 2015. In keeping with our commitment to update our plan every 3 years, it describes our proposed goals and strategies for supporting the Congress and the nation as the United States undergoes a period of change, daunting challenges, and promising opportunities. We have identified eight trends that provide context for our plan: (1) evolving security threats; (2) urgent fiscal sustainability and debt challenges; (3) economic recovery and restored job growth; (4) changing dynamics of global interdependence and shifts in power; (5) advances in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; (6) increasing impact of networks and virtualization; (7) shifting roles in government and governance; and (8) demographic and societal changes confronting the young and old. Since we issued our last plan, significant changes have affected our nation's commitments and fiscal outlook. Our nation has multiple wartime-related commitments as it winds down one war in Iraq, increases its presence in another in Afghanistan, and re-examines commitments in Pakistan. The global financial crisis emerged as …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Cloud computing, an emerging form of computing where users have access to scalable, on-demand capabilities that are provided through Internet-based technologies, reportedly has the potential to provide information technology services more quickly and at a lower cost, but also to introduce information security risks. Accordingly, GAO was asked to testify on the benefits and risks of moving federal information technology into the cloud. This testimony summarizes the contents of a separate report that is being released today which describes (1) the models of cloud computing, (2) the information security implications of using cloud computing services in the federal government, and (3) federal guidance and efforts to address information security when using cloud computing. In preparing that report, GAO collected and analyzed information from industry groups, private-sector organizations, and 24 major federal agencies."

Electrofuels Project: NC State is working with the University of Georgia to create Electrofuels from primitive organisms called extremophiles that evolved before photosynthetic organisms and live in extreme, hot water environments with temperatures ranging from 167-212 degrees Fahrenheit The team is genetically engineering these microorganisms so they can use hydrogen to turn carbon dioxide directly into alcohol-based fuels. High temperatures are required to distill the biofuels from the water where the organisms live, but the heat-tolerant organisms will continue to thrive even as the biofuels are being distilled—making the fuel-production process more efficient. The microorganisms don’t require light, so they can be grown anywhere—inside a dark reactor or even in an underground facility.

Electrofuels Project: MUSC is developing an engineered system to create liquid fuels from communities of interdependent microorganisms. MUSC is first pumping carbon dioxide (CO2) and renewable sources of electricity into a battery-like cell. A community of microorganisms uses the electricity to convert the CO2 into hydrogen. That hydrogen is then consumed by another community of microorganisms living in the same system. These new microorganisms convert the hydrogen into acetate, which in turn feed yet another community of microorganisms. This last community of microorganisms uses the acetate to produce a liquid biofuel called butanol. Similar interdependent microbial communities can be found in some natural environments, but they’ve never been coupled together in an engineered cell to produce liquid fuels. MUSC is working to triple the amount of butanol that can be produced in its system and to reduce the overall cost of the process.

Electrofuels Project: UCLA is utilizing renewable electricity to power direct liquid fuel production in genetically engineered Ralstonia eutropha bacteria. UCLA is using renewable electricity to convert carbon dioxide into formic acid, a liquid soluble compound that delivers both carbon and energy to the bacteria. The bacteria are genetically engineered to convert the formic acid into liquid fuel—in this case alcohols such as butanol. The electricity required for the process can be generated from sunlight, wind, or other renewable energy sources. In fact, UCLA’s electricity-to-fuel system could be a more efficient way to utilize these renewable energy sources considering the energy density of liquid fuel is much higher than the energy density of other renewable energy storage options, such as batteries.

BEEST Project: Applied Materials is developing new tools for manufacturing Li-Ion batteries that could dramatically increase their performance. Traditionally, the positive and negative terminals of Li-Ion batteries are mixed with glue-like materials called binders, pressed onto electrodes, and then physically kept apart by winding a polymer mesh material between them called a separator. With the Applied Materials system, many of these manually intensive processes will be replaced by next generation coating technology to apply each component. This process will improve product reliability and performance of the cells at a fraction of the current cost. These novel manufacturing techniques will also increase the energy density of the battery and reduce the size of several of the battery’s components to free up more space within the cell for storage.

BEEST Project: PolyPlus is developing the world’s first commercially available rechargeable lithium-air (Li-Air) battery. Li-Air batteries are better than the Li-Ion batteries used in most EVs today because they breathe in air from the atmosphere for use as an active material in the battery, which greatly decreases its weight. Li-Air batteries also store nearly 700% as much energy as traditional Li-Ion batteries. A lighter battery would improve the range of EVs dramatically. Polyplus is on track to making a critical breakthrough: the first manufacturable protective membrane between its lithium–based negative electrode and the reaction chamber where it reacts with oxygen from the air. This gives the battery the unique ability to recharge by moving lithium in and out of the battery’s reaction chamber for storage until the battery needs to discharge once again. Until now, engineers had been unable to create the complex packaging and air-breathing components required to turn Li-Air batteries into rechargeable systems.