The U.S. Department of Energy DOE's Inventions and Innovation (I&I) Program can help if you are an individual inventor or small business planning to develop your energy-saving invention or innovation. The program provides financial assistance at two levels and also offers technical guidance and commercialization support to successful applicants.

Ledger containing minutes of the City Council in Abilene, Texas documenting the group's discussions and activities from January 14, 1999 to December 16, 1999.

The use of dessicant materials for cooling and dehumidification is an effective, economical, environmentally safe method for meeting indoor air quality standards established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). To maximize the technology's potential for reducing energy consumption and improving indoor air quality, DOE established the Advanced Desiccant Cooling and Dehumidification Program. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory partners with industry to support and educate industry users, as well as to support technology transfer and benchmark current performance.

Auxein Corporation is demonstrating for commercial use an organic acid phytochelate, derived from what would otherwise be a discarded portion of sugar cane, that could increase the domestic sugar industry's profit margin from near zero to 7%. Along with helping a struggling industry, the phytochelate will bring substantial improvements to crop and tree production and greatly reduce the environmental threat posed by nitrogen-based fertilizers. Currently, the amount of fertilizer used produces harmful levels of run-off that contaminates ground water with unwanted nitrogen. By utilizing organic acid phytochelates, which assist plant growth by unlocking minerals stored in soil, fertilizer use can be dramatically reduced. This would improve crop yields, remove environmental threats to ground water, and cut fertilizer costs by as much as 50%.

In this issue of the Alternative Fuel News, the authors remember what happened just 25 years ago (the energy crisis of 1973) and reiterate that foreign oil dependence is still a national issue. Highlighted are some the successes in the Clean Cities Program and the alternative fuels industry. Also featured is the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (NGVC) and the United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers with AFVs.

The cover story in this issue of the Alternative Fuel News highlights the niche market principle; the places in which AFVs would best fit. This year's SEP funding is expected to be the springboard needed for the development of niche projects. The Clean Cities Program, by matching those needs and attributes in niches, can dramatically increase the attractiveness of AFVs and make an impact on those high-mileage, high-use fleets.

What's in store for alternative Fuels and advanced technology vehicles in the new millennium? The Clean Cities Coalitions now operate more than 240,000 alternative fuel vehicles in both public and private sectors and have access to more than 4,000 alternative refueling stations. DOE recently announced the selection of 15 proposals that will receive just under $1.7 million in financial assistance to help expand DOE's information dissemination and public outreach efforts for alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies.

This special issue of Alternative Fuel News highlights the Fifth National Clean Cities Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky. The momentum for the program is stronger than ever and the coalitions are working to propel the alternative fuel industry forward.

The alternative fuel industry is heating up. It is a very exciting time to be in the energy business, especially when it comes to transportation. Celebrating of the milestone 75th Clean Cities coalition and kick off of the new Federal Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) USER Program is occurring in cities across the country. Clean Energy for the 21st Century and the events that are happening during Energy Awareness Month are covered in this issue. Spotlighted are niche markets; several airports across the country are successfully incorporating alternative fuels into their daily routines.

NICE3 and the Philip Services Corporation are cost-sharing a demonstration project to decoat metal using indirect-fired controlled-atmosphere (IDEX) kilns, which can both process solid organics such as rubber and plastics, and minimize dust formation and emission of volatile organic compounds. The publication explains how this cost-effective, two-step system operates.

In another Office of Industrial Technologies Motor Challenge Success Story, Alcoa (formerly Alumax) aluminum reduced annual energy consumption by 12% and reduced both maintenance and noise levels. Order this fact sheet now to learn how your company can both increase energy efficiency and decrease pollution.

As this NICE3 publication details, the objective of this project is to commercialize the process technology to eliminate all landfill waste associated with black dross and saltcake generated from aluminum recycling in the United States.

Reynolds Metals Company (RMC), with assistance from a NICE{sup 3} grant, is developing for commercialization a closed-loop control process that greatly reduces chlorine emissions and increases plant efficiency while maintaining metal quality. The process still utilizes chlorine to remove impurities during aluminum processing, but is more effective than current methods. With the new technology chlorine in the stack is monitored and input chlorine is adjusted continuously. This optimization of chlorine use results in substantially less waste because less chlorine has to be bought or produced by aluminum manufacturers. This innovation is a significant improvement over conventional aluminum treatments, in which chlorine is injected in a more costly and wasteful manner. By the year 2010, the new technology has the potential to reduce the energy it takes to create chlorine by 8.4 billion Btu per year and to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 1,377 tons per year.

This fact sheet reveals how the use of reflective aluminum chips on rooftops cuts down significantly on heat absorption, thus decreasing the need for air conditioning. The benefits, including energy savings that could reach the equivalent of 1.3 million barrels of oil annually for approximately 100,000 warehouses, are substantial.

Voudou (an older spelling of voodoo)—a pantheistic belief system developed in West Africa and transported to the Americas during the diaspora of the slave trade—is the generic term for a number of similar African religions which mutated in the Americas, including santeria, candomble, macumbe, obeah, Shango Baptist, etc. Since its violent introduction in the Caribbean islands, it has been the least understood and most feared religion of the New World—suppressed, out-lawed or ridiculed from Haiti to Hattiesburg. Yet with the exception of Zora Neale Hurston's accounts more than a half-century ago and a smattering of lurid, often racist paperbacks, studies of this potent West African theology have focused almost exclusively on Haiti, Cuba and the Caribbean basin. American Voudou turns our gaze back to American shores, principally towards the South, the most important and enduring stronghold of the voudou faith in America and site of its historic yet rarely recounted war with Christianity. This chronicle of Davis' determined search for the true legacy of voudou in America reveals a spirit-world from New Orleans to Miami which will shatter long-held stereotypes about the religion and its role in our culture. The real-life dramas of the practitioners, true believers and skeptics of …

A survey of some of the different ways that synchrotrons x-ray beams can be used to study geological materials is presented here. This field developed over a period of about 30 years, and it is clear that the geological community has made major use of the many synchrotrons facilities operating around the world during this time period. This was a time of rapid change in the operational performance of the synchrotrons facilities and this in itself has made it possible for geologists to develop new and more refined types of experiments that have yielded many important results. The advance in experimental techniques has proceeded in parallel with a revolution in computing techniques that has made it possible to cope with the great amount of data accumulated in the experiments. It is reasonable, although risky, to speculate about what might be expected to develop in the field during the next five- to ten-year period. It does seem plausible that the rate of change in the performance of what might now be called conventional x-ray storage rings will slow. There are no new facilities that are superior to the ESRF, ALS, APS, or SPring8 facilities under construction or about to come into …

In the quest to derive energy from renewable resources, NREL scientists pursue disciplines ranging from materials science to structural dynamics to condensed matter physics. Physics is at the core of making this transition to a renewable energy world. The role of light/matter interaction in physics will continue to dominate in the 21st century.

Translation and summaries of materials from the Laredo Archives, held by St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas; the documents contain information related to the history of Laredo, including religion, political life, ordinances and laws, education, military life, and land questions.

Narrative of Dr. Leonard A. Charpentier. The narrative includes a monologue of Charpentier's experiences as a P-47 fighter pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Charpentier talks about basic training, flight training, fighter pilot training, his assignment to the 86th Fighter Squadron on Corsica, the P-47 Thunderbolt, various missions, his being shot down on a mission over southern France and being captured, the treatment of his wounds at a German field hospital, and his postwar medical career.

In October of 1989, the State of Texas set Kenneth Allen McDuff, the Broomstick Murderer, free on parole. By choosing to murder again, McDuff became the architect of an extraordinarily intolerant atmosphere in Texas. The spasm of prison construction and parole reforms—collectively called the “McDuff Rules”—resulted from an enormous display of anger vented towards a system that allowed McDuff to kill, and kill again. Bad Boy from Rosebud is a chilling account of the life of one of the most heartless and brutal serial killers in American history. Gary M. Lavergne goes beyond horror into an analysis of the unbelievable subculture in which McDuff lived. Equally compelling are the lives of remarkable law enforcement officers determined to bring McDuff to justice, and their seven-year search for his victims. “Texas still feels the pain inflicted by Kenneth Allen McDuff, despite the relentless efforts of law enforcement officials to solve his crimes and bind up its wounds. Bad Boy from Rosebud is an impeccably researched, compellingly detailed account of the crimes and the long search for justice. Gary Lavergne takes us directly to the scenes of the crimes, deep inside the mind of a killer, and in the process learns not only …

This chapbook commemorates a reading given by Helen Leath on December 1, 1999, in the Rare Book Room of the University of North Texas Library. The reading was the second presentation of Short fiction writers, a series sponsored by the Friends of the University of North Texas Libraries and co-sponsored by the UNT Department of English. This edition of four hundred signed/numbered copies and is made possible by a generous grant from the Friends of the University of North Texas Libraries. Rare Book Collection's copy is no. 3.

This document summarizes information from worldwide sources on the beneficial use of residues from the combustion of municipal. The information presented, including results of numerous research projects, field demonstrations, and actual full-scale projects, demonstrates that the ash can be safely used. It includes data on ash characteristics, environmental considerations, guidance on selected ash use applications, and information on federal and state regulations and policies affecting ash use.

Long range financial forecast provides information to help decision-makers plan for the future financial needs of Bexar County; takes current expenditure levels, known cost increases, one-time expenses and inflation, and forecasts the effects of these factors on the County's financial condition for fiscal years 1999 through 2003.

This issue of Biofuels News highlights DOE's ``Bridge to the Corn Ethanol Industry'' program and plans for commercializing corn stover conversion to ethanol.