Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: ASU is developing a new class of metal-air batteries. Metal-air batteries are promising for future generations of EVs because they use oxygen from the air as one of the battery’s main reactants, reducing the weight of the battery and freeing up more space to devote to energy storage than Li-Ion batteries. ASU technology uses Zinc as the active metal in the battery because it is more abundant and affordable than imported lithium. Metal-air batteries have long been considered impractical for EV applications because the water-based electrolytes inside would decompose the battery interior after just a few uses. Overcoming this traditional limitation, ASU’s new battery system could be both cheaper and safer than today’s Li-Ion batteries, store from 4-5 times more energy, and be recharged over 2,500 times.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: Phononic Devices is working to recapture waste heat and convert it into usable electric power. To do this, the company is using thermoelectric devices, which are made from advanced semiconductor materials that convert heat into electricity or actively remove heat for refrigeration and cooling purposes. Thermoelectric devices resemble computer chips, and they manage heat by manipulating the direction of electrons at the nanoscale. These devices aren’t new, but they are currently too inefficient and expensive for widespread use. Phononic Devices is using a high-performance, cost-effective thermoelectric design that will improve the device’s efficiency and enable electronics manufacturers to more easily integrate them into their products.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: Exelus is developing a method to convert olefins from oil refinery exhaust gas into alkylate, a clean-burning, high-octane component of gasoline. Traditionally, olefins must be separated from exhaust before they can be converted into another source of useful fuel. Exelus’ process uses catalysts that convert the olefin to alkylate without first separating it from the exhaust. The ability to turn up to 50% of exhaust directly into gasoline blends could result in an additional 46 million gallons of gasoline in the U.S. each year.

On April 15, 2008, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Advanced Water Power Projects which included a Topic Area for Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Market Acceleration Projects. Within this Topic Area, DOE identified potential navigational impacts of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies and measures to prevent adverse impacts on navigation as a sub-topic area. DOE defines marine and hydrokinetic technologies as those capable of utilizing one or more of the following resource categories for energy generation: ocean waves; tides or ocean currents; free flowing water in rivers or streams; and energy generation from the differentials in ocean temperature. PCCI was awarded Cooperative Agreement DE-FC36-08GO18177 from the DOE to identify the potential navigational impacts and mitigation measures for marine hydrokinetic technologies. A technical report addressing our findings is available on this Science and Technology Information site under the Product Title, "Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Technologies: Potential Navigational Impacts and Mitigation Measures". This product is a brochure, primarily for project developers, that summarizes important issues in that more comprehensive report, identifies locations where that report can be downloaded, and identifies points of contact for more information.

The DOE's Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership has completed drilling the first continental flood basalt sequestration pilot borehole to a total depth (TD) of 4,110 feet on the Boise White Paper Mill property at Wallula, Washington. Site suitability was assessed prior to drilling by the 2007-2008 acquisition, processing and analysis of a four-mile, five-line three component seismic swath, which was processed as a single data-dense line. Analysis of the seismic survey data indicated a composite basalt formation thickness of {approx}8,000 feet and absence of major geologic structures (i.e., faults) along the line imaged by the seismic swath. Drilling of Wallula pilot borehole was initiated on January 13, 2009 and reached TD on April 6, 2009. Based on characterization results obtained during drilling, three basalt breccia zones were identified between the depth interval of 2,716 and 2,910 feet, as being suitable injection reservoir for a subsequent CO2 injection pilot study. The targeted injection reservoir lies stratigraphically below the massive Umtanum Member of the Grande Ronde Basalt, whose flow-interior section possesses regionally recognized low-permeability characteristics. The identified composite injection zone reservoir provides a unique and attractive opportunity to scientifically study the reservoir behavior of three inter-connected reservoir intervals below primary and …

A final report - publication of the results from a workshop held in June 2004 on Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Enviornment

This issue has the following articles: (1) Shock-Ignition Experiments on OMEGA at NIF-Relevant Intensities; (2) Laser-Driven Magnetic-Flux Compression in High-Energy-Density Plasmas; (3) Lorentz Mapping of Magnetic Fields in Hot, Dense Plasmas; (4) Characterization and Optimization of Yb-Doped Photonic-Crystal Fiber Rod Amplifiers Using Spatially Resolved Spectral Interferometry; (5) Optical Differentiation and Multimillijoule {approx}150-ps Pulse Generation in a Regenerative Amplifier with a Temperature-Tuned Intracavity Volume Bragg Grating; (6) Slow Crack Growth During Radiatiave Cooling of LHG8 and BK7 Plates; and (7) Finite Element Simulation of Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Photoconductor.

Phase change heat transfer is notorious for increasing the irreversibility of, and therefore decreasing the efficiency of, geothermal power plants. Its significant contribution to the overall irreversibility of the plant makes it the most important source of inefficiency in the process. Recent studies here have shown the promotion of drop wise condensation in the lab by means of increasing the surface energy density of a tube with nanotechnology. The use of nanotechnology has allowed the creation of surface treatments which discourage water from wetting a tube surface during a static test. These surface treatments are unique in that they create high- contact angles on the condensing tube surfaces to promote drop wise condensation.

Factsheet developed to describe the activites of the Distributed Energy Systems Integration Group within NREL's Electricity, Resources, and Buildings Systems Integration center.

In this project, we proposed (i) identification of metal-reduction genes, (ii) development of new threading techniques and (iii) fold recognition and structure prediction of metal-reduction proteins. However, due to the reduction of the budget, we revised our plan to focus on two specific aims of (i) developing a new threading-based protein structure prediction method, and (ii) developing an expert system for protein structure prediction.

The 2nd Attosecond Physics conference was hosted by the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory group from July 28 to August 1, 2009, at Kansas State University,Manhattan, Kansas about 215 participants from all over the world attended this meeting. DOE provided support for U.S. graduate students and post doctoral fellows attending this meeting. No papers/proceedings were published from this conference.

Overview of Research Goals and Accomplishments for the Period 07/01/06 – 06/30/07: Our overall research goal is to transform the rapidly emerging synthetic chemistry involving alkyl-alkyl cross-couplings into more of a mechanism-based field so that that new, rationally-designed catalysts can be performed under energy efficient conditions. Our specific objectives for the previous year were 1) to obtain a proper electronic description of an active catalyst for alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling reactions and 2) to determine the effect of ligand structure on the rate, scope, selectivity, and functional group compatibility of C(sp3)-C(sp3) cross-coupling catalysis. We have completed both of these initial objectives and established a firm base for further studies. The specific significant achievements of the current grant period include: 1) we have performed magnetic and computational studies on (terpyridine)NiMe, an active catalyst for alkyl-alkyl cross couplings, and have discovered that the unpaired electron resides heavily on the terpyridine ligand and that the proper electronic description of this nickel complex is a Ni(II)-methyl cation bound to a reduced terpyridine ligand; 2) we have for the first time shown that alkyl halide reduction by terpyridyl nickel catalysts is substantially ligand based; 3) we have shown by isotopic labeling studies that the active catalyst (terpyridine)NiMe …

This issue has the following articles: (1) Applied Plasma Spectroscopy: Laser-Fusion Experiments; (2) Relativistic Electron-Beam Transport Studies Using High-Resolution, Coherent Transition Radiation Imaging; (3) Pressure-Driven, Resistive Magnetohydrodynamic Interchange Instabilities in Laser-Produced, High-Energy-Density Plasmas; (4) Extended Model for Polymer Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Flake Reorientation and Relaxation; (5) Modeling the Effects of Microencapsulation on the Electro-Optic Behavior of Polymer Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Flakes; (6) Capillarity and Dielectrophoresis of Liquid Deuterium; and (7) A Stable Mid-IR, GaSb-Based Diode Laser Source for Cryogenic Target Layering at the OMEGA Laser Facility.

The Terascale Optimal PDE Solvers (TOPS) Integrated Software Infrastructure Center (ISIC) was created to develop and implement algorithms and support scientific investigations performed by DOE-sponsored researchers. These simulations often involve the solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) on terascale computers. The TOPS Center researched, developed and deployed an integrated toolkit of open-source, optimal complexity solvers for the nonlinear partial differential equations that arise in many DOE application areas, including fusion, accelerator design, global climate change and reactive chemistry. The algorithms created as part of this project were also designed to reduce current computational bottlenecks by orders of magnitude on terascale computers, enabling scientific simulation on a scale heretofore impossible.

To do business with the Federal Government, it is best to target the appropriate program. This document outlines resources for doing business with the Federal Government.

This volume of the LLE Review, covering October-December 2008, features 'Demonstration of the Shock-Timing Technique for Ignition Targets at the National Ignition Facility' by T. R. Boehly, V. N. Goncharov, S. X. Hu, J. A. Marozas, T. C. Sangster, D. D. Meyerhofer (LLE), D. Munro, P. M. Celliers, D. G. Hicks, G. W. Collins, H. F. Robey, O. L. Landen (LLNL), and R. E. Olson (SNL). In this article (p. 1) the authors report on a technique to measure the velocity and timing of shock waves in a capsule contained within hohlraum targets. This technique is critical for optimizing the drive profiles for high-performance inertial-confinement-fusion capsules, which are compressed by multiple precisely timed shock waves. The shock-timing technique was demonstrated on OMEGA using surrogate hohlraum targets heated to 180 eV and fitted with a re-entrant cone and quartz window to facilitate velocity measurements using velocity interferometry. Cryogenic experiments using targets filled with liquid deuterium further demonstrated the entire timing technique in a hohlraum environment. Direct-drive cryogenic targets with multiple spherical shocks were also used to validate this technique, including convergence effects at relevant pressures (velocities) and sizes. These results provide confidence that shock velocity and timing can be measured in …

The broad purpose of this project was to work cooperatively with the DOE to explore technology nad policy issues associated with more efficient, reliable, and affordable electric transmission and distribution use.

This project focused on: 1) evaluating the performance of the DOE ARM SGP Raman lidar system in measuring profiles of water vapor and aerosols, and 2) the use of the Raman lidar measurements of aerosol and water vapor profiles for assessing the vertical distribution of aerosols and water vapor simulated by global transport models and examining diurnal variability of aerosols and water vapor. The highest aerosol extinction was generally observed close to the surface during the nighttime just prior to sunrise. The high values of aerosol extinction are most likely associated with increased scattering by hygroscopic aerosols, since the corresponding average relative humidity values were above 70%. After sunrise, relative humidity and aerosol extinction below 500 m decreased with the growth in the daytime convective boundary layer. The largest aerosol extinction for altitudes above 1 km occurred during the early afternoon most likely as a result of the increase in relative humidity. The water vapor mixing ratio profiles generally showed smaller variations with altitude between day and night. We also compared simultaneous measurements of relative humidity, aerosol extinction, and aerosol optical thickness derived from the ARM SGP Raman lidar and in situ instruments on board a small aircraft flown routinely …

Genetic Analysis of Juvenile Chinook Salmon for inclusion in 'Ecology of Juvenile Salmon in Shallow Tidal Freshwater Habitats in the Vicinity of the Sandy River Delta, Lower Columbia River, 2008. Annual Report to Bonneville Power Administration, Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.'

The Gnome-Coach Site is located in southern Eddy County, New Mexico, 11 miles east of the Pecos River and 25 miles southeast of the city of Carlsbad. The site is approximately 680 acres. The land is currently withdrawn from all forms of disposition under the public land laws, including U.S. mining laws and leasing under mineral leasing laws. On December 10, 1961, a 3-kiloton-yield nuclear device was detonated at a depth of 1,183 feet belowground surface in a thick, bedded salt deposit within the Salado Formation.

The goal of this project has been to develop a lossless compression algorithm for message-passing libraries that can accelerate HPC systems by reducing the communication time. Because both compression and decompression have to be performed in software in real time, the algorithm has to be extremely fast while still delivering a good compression ratio. During the first half of this project, they designed a new compression algorithm called FPC for scientific double-precision data, made the source code available on the web, and published two papers describing its operation, the first in the proceedings of the Data Compression Conference and the second in the IEEE Transactions on Computers. At comparable average compression ratios, this algorithm compresses and decompresses 10 to 100 times faster than BZIP2, DFCM, FSD, GZIP, and PLMI on the three architectures tested. With prediction tables that fit into the CPU's L1 data acache, FPC delivers a guaranteed throughput of six gigabits per second on a 1.6 GHz Itanium 2 system. The C source code and documentation of FPC are posted on-line and have already been downloaded hundreds of times. To evaluate FPC, they gathered 13 real-world scientific datasets from around the globe, including satellite data, crash-simulation data, and …

The Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) is in the Hot Creek Valley of south-central Nevada, approximately 70 miles northeast of Tonopah. The CNTA consists of three parcels totaling 2,560 acres. The parcels are spaced approximately 3 miles apart along a roughly north-south line. The total acreage is currently withdrawn from all forms of appropriation associated with mining laws and leasing. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), acquired the CNTA in the early 1960s to develop alternative sites to the Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site) for underground nuclear testing. Three emplacement boreholes (UC-1, UC-3, and UC-4) were drilled on the three parcels at the CNTA for underground nuclear testing. The initial underground nuclear test at CNTA, Faultless, was conducted in borehole UC-1 at a depth of 3,199 feet below ground surface on January 19, 1968. The yield of the Faultless test was estimated to be 0.2 to 1 megaton. Its purpose was to evaluate the environmental and structural effects that might be expected if subsequent, higher-yield underground nuclear tests were conducted in this vicinity. The test resulted in a down-dropped fault block visible at land surface. …

Abstract -The majority of studies investigating the importance of coarse woody debris (CWD) to forest- floor vertebrates have taken place in the Pacific Northwest and southern Appalachian Mountains, while comparative studies in the southeastern Coastal Plain are lacking. My study was a continuation of a long-term project investigating the importance of CWD as a habitat component for shrew and herpetofaunal communities within managed pine stands in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Results suggest that addition of CWD can increase abundance of southeastern and southern short-tailed shrews. However, downed wood does not appear to be a critical habitat component for amphibians and reptiles. Rising petroleum costs and advances in wood utilization technology have resulted in an emerging biofuels market with potential to decrease CWD volumes left in forests following timber harvests. Therefore, forest managers must understand the value of CWD as an ecosystem component to maintain economically productive forests while conserving biological diversity.

This report documents implementation strategies to leverage public and private resources for the development of an adequate national security workforce as part of the National Security Preparedness Project (NSPP), being performed under a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) grant. There are numerous efforts across the United States to develop a properly skilled and trained national security workforce. Some of these efforts are the result of the leveraging of public and private dollars. As budget dollars decrease and the demand for a properly skilled and trained national security workforce increases, it will become even more important to leverage every education and training dollar. This report details some of the efforts that have been implemented to leverage public and private resources, as well as implementation strategies to further leverage public and private resources.