The field of statistics has long been noted for techniques to detect patterns and regularities in numerical data. In this article we explore connections between statistics and the emerging field of 'experimental mathematics'. These includes both applications of experimental mathematics in statistics, as well as statistical methods applied to computational mathematics.

This report, based on interviews and site visits conducted in October 1999, describes the start-up activities of the DART liquefied natural gas program, identifying problem areas, highlighting successes, and capturing the lessons learned in DART's ongoing efforts to remain at the forefront of the transit industry.

This Utility Program Overview describes how the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) utility program assists Federal energy managers. The document identifies both a utility financing mechanism and FEMP technical assistance available to support agencies' implementation of energy and water efficiency methods and renewable energy projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy is pursuing an aggressive goal to cut the cost of solar water-heating systems in half. Replacing metal and glass components with less expensive plastic ones is a key strategy for that goal. This is a short (2-page) fact sheet about new technologies for solar water heaters.

A geothermal heat pump (GHP) system has three major components: a ground loop (buried piping system), the heat pump itself (inside the house), and a heating and cooling distribution system. GHP's are efficient and require no backup heat because the earth stays at a relatively moderate temperature throughout the year.

Installing a ''solar wall'' to heat air before it enters a building, called solar ventilation preheating, is one of the most efficient ways of reducing energy costs using clean and renewable energy. A solar wall can be designed as an integral part of a new building or it can be added in a retrofit project.

Using the sun to heat domestic water makes sense in almost any climate. Solar water heaters typically provide 40 to 80{percent} of a building's annual water-heating needs. A solar water-heating system's performance depends primarily on the outdoor temperature, the temperature to which the water is heated, and the amount of sunlight striking the collector.

This Photovoltaic Program Five-Year Plan is being published today, January 1, 2000. This five-year plan provides a strategy for research and development to advance the technology.

One biopower initiative is to develop small modular biopower systems. This one-page fact sheet gives some specifics about the initiative.

Cofiring refers to the practice of introducing biomass as a partial substitute fuel in high-efficiency coal boilers. This is the nearest term low-cost option for the efficient conversion of biomass to electricity. Cofiring has been practiced, tested, and evaluated for a variety of boiler technologies.

This booklet describes authorized lending programs and loan guarantees provided by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and several Federal agencies, including DOE, that consumers and businesses can use to finance solar heat or electric systems and energy efficient mortgages.

This issue of Save with Solar highlights awards for federal renewable energy projects in FY 1998, the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, a special exhibition in New York City featuring solar technologies, PV systems working in Volcanoes National Park, and PV Super ESPC contracts.

In the fall of 1994, the UPS fleet in Landover, Maryland, began operating 20 vehicles on CNG. UPS selected CNG because natural gas is an abundant domestic resource that is available in almost every city in the US, and it also generally costs less than other fuels. The UPS project, funded by DOE through NREL and managed by TRI, was designed to test the feasibility of using CNG in a medium-duty pick-up and delivery fleet. This study is intended only to illustrate approaches that organizations could use in adopting AFVs into their fleets.

The current state of knowledge of the effect of plutonium on microorganisms and microbial activity is reviewed, and also the microbial processes affecting its mobilization and immobilization. The dissolution of plutonium is predominantly due to their production of extracellular metabolic products, organic acids, such as citric acid, and sequestering agents, such as siderophores. Plutonium may be immobilized by the indirect actions of microorganisms resulting in changes in Eh and its reduction from a higher to lower oxidation state, with the precipitation of Pu, its bioaccumulation by biomass, and bioprecipitation reactions. In addition, the abundance of microorganisms in Pu-contaminated soils, wastes, natural analog sites, and backfill materials that will be used for isolating the waste and role of microbes as biocolloids in the transport of Pu is discussed.

As 3D volumetric images of the human body become an increasingly crucial source of information for the diagnosis and treatment of a broad variety of medical conditions, advanced techniques that allow clinicians to efficiently and clearly visualize volumetric images become increasingly important. Interaction has proven to be a key concept in analysis of medical images because static images of 3D data are prone to artifacts and misunderstanding of depth. Furthermore, fading out clinically irrelevant aspects of the image while preserving contextual anatomical landmarks helps medical doctors to focus on important parts of the images without becoming disoriented. Our goal was to develop a tool that unifies interactive manipulation and context preserving visualization of medical images with a special focus on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. At each image voxel, DTI provides a 3 x 3 tensor whose entries represent the 3D statistical properties of water diffusion locally. Water motion that is preferential to specific spatial directions suggests structural organization of the underlying biological tissue; in particular, in the human brain, the naturally occuring diffusion of water in the axon portion of neurons is predominantly anisotropic along the longitudinal direction of the elongated, fiber-like axons [MMM+02]. This property has made DTI …

This fact sheet discusses how an air-source heat pump can heat and cool a home, as well how to select, install, operate, and maintain one.

Many people buy or use air conditioners without understanding their designs, components, and operating principles. Proper sizing, selection, installation, maintenance, and correct use are keys to cost-effective operation and lower overall costs. This publication discusses both central and room air conditioners. Heat pumps, which provide both home cooling and heating, are not covered in this publication. Contact www.eren.doe.gov/consumerinfo for more information.

This fact sheet briefly describes each of the 10 winners of the Clean Cities National Partner Awards.

A summary of the EPAct program as a whole, including fleet information and regulations.

Just imagine living in Florida and your fantasies might turn to swaying palms, fresh orange juice and lots of air-conditioning. For most people, a summer spent in Florida's heat and humidity would be unbearable without it. So air-conditioning is a necessity. But it's also a big energy drain, accounting for about 35% of all electricity used in a typical Florida house. As the largest single source of energy consumption in Florida, a home's air-conditioning load represents the biggest energy challenge. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) designed a project to answer this challenge. Two homes were built with the same floor plan on near-by lots. The difference was that one (the ''control home'') conformed to local residential building practices, and the other (the ''Zero Energy home'') was designed with energy efficiency in mind and solar technology systems on the roof. The homes were then monitored carefully for energy use. The project's designers were looking to answer two important questions: Could a home in a climate such as central Florida's be engineered and built so efficiently that a relatively small PV system would serve the majority of its cooling needs--and even some of its daytime electrical needs? And, would that home …

In this overview, the goals that were met in FY 1998 are highlighted along with progress that was made toward long-term goals for research, technology development, and applications. The manufacture, sale, and use of photovoltaic (PV) devices to generate electricity directly from sunlight has become a billion-dollar industry worldwide. The production capacity for PV modules in the US had doubled between 1993 and 1997. While continuing research to improve technology, one must work with industry to move this technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.

NREL PV Working With Industry is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the research, development, and deployment performed by NREL staff in concert with their industry and university partners. The Third Quarter, 1999 issue focuses on planning activities of the National Center for Photovoltaics (NCPV), including the PV Industry 20-Year Roadmap and the National Photovoltaics Program Plan. The editorialist is Allen Barnett, president of AstroPower, Inc., and a member of the NCPV Advisory Board.

The report discusses the perspectives on the evolving U.S. electricity future, the renewable electric technology portfolio, the regional outlook, and the opportunities to move forward. Renewables are at a critical juncture as the domestic electricity marketplace moves toward an era of increased choice and greater diversity. The cost and performance of these technologies have improved dramatically over the past decade, yet their market penetration has stalled as the power industry grapples with the implications of the emerging competitive marketplace. Renewable energy technologies already contribute to the global energy mix and are ready to make an even greater contribution in the future. However, the renewables industry faces critical market uncertainties, both domestically and internationally, as policy commitments to renewables at both the federal and state levels are being reshaped to match the emerging competitive marketplace. The energy decisions that we make, or fail to make, today will have long-lasting implications. We can act now to ensure that renewable energy will play a major role in meeting the challenges of the evolving energy future. We have the power to choose.

This issue of Alternative Fuel News highlights the accomplishments of the Clean Cities coalitions during the past 5 years. Now Clean Cities advocates in city after city across the US are building stations and driving alternative fuel vehicles, in addition to enhancing public awareness.