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The Department of Energy has entered into an agreement with the Department of Defense to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies while enhancing national energy security. A Memorandum of Understanding between the agencies now covers energy efficiency and renewable energy. It calls for their collaboration on the use of alternative fuels, efficient transportation technologies and fueling infrastructure, grid security, use of the smart grid, energy storage, basic science research, and mobile/deployable power sources. It builds on existing cooperation between the Departments, and will broaden collaboration on clean energy technology research, development, and demonstration. The Defense Department aims to speed up the transfer of innovative energy and conservation technologies from the lab to use in the field. To that end, military installations are used as testing sites before such energy technologies are actually brought to the marketplace.
A new public website has been launched by the Department of Energy designed to promote a better understanding of gasification technology - an increasingly popular alternative to converting feedstocks like coal and biomass into useful products such as electricity or fuels. Officials say gasification is anticipated to be the technology of choice for future near zero-emissions, coal-based plants that produce power, fuels, and chemicals. The process uses heat, pressure, and steam to convert ANY carbon-based raw material into synthesized gas, which can then be refined into pure hydrogen, transformed into liquid transportation fuels, or used to create electricity. The website - dubbed Gasifipedia - contains both introductory and in-depth information. You\'ll find the new Gasifipedia through the department\'s Energy Lab website at www.netl.doe.gov.
The Department of Energy and Natural Resources Canada will spend a total of $5.2 million dollars to bring a benchmark carbon dioxide injection project to a successful conclusion next year. The two governments will renew funding for the a CO2 Monitoring and Storage project. Under the project, carbon dioxide taken from a Gasification synfuels plant in North Dakota is delivered - via a 200-mile pipeline - to Canadian oil fields where the gas is injected roughly five-thousand feet underground. The gas forces oil into wells where it can be harvested, nearly tripling oil production. The project reduces greenhouse gas emissions while also demonstrating clean energy innovation. A projected total of 40 million tons of CO2 will be stored - and over 200 million additional barrels of oil are expected to be recovered - through the project by the year 2035.
DOE raises concern over safety of electric grid
August 11th at 11:05am The DoD GIG IA Portfolio Management Office (GIAP) has learned through experience that mission critical networks are contested, violated, infiltrated and penetrated, leading to significant risks to US interests. The U.S. critical infrastructure has evolved from a ‘network enabled\' position to one that is now ‘network dependent.\' No aspect of the national critical infrastructure operates without extensive use of information technology, and it is this very fact that makes our networks such a high priority target for adversaries. The need for secure, self-aware, proactively managed defense mechanisms has never been more critical. Commercially available technologies, when combined with research and development done by both the government and the private sector, represent the best possible approach for combating the types of threats our critical infrastructure is facing today.
What\'s white and green and efficient all over? DOE hopes it\'s your roof.
In the government, it\'s said that nothing has more endurance, or lasts longer than a document stamped \"top secret\". A presidential advisory panel tasked with developing a newly streamlined classification and declassification system for the government wrestled with one proposal to get rid of one existing category all together.
New battery materials developed by the Department of Energy\'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and a Maryland company could enable electric vehicles, power tools and even cell phones to recharge in minutes rather than hours. In collaboration with a Princeton University researcher, the Lab has demonstrated that small quantities of graphene - an ultra-thin sheet of carbon atoms - can dramatically improve the power and stability of lithium-ion batteries, while maintaining high energy storage capacity. The pioneering work could lead to the development of batteries that store larger amounts of energy and recharge quickly. Today, a typical cell phone battery takes between two and five hours to fully recharge. Researchers think using new battery materials with graphene could cut recharge time to less than 10 minutes.
The University of California San Diego along with General Atomics are about to begin work on developing a new kind of flow battery technology that pumps chemicals through a battery cell when electricity is needed. The development of the battery would revolutionize current century-old lead-acid battery technology - creating low cost, high efficiency and reliability needed for use on the smart electrical power grid. This project is receiving $2 million dollars in funding through the U.S. Department of Energy and APRA-E, the Advanced Project Research Agency devoted to Energy research. The goal is the production of a battery that can be scaled for grid-scale energy storage but which costs less and performs far longer than current technologies.
A Milwaukee-based company is about to begin research on an alternative form of refrigeration for cooling buildings, under a $2-point-nine million dollar energy research grant funded through the federal stimulus package. Using a solid state cooling technology, the privately held Astronautics Corporation of America will research a type of magnetic refrigeration that does not rely on a liquid-based refrigerant. Energy Department officials say, if successful, the breakthrough system could achieve significant energy efficiency, greatly reducing system operating costs compared to conventional compression systems, in addition to producing zero greenhouse gases. In all, $30 million dollars in grant money is being given to 17 different projects around the country that focus on a variety of novel approaches to air-conditioning.
Learn more about the DOE\'s efforts to regulate luxury showerheads
We continue our Sammies Tracker series, speaking to finalists in this year\'s Service to America Medals from the Partnership for Public Service
Smart USA, which recently debuted its smart for two electric vehicle or EV , will deploy a fleet of 250 of them across the U.S. in October. The company says it will target key cities leading in electrification and Department of Energy grant areas, but it hasn\'t yet released its list of cities. Smart USA is looking for partnerships and is targeting companies, municipalities, organizations, and individuals interested in making a statement on conservation and environmental awareness. The Electric Vehicles are powered by a 30 kilowatt drive motor and a 16.5 kilowatt/hour lithium ion battery; can be fully recharged in about eight hours with a 220 volt outlet. The vehicles can reach highway speeds of 60 miles an hour and offer a range of 82 miles on a single charge.