DOE Recovery Act Solicitation

Recovery Act-Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E)– ARPA-E is a new organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), created specifically to foster research and development (R D) of transformational energy-related technologies. Transformational technologies are by definition technologies that disrupt the status quo. They are not merely better than current technologies, they are significantly better. This FOA supports the Nation’s need for transformational energy-related technologies to overcome the threats posed by climate change and energy security, arising from its reliance on traditional uses of fossil fuels and the dominant use of oil in transportation. Read more

DOE Renewable Energy from Contaminated Lands

A summary of points of interest from the DoE webcast on renewable energy from brownfields. The main takeaway is that the brownfield remediation funding provided by ARRA will be administered by the EPA and likely used for applications already received.  Individual states, however, might choose to pursue brownfield remediations in conjunction with renewable energy production using DoE State Energy Program funds provided by ARRA. Read more

Obama Promises Major Investment in Scientific Research and Development

By Randolph E. Schmid

(Yahoo Finance April 27, 2009) Washington — President Barack Obama promised a new era of science and technology for the nation, telling the National Academy of Sciences on Monday that he wants to devote more funds to research and development. America has fallen behind other countries in science, Obama said. “I believe it is not in our character, American character, to follow — but to lead. Read more

Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) Awards

(DOE, April 27, 2009) The White House today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science will invest $777 million in Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) over the next five years.  In a major effort to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to build a new 21st-century energy economy, 46 new multi-million-dollar EFRCs will be established at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms across the nation (White House Fact Sheet).   Read more

The Greening of Toronto

(New York Times, April 16, 2009) After a high-level debate about the virtues of green roofs, the Toronto city council has found itself confronting a gritty political dilemma. What works better – the carrot of financial incentives or the stick of regulation? Typically, local or state governments opt for the former, providing grants and tax abatements to building owners who install green roofs, which proponents say improve insulation and roof life, absorb greenhouse gases and mitigate the urban heat island effect. Chicago officials often tout the fact that the city leads all other North American cities with more than 1 million square feet of installed green roofs in more than 250 locations. Read more

Eyewear Provides Distinct Advantage

By Anne Eisenberg

(New York Times, April 25, 2009) Earbuds can pipe audio directly from a portable player to the ear. But did you ever imagine that eyeglasses or contact lenses could deliver digital images directly from a smartphone to the retina? Several companies are developing prototypes for digital devices that look like stylish eyewear but may one day offer such capabilities to consumers. Read more

Digital Storage Breakthrough

By Steve Lohr

(New York Times, April 26, 2009) General Electric says it has achieved a breakthrough in digital storage technology that will allow standard-size discs to hold the equivalent of 100 DVDs. The storage advance, which G.E. is announcing on Monday, is just a laboratory success at this stage. The new technology must be made to work in products that can be mass-produced at affordable prices. Read more

U.S. Losing Ground in Patents

Innovation is coming from abroad these days, and foreign applications are coming faster and faster

By Michael Arndt

(Business Week, April 22, 2009) When it comes to U.S. patents, America is no longer No.1. Last year, for the first time, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued more patents to foreigners than to Americans. And the rest of the world is expected to widen its lead over the U.S. as manufacturing and research and development continue to migrate to emerging markets. Read more

What If You Could Move Objects With Your Mind? Well, That Time Has Come.

By Joel Garreau

(Washington Post, April 23, 2009) You slip the wireless headset on. It looks like something a telemarketer would wear, except the earpieces are actually sensors, and what looks like a microphone is a brain wave detector. You place its tip against your forehead, above your left eyebrow A few feet away is a ping-pong ball in a clear tube called the Force Trainer. The idea is to use your thoughts alone, as recognized by the wand on your forehead, to lift the ball. Your brain’s electrical activity is translated into a signal understood by a little computer that controls a fan that blows the ball up the tube. Levitates it. As if by magic. It’s mind over matter. Read more

The Future of Automobiles?

By Matthew DeBord

(Washington Post, April 26, 2009) The big automakers are supposed to be in the business of telling us what we’ll all be driving for the next 50 years, but they’ve had their (greatly diminished) thunder stolen over the past few weeks by radically new visions of how we’ll be getting from A to B. A few weeks ago, Silicon Valley-based start-up Tesla Motors finally yanked the cover off its much-anticipated Model S, an all-electric sedan that will, after tax credits, sell for just under $50,000. Earlier, India’s Tata Motors, part of one of the largest manufacturing entities in the world, officially launched its Nano “People’s Car,” which will go for $2,000, making it the planet’s cheapest ride. Read more

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