Secretary Chu Testimony To Senate Energy And Water Development Subcommittee

(DOE, April 28, 2010) Washington, DC — Secretary Steven Chu testified today before the Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development on current energy policies and future energy goals.  His opening statement is as follows:  Chairman Dorgan, Ranking Member Bennett, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss our nation’s energy policy.  We are driven to change our energy habits by several serious challenges.  America is highly dependent on oil.  Our climate is changing as a result of our carbon emissions.  In order to mitigate the considerable risks of climate change, the world must transition to a sustainable energy future, which will require nothing short of a new industrial revolution.  America’s future jobs and prosperity may well depend on whether we lead or follow in this transformation.  The leaders in China now recognize that if the world continues on its current path, climate change will be devastating to China and to the rest of the world.  Click here to read more…

Rival Ethanol Trade Groups Campaigning To Woo Senators, Clobber Each Other

By Anne C. Mulkern

(New York Times, April 13, 2010) Two rival trade groups seeking congressional help for the ethanol industry launched advertising yesterday to promote themselves and bash one another.  Growth Energy Inc., which represents U.S.-based corn ethanol producers, seeks to maintain supremacy at home, while the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, or UNICA, wants to tear down corn ethanol’s benefits in order to grab a larger share of the U.S. market.  The campaigns’ same-day launch was coincidental, the groups said. The lobbying efforts likely are eyeing the same legislative target, one analyst said.  “Senator Kerry is now saying that they’re going to have an energy bill in the next three weeks,” said Ken Green, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, referring to the climate bill that Kerry is crafting along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).  Click here to read more…

CU-Boulder Gets $15M From Stimulus For Caruthers Biotech Building

By Mark Harden

(Denver Business Journal, April 27, 2010) The University of Colorado at Boulder has received another large contribution toward construction of the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building on the university’s East Campus — this one from the federal stimulus initiative.  The university announced the $15 million grant Tuesday. The funds are distributed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  It is the latest of several large donations and grants in recent years for the research and teaching facility, whose construction began last September.  The 266,400-square-foot Caruthers building is going up on CU-Boulder’s east campus, at Colorado Avenue and the Foothills Parkway. It will house the university’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, the department of chemical and biological engineering, and the biochemistry division of the department of chemistry and biochemistry.  Click here to read more…

DOT Solicitations – April 2010

Support Services for the TFHRC Hydraulics Laboratory – The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a requirement for engineering and technical support services for the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Laboratory (the Laboratory) at Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.  The contract involves support for the FHWA Hydraulics Research Program in the following areas: 1) Developing intelligent remote sensing systems and rapid deployment sensing systems to capture hydraulic/aerodynamic parameters during storm events; 2) Working in five areas to improve durability: smart, resilient, durable countermeasure materials; hydrodynamic bridge systems to resist flooding, overtopping, scour, surge and wave damage; analytical and modeling capabilities for assessing countermeasures; scour analysis capabilities & countermeasures; multi-hazard (Flood/Seismic/Wind) modeling; multi-hazard experimental work, in and with, FHWA Structures and FHWA Aerodynamics Laboratories; 3) Developing retrofits/designs that facilitate fish/wildlife passage through hydraulic structures; tracking tools for climate-change impacts (e.g. Flooding); and, examining alternative energy generation/transmission concepts; and, 4)Development of intelligent piers/abutments/bridge deck shapes using biomimetic concepts (smart materials) with scour countermeasures for shallow foundations. Read more

The Fab 40 Who Paved The Way For A Green Revolution

By Michael Kanellos

(CBS News, April 26, 2010) When and where did green technology begin? It depends on your frame of reference. Some point to the invention of silicon PV cells at Bell Labs in 1954. Others note that car makers produced hybrids and electric cars in the early part of the 20th century. But you can go even further back: Egyptian architecture took advantage of passive cooling, a technique now making a comeback in modern design. Roman emperors had snow hauled to the palace in Rome, a first-century precursor of thermal mass cooling and storage, a concept now touted by Calmac and Ice Energy.  For the 40th anniversary of Earth Day last week, we’d like to salute 40 pioneers who helped crack thorny scientific problems, devise new business models, or come up with policies that paved the way for the world to adopt renewable energy and/or use our planetary resources more wisely.  Click here to read more…

DARPA Solicitations – April 2010

Microscale Rate Integrating Gyroscope (MRIG) – DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of microscale inertial sensors, specifically in area of vibratory Microscale Rate Integrating Gyroscopes (MRIG). The MRIG program seeks to develop technology needed to measure rotation over a wide range of dynamic conditions; that is, to operate interchangeably between low-rate and high-rate angular motion while preserving the precision of detection. Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, manufacturing, devices, or systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.  DARPA seeks innovative proposals in the following Areas of Interest: 1) Development of precision microfabrication technology utilizing high-Q materials; 2) Development of wafer-level balancing and trimming techniques to reduce the effects of aniso-inertia (mass misbalance) and aniso-compliance (stiffness misbalance); 3) Development of control and readout functions for MRIG operation; 4) Integration of functions and demonstration of MRIG operation.  Read more

Air Force Solicitations – April 2010

Reusable Booster Risk Reduction Industry Day – The Air Force has identified the Reusable Booster System (RBS) concept as a promising approach to meet its future spacelift needs. The Government recognizes there are areas requiring further research and development and desires to explore the design space and practical mitigations associated with these areas. The Air Force intends to perform RBS Risk Reduction Studies to explore the design space and practical mitigations associated with these areas.  An industry day for this call will be held on May 11, 2010. An overview briefing will be held in the Gordon Conference Center, Los Angeles AFB, CA. One-on-one sessions will be available with the RBS Risk Reduction Study Program team on the May 12, 2010. Pre-registration is required to attend the industry day events no later than April 29, 2010.  Read more

IARPA Solicitations – April 2010

Quantum Computer Science (QCS) Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) – The QCS Program’s goal is to accurately estimate and significantly reduce the computational resources required to implement quantum algorithms on a realistic quantum computer.  In order to implement a high-level quantum algorithm in a given physical technology, one must first know the model of quantum computation that the technology supports. For this BAA we are interested in the quantum circuit model, in which computations are expressed as sequences of logical gates acting on two-level quantum systems, or “qubits”. Given the model and an algorithm instance, we wish to determine how many quantum resources (e.g., qubits and gate operations) are required.  Proposal Due Date: June 10, 2010.  The QCS Program will be divided into two research areas: 1) Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation and Quantum Control – focuses on developing and improving fault-tolerant quantum computation protocols and quantum control protocols, and 2) Resource Estimation and Software Toolbox Development – seeks to develop new protocols that: a) significantly reduce resource overhead without decreasing the error threshold, and b) significantly increase fault-tolerant error thresholds without increasing overhead.  Read more

Next Page »