U.S. Department of Energy Research News

Public Release: 15-May-2013
The DOE Joint Genome Institute expands capabilities via new partnerships
Positioning itself to provide the most current technology and expertise to their users in order to address pressing energy and environmental scientific challenges, the DOE Joint Genome Institute announces six projects with which to launch the Emerging Technologies Opportunity Program. These new partnerships span the development of new scalable DNA synthesis technologies to the latest approaches to high throughput sequencing and characterization of single microbial cells from complex environmental samples.

DOE Office of Science

Public Release: 14-May-2013
Saudi Arabia looks to NREL for solar monitoring expertise
Saudi Arabia is planning to move aggressively into renewable energy, with plans to install more solar and wind power in the next 20 years than the rest of the world has installed to date. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is working with the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory for training and expertise in measuring its solar resource.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Biotechnology for Biofuels
New advance in biofuel production
Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers have developed an enzyme-free ionic liquid pretreatment of cellulosic biomass that makes it easier to recover fermentable sugars for biofuels and to recycle the ionic liquid.

US Department of Energy Office of Science

Public Release: 8-May-2013

Nature
Researchers find a way to make steel without greenhouse-gas emissions
Steelmaking, a major emitter of climate-altering gases, could be transformed by a new process developed at MIT.

American Iron and Steel Institute, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 7-May-2013
NREL quantifies significant value in concentrating solar power
Researchers from the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory have quantified the significant value that concentrating solar power plants can add to an electric grid.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 7-May-2013

Energy & Environmental Science
Combining strategies speeds the work of enzymes
Enzymes could break down cell walls faster -- leading to less expensive biofuels for transportation -- if two enzyme systems are brought together in an industrial setting, new research by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggests.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 7-May-2013
NREL staff recognized for breakthrough technologies
The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently recognized the professionals behind the lab's greatest innovations from the past year during its Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer Awards.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 6-May-2013
May 2013 story tips from Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The following are story ideas from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory for May 2013.

Public Release: 5-May-2013

Nature Methods
A new cost-effective genome assembly process
Genome assembly, the molecular equivalent of trying to put together a multi-million piece jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the picture on the cover of the box is, remains challenging due to the very large number of very small pieces, which must be assembled using current approaches. As reported May 5 online in the journal Nature Methods, a collaboration involving DOE JGI researchers has resulted in an improved and fully automated workflow for genome assembly.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 29-Apr-2013

Nature Methods
Comparing proteins at a glance
A revolutionary X-ray analytical technique enables researchers at a glance to identify structural similarities and differences between multiple proteins under a variety of conditions and has already been used to gain valuable new insight into a prime protein target for cancer chemotherapy.

US Department of Energy Office of Science, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 26-Apr-2013
Changing cellulose-forming process may tap plants' biofuel potential
Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013

Metallomics
Strengthening legumes to tackle fertilizer pollution
An international team of scientists create the first model of legume iron transportation aimed at maximizing nitrogen fixation, even in poor soil.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 23-Apr-2013
Fertilizer that fizzles in a homemade bomb could save lives around the world
A Sandia engineer who trained US soldiers to avoid improvised explosive devices has developed a fertilizer that helps plants grow but can't detonate a bomb.

Public Release: 19-Apr-2013

Global Change Biology
Nitrogen has key role in estimating CO2 emissions from land use change
A new global-scale modeling study that takes into account nitrogen -- a key nutrient for plants -- estimates that carbon emissions from human activities on land were 40 percent higher in the 1990s than in studies that did not account for nitrogen. Plant regrowth -- and therefore carbon assimilation by plants -- is limited by nitrogen availability, causing other studies to overestimate regrowth and underestimate net emissions from the harvest-regrowth cycle.

NASA, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 16-Apr-2013
NREL survey shows dramatic improvement in B100 biodiesel quality
The latest national survey of 100 percent biodiesel "blend stock" samples by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that 95% of the samples from 2011-12 met ASTM International fuel quality specifications. The ASTM standards serve as guidelines for industry and are designed to ensure quality at the pump for consumers -- along with reliable operation of the nation's vehicles powered by biodiesel blends.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 15-Apr-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Plant protein puzzle solved
Researchers from North Carolina State University believe they have solved a puzzle that has long vexed science. The researchers provide the first three-dimensional model of an enzyme that links a simple sugar, glucose, into long-chain cellulose, the basic building block within plant cell walls that gives plants structure. Cellulose is nature's most abundant renewable biomaterial and an important resource for production of biofuels that represent alternatives to fossil fuels.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 15-Apr-2013
UNC Charlotte researcher leads effort to forecast optimal energy investments
A Department of Energy SunShot award will fund a team that will use modeling based on the principles of ecological dynamics to forecast optimal investments for the array of solar energy technologies that are emerging.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 14-Apr-2013

Nature Climate Change
Cutting specific pollutants would slow sea level rise
With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of certain pollutants can greatly slow down sea level rise. Reductions in the four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent.

National Science Foundation, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 11-Apr-2013

Science
Tiny wireless device shines light on mouse brain, generating reward
Using a miniature electronic device implanted in the brain, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have tapped into the internal reward system of mice, prodding neurons to release dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure. The scientists report their findings in the journal Science.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 11-Apr-2013

Science
Researchers measure reaction rates of second key atmospheric component
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility, the University of Manchester, Bristol University, University of Southampton and Hong Kong Polytechnic have successfully measured reaction rates of a second Criegee intermediate, CH3CHOO, and proven that the reactivity of the atmospheric chemical depends strongly on which way the molecule is twisted.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 11-Apr-2013

Science
A bright idea: Tiny injectable LEDs help neuroscientists study the brain
A new class of tiny, injectable LEDs is illuminating the deep mysteries of the brain. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis developed ultrathin, flexible optoelectronic devices -- including LEDs the size of individual neurons -- that are lighting the way for neuroscientists in the field of optogenetics, a new area of neuroscience that uses light to stimulate targeted neural pathways in the brain.

National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-Apr-2013
NREL employees lauded by industry peers
Employees of the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory were recently recognized by industry peers for their work in grid integration, industry advancement and electrochemistry. NREL was also named an Outstanding Large Company by IEEE.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-Apr-2013
NREL launches initiative to build solar performance database
The US Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory has launched an initiative to build an open-source database of real-world performance from solar facilities across the country. As part of DOE's SunShot Initiative, the Open Solar Performance and Reliability Clearinghouse will give the private market tools to develop investment vehicles to tap low-cost public capital.

US Department of Energy

Public Release: 9-Apr-2013
Better monitoring and diagnostics tackle algae biofuel pond crash problem
Sandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to help the emerging algae industry detect and quickly recover from algal pond crashes, an obstacle to large-scale algae cultivation for future biofuels. The research, which focuses on monitoring and diagnosing algal pond health, draws upon Sandia's longstanding expertise in microfluidics technology, its strong bioscience research program and significant internal investments.

Public Release: 7-Apr-2013

Nature Chemical Biology
Sweet success
Using an ultrahigh-precision microscopy technique, Berkeley Lab researchers have uncovered a way to improve the collective catalytic activity of enzyme cocktails on cellulosic biomass, boosting the yields of sugars for the production of advanced biofuels.

Energy Biosciences Institute