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Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman today named eight winners of the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award. The Lawrence Award honors scientists and engineers at mid-career for exceptional contributions in research and development that support the Department of Energy and its mission to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States. The award consists of a gold medal, a citation and an honorarium of $50,000.

The United States and Japan enjoy strong energy cooperation through the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Working Group, the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP), and the International Energy Forum.

The DOE's Office of Science has awarded 45 projects a total of 95 million hours of computing time on some of the world's most powerful supercomputers. Research areas to be addressed include accelerator physics, astrophysics, chemical sciences, climate research, computer science, engineering physics, environmental science, fusion energy, life sciences, materials science, nuclear physics and nuclear engineering.

Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Under Secretary for Science of the US Department of Energy, today joined counterparts from China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation to sign an agreement to build the international fusion energy project known as "ITER." ITER's mission is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of clean fusion energy. ITER will be constructed at Cadarache, France, and is expected to be completed in 2015.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide to help consumers make well-informed choices when purchasing new vehicles.

The Department of Energy announced awards for 30 computational science projects. The projects are aimed at accelerating research in designing new materials, developing future energy sources, studying global climate change, improving environmental cleanup methods and understanding physics from the tiniest particles to the massive explosions of supernovae. The projects bring together some of the nation's top researchers to create the software and infrastructure needed to help scientists effectively utilize the next generation of supercomputers.

The U.S. Department of Energy will spend $250 million to establish and operate two new Bioenergy Research Centers to accelerate basic research on the development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. Universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations and private firms are eligible to compete for an award to establish and operate a center. The centers' mission will be to conduct systems biology research on microbes and plants.

The Department of Energy today released an ambitious new research agenda for the development of cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. The scientific "roadmap" cites recent advances in biotechnology that have made cost-effective production of ethanol from cellulose an attainable goal. The report outlines a detailed research plan for developing new technologies to transform cellulosic ethanol -- a renewable, cleaner-burning, and carbon-neutral alternative to gasoline -- into an economically viable transportation fuel.

The US Department of Engergy's Office of Science has awarded a total of 18.2 million hours of computing time on some of the world's most powerful supercomputers to help researchers in government labs, universities, and industry working on projects ranging from designing more efficient engines to better understanding Parkinson's disease.

The US Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is placing a new, portable atmospheric laboratory with sophisticated instruments and data systems in Niger, Africa, to gain a better understanding of the potential impacts of Saharan dust on global climate.