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Biannual newsletter for the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities initiative. The newsletter includes feature stories on advanced vehicle deployment, idle reduction, and articles on Clean Cities coalition successes across the country.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has a long history of developing high power lasers for use in basic science and applications. The Laser Science and Technology Program (LS&T) at LLNL supports advanced lasers and optics development both for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) as well as for high power lasers and optics technology for a broader range of government, military and industrial applications. The NIF laser is currently under construction with the first of the 192 beamlines being activated. When finished NIF will have an output energy of 2 MJ at 351 nm. This system will be used for studies of high energy density physics, equation of state and inertial confinement fusion. It is now generally acknowledged that the future of laser missile defense lies with solid state lasers. The leading laser technology for theater missile defense is under development within the LS&T and funded by the US Army SMDC. This high average power technology is based on a solid state laser operated in a heat capacity mode. In the concept the heat producing lasing cycle is separated in time from the cooling cycle thus reducing thermal gradients and allowing significantly greater average output power. Under the current program,more » an LLNL developed laser has achieved a record setting 13 kW of average power in 20 second duration bursts. We have also performed target lethality experiments showing a previously unrecognized advantage of a pulsed laser format. The LLNL work is now focused on achieving improved output beam quality and in developing a 100 kW output with diode pumping of a large aperture crystal gain medium on a compact mobile platform. The Short Pulse Laser Group of LS&T has been developing high power short pulse laser systems for a number of applications. Of great importance is petawatt (10{sup 12} Watt) and greater power output to support experiments on the NIF. We are developing a system of 5 M class output and 5 to 10 ps pulse duration for generating intense radiation for radiography, particle beam generation and eventually for a new class of fusion experiments call fast ignition. We have also built a record setting 50 watts of average output from a picosecond class laser and are using this technology for materials processing such as fine hole drilling and safe cutting of munitions. The laser science and technology program has developed and deployed a laser guide star on the Lick telescope on Mt. Hamilton and most recently on the Keck telescope in Hawaii. Our current development work in this area is focused on developing a much more compact all solid state diode pumped laser fiber system. Finally in a program originally initiated by DARPA we have developed a phase conjugated Nd:glass laser system with record setting performance and successfully deployed it for Navy and Air Force satellite imaging applications and have more recently successfully transferred it to industry for use in an emerging technology called laser peening. This laser technology is capable of 25 J to 100 J per pulse, 10 ns to 1000 ns pulse duration, 5 Hz laser. The technology has been industrially deployed and is proving to be highly effective in generating high intensity shocks that induce compressive residual stress into metal components. The compressive stress retards fatigue and stress corrosion cracking and is proving to extend the lifetime of high value components by factors of ten. This processing adds lifetime, enhances safety and can improve performance of aircraft systems. Laser peening is now being evaluated to reduce the weight of aircraft and may play a major role in the future combat system and its air transport by enabling lighter craft, longer range and greater payload. The laser peening technology is also being moved forward in NRC license application as the means to eliminate stress corrosion cracking for Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal canisters as well as a broad range of other applications.« less

Analyzing the future fuel economy of light-duty vehicles (LDVs) requires detailed knowledge of the vehicle technologies available to improve LDV fuel economy. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been relying on technology data from a 2001 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study (NAS 2001) on corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, but the technology parameters were updated in the new proposed rulemaking (EPA and NHTSA 2009) to set CAFE and greenhouse gas standards for the 2011 to 2016 period. The update is based largely on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of technology attributes augmented by NHTSA data and contractor staff assessments. These technology cost and performance data were documented in the Draft Joint Technical Support Document (TSD) issued by EPA and NHTSA in September 2009 (EPA/NHTSA 2009). For these tasks, the Energy and Environmental Analysis (EEA) division of ICF International (ICF) examined each technology and technology package in the Draft TSD and assessed their costs and performance potential based on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program assessments. ICF also assessed the technologies? other relevant attributes based on data from actual production vehicles and from recently published technical articles in engineering journals. ICF examined technology synergy issues throughmore » an ICF in-house model that uses a discrete parameter approach.« less

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies (REACT) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses the development of composite materials made of iron and manganese as part of the "Rare-Earth-Free Permanent Magnets for Electric Vehicle Motors and Wind Turbine Generators: Hexagonal Symmetry Based Materials Systems Mn-Bi and M-type Hexaferrite" project.

Among the several major issues that Congress addressed in the process of reauthorizing the Clean Air Act was the future role of alternative highway transportation fuels in reducing urban smog. As vehicular emissions control efficiencies rose past 90 percent, attention turned to the idea that some alternatives to gasoline have combustion and/or other physical and chemical properties that might allow the achievement of ultra-low emissions levels. The fuels of interest include methanol (wood alcohol), ethanol (grain alcohol), natural gas, electricity, and hydrogen. In this report, which is part of Office of Technology Assessment's (OTA's) ongoing assessment of "Technological Risks and Opportunities in Future U.S. Energy Supply and Demand," OTA gives a broad overview of the qualities of the competing fuels and examines in depth some of the most contentious issues associated with the wisdom of active Federal support for introducing the fuels. Areas of uncertainty that affect the debate on Federal support include fuel cost (including costs of building new infrastructure and modifying vehicles); the air quality effects of the new fuels; effects on energy security; other environmental impacts of the fuels; and consumer acceptance of the changes in vehicle performance, refueling procedures, costs, and other facets of the transportation system that would follow a large-scale introduction of any of the fuels. The report singles out for special examination the arguments concerning the costs, energy security implications, and air quality impacts of introducing methanol fuels into the fleet. However, the other fuels have similar levels of uncertainty and contentiousness. PB91-104901;146p. in various pagings

Future industry scenarios for energy consumption in the marine transport industry are projected and the energy savings potential of the research and development program identified in Task III (Efficiency Improvements) against these scenarios is evaluated. The introduction is contained in Chapter I. In Chapter II, the operational, regulatory, and vessel size scenarios for the year 2000 are developed. In Chapter III, future cargo flows and expected levels of energy use for the baseline 2000 projection are determined. In Chapter IV, the research and development programs are introduced into the future US flag fleet and the energy savings potential associated with each is determined. (MCW)

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies (REACT) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses a new type of magnet for power generators and motors as part of the "Discovery & Design of Novel Permanent Magnets using Non-strategic Elements having Secure Supply Chains" project.

This report is a compilation of data and forecasts resulting from an analysis of the coal market and the factors influencing supply and demand. The analyses performed for the forecasts were made on an end-use-sector basis. The sectors analyzed are electric utility, industry demand for steam coal, industry demand for metallurgical coal, residential/commercial, coal demand for synfuel production, and exports. The purpose is to provide coal production and consumption forecasts that can be used to perform detailed, railroad company-specific coal transportation analyses. To make the data applicable for the subsequent transportation analyses, the forecasts have been made for each end-use sector on a regional basis. The supply regions are: Appalachia, East Interior, West Interior and Gulf, Northern Great Plains, and Mountain. The demand regions are the same as the nine Census Bureau regions. Coal production and consumption in the United States are projected to increase dramatically in the next 20 years due to increasing requirements for energy and the unavailability of other sources of energy to supply a substantial portion of this increase. Coal comprises 85 percent of the US recoverable fossil energy reserves and could be mined to supply the increasing energy demands of the US. The NTPSC study found that the additional traffic demands by 1985 may be met by the railways by the way of improved signalization, shorter block sections, centralized traffic control, and other modernization methods without providing for heavy line capacity works. But by 2000 the incremental traffic on some of the major corridors was projected to increase very significantly and is likely to call for special line capacity works involving heavy investment.

Highlights opportunities using GPS travel survey techniques and systems simulation tools for plug-in hybrid vehicle design improvements, which maximize the benefits of energy efficiency technologies.

The technical status report covering the period April 24 through June 3, 1978 dealing with the study on potential for conserving energy by shifting some shipments of manufactured products from motor trucking to railroads is presented. The work activities for the period comprise eight subtasks, consisting of the identification of shippers relevent to the study, three rounds of interviews and analysis, preparation of interim and final reports, and discussions with railroads. Some transport data on 24 commodities are tabulated in an Appendix, Analysis of the Energy Savings Implications of Shifts in Shippers' Modal Choice from Truck to Rail Freight Services.