February 3, 2011: President Obama and Secretary Chu tour the Energy Innovation Hub at the Engineering Labs at Penn State University, and the President announces the Better Buildings Initiative.

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January 1, 2011
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) releases the second U.S.-Canada Clean Energy Dialogue (CED) report, providing an overview of the twenty joint projects and progress made by three working groups in the areas of carbon capture and storage, electricity grid, and clean energy research and development.

January 3, 2011
The Department's Inspector General issues an audit report that finds "significant weaknesses" in DOE's emergency preparedness and Continuity of Operations (COOP) programs.

January 4, 2011
President Barack Obama signs the reauthorized 2007 America COMPETES Act. The act authorizes the continued growth of DOE's Office of Science budget and ongoing support for DOE's Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

January 5, 2011
The Department's Richland Operations Office announces that contractors have achieved a great deal of cleanup progress at the Hanford Site in 2010. The office also provides a list of major accomplishments.

January 6, 2011
William Brinkman, director of DOE's Office of Science, informs the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel that the Tevatron, located at DOE's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), will cease operations at the end of fiscal year 2011. The panel, with support from the lab and the high energy physics community, had recommended continuing Tevatron operations through fiscal year 2014. Fermilab requested $35 million per year in funding to support continuing operations. Additional funding, however, could not be located.

January 6, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory and LG Chem, Ltd., announce that they have reached a licensing agreement to make and use Argonne's patented cathode material technology in lithium-ion battery cells. This technology is employed in the battery cell used in General Motors Company's Chevrolet Volt, the first mass-produced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Argonne and General Motors Co. also announce they have reached a worldwide licensing agreement to use Argonne's patented composite cathode material to make advanced lithium-ion batteries. These batteries last longer between charges and can charge at higher voltages.

January 6, 2011
The Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), issues an updated DOE/NETL Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage RD&D Roadmap, which outlines efforts to develop advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies for coal-based power systems.

January 6, 2011
GE Intelligent Platforms purchases SmartSignal, a company started by the University of Chicago. SmartSignal's software and services are based on technology developed at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, and monitor machinery and equipment, analyze data, and diagnose developing problems before they become serious. The company continuously monitors approximately 12,000 assets at more than 300 sites worldwide.

January 10, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed and tested a new form of metallic glass that demonstrates a strength and toughness beyond that of any known material.

January 11, 2011
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling issues its final report. “Our investigation shows that a series of specific and preventable human and engineering failures were the immediate causes of the disaster,” said Commission Co-Chair William K. Reilly. “But, in fact, this disaster was almost the inevitable result of years of industry and government complacency and lack of attention to safety. This was indisputably the case with BP, Transocean, and Halliburton, as well as the government agency charged with regulating offshore drilling — the former Minerals Management Service. As drilling pushes into ever deeper and riskier waters where more of America’s oil lies, only systemic reforms of both government and industry will prevent a similar, future disaster.”

January 14, 2011
The Department's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the NNSA and Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to support the establishment of a new counterterrorism center in Russia. The Abramovo Counterterrorism Training Center, located in the city of Abramovo, will be used by the Russian Ministry of Defense to train personnel for Russia’s nuclear sites in security tactics and measures.

January 18, 2011
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, at a ceremony held today in Washington, DC, announces the signings of five-year work plans for the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center developed jointly among the U.S. and Chinese research teams under the Center. The $150 million Center is a flagship initiative, funded equally by both countries over five-years with a combination of public and private-sector sources. The Department also releases a report, U.S.-China Clean Energy Cooperation, detailing the substantial progress made to date on a number of clean energy initiatives between China and the U.S.

January 18, 2011
The Department issues "Best Practices for Terrestrial Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide," which details the most suitable operational approaches and techniques for terrestrial sequestration. Terrestrial sequestration is a carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation strategy capable of removing CO2 already in the air. The technique, which uses photosynthesis — part of the natural carbon cycle — to create organic matter that is stored in vegetation and soils, differs from CO2 mitigation technologies that focus on capturing and permanently storing human-generated emissions.

January 18, 2011
The Department announces its decision to extend Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ (ORAU) contract through December 2015. ORAU oversees the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), which performs vital science and education programs nationwide. The contract, awarded in 2005, is a cost-plus-award-fee contract with a five-year base period and a five-year option. ORISE employs 1,286 employees in 14 locations nationwide with more than 1,000 located in Oak Ridge and has an annual operating budget of approximately $250 million.

January 18, 2011
President Obama issues an Executive Order on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review. Federal agencies are directed to review "existing significant regulations to determine whether any such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives." The President discusses the intent of the Executive Order in an op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal.

January 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that states and territories across the country have now weatherized more than 300,000 low-income homes under the Recovery Act. States are now more than 50 percent of the way toward meeting President Obama's goal of weatherizing approximately 600,000 homes under the Recovery Act. 

January 19, 2011
The Department announces that Secretary Chu and China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) Chairman Chen Qiufa have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Center of Excellence in China to promote effective nuclear security and safeguards. This paves the way for NNSA and the U.S. Department of Defense to work with CAEA representatives in China to develop a center that will provide a central site for training in all aspects of nuclear security. The Center will serve as a forum for exchanging technical information, sharing best practices, developing training courses, and promoting technical collaborations that will enhance nuclear security in China and throughout Asia. It will also help meet the training needs for China's expanding nuclear sector and promote nuclear security best practices throughout the region. The agreement is announced during the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, DC.

January 19, 2011
NNSA announces that Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and Vice Minister Sun Yibiao of the General Administration of China Customs have signed a memorandum of understanding in a ceremony at DOE headquarters in Washington, DC. This paves the way for the establishment of a radiation detection training center in Qinhuangdao, China. The signing comes as part of Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington.

January 19, 2011
As part of Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington, the U.S. and China issue a Joint Statement that they "view climate change and energy security as two of the greatest challenges of our time." The two nations agree to "continue their close consultations on action to address climate change, coordinate to achieve energy security for our peoples and the world, build on existing clean energy cooperation, ensure open markets, promote mutually beneficial investment in climate friendly energy, encourage clean energy, and facilitate advanced clean energy technology development."

January 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces two new initiatives to promote tribal energy development and continue strengthening the partnership between the Department and tribal nations. Up to $10 million will be available this year through DOE's Tribal Energy Program to support the evaluation, development, and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on tribal lands that will help save energy and money, expand the use of renewable energy resources, and promote economic development for tribal communities. The Secretary also announces that DOE's Tribal Summit with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders will be held on May 5, 2011, in Washington, DC.

January 19, 2011
Secretary Chu attends the Energy Standing Committee session of the 79th winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and discusses the importance of clean energy to our economic competitiveness. The Secretary tells the mayors to spend any remaining funds received from DOE under the Recovery Act, noting that Republicans have stated the intent to rescind the money to cut federal spending. ”I encourage all of you to invoice as quickly as possible those bills,” the Secretary says. “Don’t wait for a month. Certainly don’t wait for a quarter, because we do not want that rescinded."

January 19, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that the last of 24 unused buildings has been demolished using Recovery Act funding of $73 million. Since September 2009, lab and subcontractor crews have demolished 175,000 square feet of buildings and other structures.

January 19, 2011
The Department's Richland Operations Office announces the start of operations at the new 100-DX groundwater treatment facility on the Hanford Site. The 11,400 square-foot 100-DX process plant uses 41 extraction wells and over 40 miles of piping to bring groundwater to the facility that will be able to treat up to 20 million gallons per month. The treated water is returned to the aquifer through a series of 14 injection wells.

January 20, 2011
Secretary Chu hosts the second meeting of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB). The first meeting of 2011 focused on the importance of innovation in maintaining global competitiveness. The board decides to form a subcommittee on shale-gas development. The Secretary tells SEAB that the efficiency of shale-gas techniques is likely to double over the next ten years. Shale gas technology is in industry hands, the Secretary notes. "Our role could be in looking at the environmental issues, the safety issues." He adds that DOE is "going to be playing a role in the future on deepwater oil safely."

January 20, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment to Diamond Green Diesel, LLC, the proposed joint venture between Valero Energy Corporation and Darling International Inc., for a $241 million loan guarantee. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 137-million gallon per year renewable diesel facility in Norco, Louisiana, about 20 miles west of New Orleans. Valero Energy Corporation plans to direct the design, construction and operation of the project and market all of its output, while Darling International Inc. will supply feedstock to the project.The project will produce renewable diesel fuel primarily from animal fats, used cooking oil and other waste grease streams.

January 20, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment to Agua Caliente Solar, LLC, for a loan guarantee of up to $967 million. The loan guarantee will support the construction of a 290-megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility located in Yuma County, Arizona, that will use thin film solar panels from First Solar, Inc. The project sponsor, NRG Solar, estimates the project will be the largest photovoltaic generation facility in the world when it is completed. NRG estimates the project, at full capacity, will also provide clean, emissions-free electricity for approximately 100,000 homes.

January 20, 2011
Secretary Chu publishes a blog article, "Discover and Deliver: The Big Picture on Energy," on the Energy Blog on changing the way DOE works by creating new jobs, investing in the clean energy economy, and helping consumers save money while saving energy.

January 20, 2011
NNSA announces that its Y-12 National Security Complex has completed the dismantlement of the first secondary from a retired B83, one of the biggest weapon systems ever built. The B83 was introduced into the U.S. nuclear stockpile in 1983. While the B83 remains in service, some of its components have been replaced and some retired B83s have been removed from the stockpile.Y-12 has been working aggressively to prepare for B83 dismantlements over the past several years. Significant upgrades were made to key facilities, equipment, and tooling, as well as new dismantlement personnel were hired and trained to support this program.

January 20, 2011
NNSA announces that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hungary to equip and train Hungarian national security officers with mobile radiation detectors. The agreement paves the way for NNSA’s Second Line of Defense program to work with the Hungarian Special Service for National Security to enhance international efforts to deter, detect, and interdict illicit smuggling of nuclear and other radioactive materials.

January 21, 2011
The Department's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) announces that it will reconvene an expert panel to evaluate a recent report suggesting that aggressive energy efficiency measures and other actions could delay the need for a new power line on the I-5 Corridor in southwest Washington.

January 24, 2011
DOE and the U.S. Department of Commerce announce a new agreement to further collaboration between the agencies on renewable energy modeling and weather forecasting, which will help enable the nation's renewable energy resources to be used more effectively by businesses and entrepreneurs. The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Acting Under Secretary of Energy Cathy Zoi and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Jane Lubchenco, will encourage the two agencies to work together to develop and disseminate weather and climate information needed for renewable energy technologies that are dependent on short-term weather and longer-term climate trends.

January 24, 2011
NNSA unveils a reorganization of headquarters offices effective January 30.

January 24, 2011
Secretary Chu's blog post, "Discover and Deliver: The Big Picture on Energy", published on January 20 on the Energy Blog, is published on the White House Blog.

January 24, 2011
The Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers have carried out the first experimental demonstration of GRIN ("gradient index") plasmonics, a hybrid technology that opens the door to a wide range of exotic optics, including superfast computers based on light rather than electronic signals, ultra-powerful optical microscopes able to resolve DNA molecules with visible light, and “invisibility” carpet-cloaking devices. The lab also announces that researchers have demonstrated a solar cell that responds to virtually the entire solar spectrum and can readily be made using one of the semiconductor industry’s most common manufacturing techniques. The new design promises highly efficient solar cells that are practical to produce.

January 25, 2011
President Obama, in his State of the Union address, declares that "this is our generation’s Sputnik moment," with the need " to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. . . .We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology." The President calls for a "new goal" of achieving 80% of America’s electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. "Some folks want wind and solar," he notes. "Others want nuclear, clean coal, and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all — and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen."

January 25, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces the launch of a biofuels website — the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework, or KDF — that allows policymakers, industry, researchers, and the public to gain and share information ranging from reports, technical data, and a list of experts to the nearest refinery or ethanol fueling station.

January 26, 2011
Secretary Chu hosts an online town hall, following the previous night's State of the Union address, to discuss President Obama's clean energy and innovation agenda. During the event, the Secretary highlights several parts of the President’s agenda: ending taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels so the nation can increase its investments in clean energy by a third; creating three new Energy Innovation Hubs; putting one million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015; a “Sun Shot” initiative to make solar energy cost-competitive with fossil-based fuels before the end of this decade; and an ambitious new goal of having 80 percent of America’s electricity come from clean sources by 2035.

January 26, 2011
President Obama, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, tours Orion Energy Systems, a power technology company that designs, manufactures, and deploys energy efficiency and renewable energy technology for commercial and industrial business. During his visit, the President delivers remarks on the economy to company employees. The President also tours Broadwind Towers (Tower Tech Systems), a wind turbine tower manufacturer.

January 26, 2011
Vice President Joe Biden visits Ener1, Inc., in Greenfield, Indiana. The manufacturer produces advanced lithium-ion battery systems for electric vehicles, grid energy storage, and industrial electronics. Following a tour of the factory, the Vice President meets with workers to discuss President Obama goal set in the State of the Union address the previous night of making the U.S. the first country in the world to put one million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015. The Administration's new three-part advanced technology vehicle plan will include supporting electric vehicle manufacturing and adoption in the U.S. through generous new consumer rebates, investments in R&D, and a new competitive program to encourage communities to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure. Ener1, Inc. was awarded a $118.5 million grant from the Department to expand its production of advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles.

January 27, 2011
Secretary Chu tours two clean energy facilities in Memphis, Tennessee: the Sharp solar manufacturing plant, which has produced more than 2 million solar panels since 2002; and the FedEx Memphis SuperHub, where the Secretary views some of the company's fleet of electric and hybrid delivery vehicles.

January 27, 2011
General Motors, acknowledging significant improvement in its business performance, announces it is withdrawing its $14.4 billion application for direct loans from DOE. The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program authorized $25 billion in direct DOE loans to companies toward retooling U.S. factories to make vehicles and components that improve fuel economy.

January 28, 2011
Secretary Chu and White House Deputy Director of Communications Jen Psaki hold a conference call with media to discuss the importance of investing in innovation and clean energy to put people back to work, grow the economy, and win the future.

January 29, 2011
President Obama's weekly address highlights Orion Energy Systems, which he toured on January 26 on his visit to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

January 31, 2011
The Department announces two immediate steps to implement the Obama Administration's Executive Order on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, which directs federal agencies to review existing regulations and determine whether they are still necessary and crafted effectively to solve current problems. First, to engage the public in a transparent review process, DOE is issuing a Request for Information asking the public how best to streamline existing regulations and to identify rules that are obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, or simply no longer make sense. All comments and reply comments will be publicly available. Second, DOE has created a link on the Office of General Counsel's web page and an email in-box at Regulatory.Review@hq.doe.gov, which interested parties can use to identify to DOE — on a continuing basis — regulations in need of review in the future.

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February 1, 2011
NNSA and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) conclude a week-long cooperative border security workshop at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana. The first-of-its-kind workshop brought together participants from seven West African countries to discuss ways to strengthen efforts to prevent the smuggling of nuclear and radiological materials.

February 1, 2011
The Department announces an initiative to enhance cybersecurity on the electric grid. The initiative, led by the Department’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, will be an open collaboration with representatives from across the public and private sectors to develop a cybersecurity risk management process guideline for the electric sector.

February 1, 2011
A report sponsored by DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory finds that a private sector model with a state, rather than a federal-based, regulatory framework is the approach that will "most likely result in a robust CO2 [carbon dioxide] pipeline system" in the U.S.

February 1, 2011
The Department's Savannah River Operations Office announces the removal of the 75-foot-tall rusty-orange dome from the Cold War-era Heavy Water Components Test Reactor at the Savannah River site. The $25-million reactor decommissioning and deactivation project is funded by the Recovery Act.

February 1, 2011
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issues an opinion vacating the August 2006 DOE study of congested electric transmission corridors and subsequent designation of two “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors” (NIETCs) in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southwest. The Court finds that DOE "failed to properly consult with the affected States in conducting the Congestion Study and failed to undertake any environmental study for its NIETC Designation as required by the National Environmen Policy Act." The Court directs DOE to "prepare a Congestion Study 'in consultation with the affected States.'”

February 2, 2011
President Obama signs the instrument of ratification of the New Start Treaty and sends a message to the Senate on the New Start Treaty in response to the Senate's December 22, 2010, Resolution of Advice and Consent to Ratification of the Treaty.

February 2, 2011
The Department announces that the Energy Innovation Portal now has more than 300 business-friendly marketing summaries available to help investors and companies identify and license leading-edge energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. The Portal is an online tool that links available DOE innovations to the entrepreneurs who can successfully license and commercialize them.

February 2, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, delivers presentations on The Long-term Outlook for Natural Gas, The Short-Term Oil Market Outlook, and The Long-Term Outlook for Oil and Other Liquid Fuels at the Saudi Arabia - U.S. Energy Consultations held in Washington, DC.

February 3, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE is joining with the private sector to support market-based efforts to develop and deploy next-generation high-efficiency air conditioners for commercial buildings. As part of a voluntary program, the Department worked with members of the DOE Commercial Building Energy Alliances, including Target and Walmart, to develop new performance criteria for 10-ton capacity commercial air conditioners, also known as rooftop units (RTUs). When built according to the requirements of the new specifications, these high-efficiency rooftop units are expected to reduce energy use by as much as 50-60 percent over the current equipment.

February 3, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that in a little over one year six projects that received a total of $23.6 million in seed funding from the DOE's Advanced Research Project Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) have generated more than $100 million in outside private capital investment. The six projects, which received between $750,000 and $8 million each, focus on improving solar and wind energy technologies and advanced battery storage.

February 3, 2011
President Obama, accompanied by Secretary Chu in a visit to Penn State University, tours an Energy Innovation Hub, discusses innovation, and announces the “Better Buildings Initiative” to make U.S. businesses more efficient as part of his plan to ensure that America wins the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the competition. The initiative aims to achieve a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020, reduce companies’ and business owners’ energy bills by about $40 billion per year, and save energy by reforming outdated incentives and challenging the private sector to act. The plan will spur innovation by reforming tax and other incentives to retrofit, creating a new competitive grant program for states and localities that streamline their regulations to attract retrofit investment, and asking the private sector to invest in building upgrades through a new “Better Buildings Challenge.” The President has asked President Clinton, who has been a champion for this kind of energy innovation, to co-lead the private sector engagement along with the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, headed by Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric.

February 3, 2011
The Department announces that a process developed by researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory that improves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants while reducing the cost has been selected to receive a 2011 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer.

February 3, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, testifies on energy and the oil market outlook before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

February 4, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut. The center has received funding from DOE for several transformational clean energy research projects.

February 4, 2011
Secretary Chu announces additional details of DOE's SunShot Initiative, mentioned in President Obama's State of the Union address, to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75 percent so that they are cost competitive at large scale with other forms of energy without subsidies before the end of the decade. By reducing the cost for utility scale installations by about 75 percent to roughly $1 a watt - which correspondes to approximately z6 cents per kilowatt-hour - solar energy systems could be broadly deployed across the country. The SunShot program builds on the legacy of President Kennedy's 1960s "moon shot" goal, which laid out a plan to regain the country's lead in the space race and land a man on the moon. The program intends to aggressively drive innovations in the ways that solar systems are conceived, designed, manufactured and installed. The Secretary also announces that DOE is awarding $20 million in projects to support the development, commercialization, and manufacturing of advanced solar energy technologies. Additionally, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is investing $7 million to fund the latest round of the successful PV Incubator program, which helps to shorten the commercialization timeline for promising emerging solar technologies.

February 5, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, discusses innovation and highlights his visit to Penn State with Secretary Chu on February 3.

February 7, 2011
Secretary Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar release the joint National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States, the first-ever inter-agency plan on offshore wind energy. The plan focuses on overcoming three key challenges: the relatively high cost of offshore wind energy; technical challenges surrounding installation, operations, and grid interconnection; and the lack of site data and experience with project permitting processes. Under the plan, DOE is pursuing a scenario that includes deployment 10 gigawatts of offshore wind generating capacity by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030. Those scenarios include development in both federal and state offshore areas, including along Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts as well as in Great Lakes and Hawaiian waters. Those levels of development would produce enough energy to power 2.8 million and 15.2 million average American homes, respectively. In support of the plan, Secretary Chu announces the release of three solicitations, representing up to $50.5 million over 5 years, to develop breakthrough offshore wind energy technology and to reduce specific market barriers to its deployment. Secretary Salazar also identifies four Wind Energy Areas offshore the mid-Atlantic as part of Interior's 'Smart from the Start' approach announced in November 2010 that uses appropriate designated areas, coordinated environmental studies, large-scale planning, and expedited approval processes to speed offshore wind energy development.

February 7, 2011
The Department adopts final rules to improve the enforcement of DOE’s efficiency requirements for appliances, lighting, and other products. Overhauling the certification and enforcement process, the new rules are designed to encourage compliance and prevent manufacturers who break the law from gaining a competitive advantage over those that adhere to it. Among other changes, the rules will - for the first time - allow the Department to test products on its own initiative to determine whether they comply with DOE’s efficiency standards.

February 8, 2011
The Department releases One Million Electric Vehicles by 2015, an analysis of advances in electric vehicle deployment and progress to date in meeting President Obama's goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. The report details DOE investments in electric vehicle infrastructure, research and development, and demonstration projects nationwide that are laying the groundwork for achieving the President's goal.  These projects include support for nearly 50 manufacturing facilities and demonstration projects nationwide.

February 8, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, delivers a presentation on the Annual Energy Outlook 2011 and an Update on EIA Activities at the National Governors Association, State Energy Working Group, meeting in Washington, DC.

February 8, 2011
The Department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed a new combination of nanoparticles and graphene that results in a more durable catalytic material for fuel cells. The material has potential to make fuel cells cheaper and last longer.

February 9, 2011
Secretary Chu, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack kick off a workshop covering onshore renewable energy with a round-table discussion about what the administration is doing to build a clean energy economy. “American leadership in clean energy is essential to job creation and future economic competitiveness,” says Secretary Chu. “We can lead the world in this arena, but we must work together - across the federal government, as well as with the private sector.” Following the round-table, the secretaries hold a press conference with representatives from solar energy companies.

February 9, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) launches the first phase of its redesigned website featuring improved content, navigation, and design. The site, with over 2 million visitors a month, includes a new energy education product, Today in Energy, published every weekday highlighting current issues, topics, and data trends in short articles written in plain language.

February 9, 2011
The Department's Inspector General issues an audit report on DOE's Energy Conservation Efforts and finds that DOE is "unlikely to meet" the legally required 30 percent reduction in energy intensity by fiscal year 2015. Department sites had "cumulatively planned enough conservation measures projected to reduce the Department's energy intensity by only 22 percent."

February 9, 2011
Acting Under Secretary Cathy Zoi does a blog post on "Rising to the Challenge: Innovating toward our Clean Energy Future" on the Energy Blog.

February 10, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, testifies on effects of Middle East events on U.S. energy markets before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

February 11, 2011
Secretary Chu publishes a blog article, "Winning the Future with a Responsible Budget," on the Energy Blog on the upcoming release of the Fiscal Year 2012 DOE budget request. The Secretary emphasizes fiscal responsibility and "cutting programs we would not cut in better fiscal times."

February 14, 2011
Secretary Chu details, at a media briefing, President Obama's $29.5 billion Fiscal Year 2012 budget request for the Department. Highlights in the budget include: $3.2 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, $300 million in credit subsidies to support approximately $3-4 billion in renewable energy and energy efficient projects projects, $36 billion in loan guarantee authority to help jumpstart the domestic nuclear industry, $5.4 billion for the Office of Science to expand investment in basic energy sciences, advanced scientific computing and biological and environmental sciences, $550 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), $146 million to support the three existing Energy Innovation Hubs and to establish three new Hubs, $100 million to continue supporting 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers started in 2009, a five-year FY 12 to FY 16 request of nearly $65 billion for NNSA, and $2.5 billion in the NNSA Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program, part of a five-year, $14.2 billion commitment. NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino in a video message to the NNSA workforce hails the budget request for NNSA as a critical investment in building the nuclear security enterprise required to enhance the security of the nation and its allies. Director William Brinkman presents the details of the Office of Science budget request to stakeholders The request also includes $124.0 million for the Energy Information Administration (EIA), an increase of $13.4 million from the FY 2010 current appropriation level. The increase would improve EIA's capabilities to respond to the growing need for reliable energy data, analysis, and forecasting.

February 15, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $343 million loan guarantee, supported by the Recovery Act, to develop the One Nevada Transmission Line, known as the ON Line project. The ON Line project, which is jointly owned by Great Basin Transmission South, LLC and NV Energy, consists of a new 500 kilovolt (kV) AC transmission line that will carry approximately 600 megawatts of electricity, including from renewable energy resources, in northern Nevada. This is DOE's first loan guarantee for a transmission project, and will help integrate existing transmission systems in northern and southern Nevada, improving grid reliability and efficiency.

February 15, 2011
The Department announces it has settled two civil penalty actions against companies for violations of DOE regulations requiring that they certify products as compliant with federal efficiency standards. In the first case, DOE cited Perlick Residential & Hospitality Products for failure to certify properly its residential refrigerators and refrigerator-freezers. DOE initiated the second case against Maxlite, SK America, Inc. for failure to certify properly its general service fluorescent lamps.

February 15, 2011
NNSA hosts the three-day 2011 Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Symposium at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC. The annual symposium gathers leaders from key academic disciplines that support NNSA’s efforts to maintain the nuclear deterrent without underground nuclear testing.

February 16, 2011
Secretary Chu announces up to $5 million in funding to support Graduate Automotive Technology Education (GATE) Centers of Excellence. The GATE Centers will focus on educating a future workforce of automotive engineering professionals who will gain experience in developing and commercializing advanced automotive technologies.

February 16, 2011
NNSA announces that its Kansas City Plant (KCP) recently celebrated the completion of a 10-year production run of the Mechanical Safe Arming Detonator (MSAD) for the W87 nuclear warhead. The MSAD, an extremely intricate nuclear safety component that prevents accidental or unintended detonation of a warhead, was the product of a partnership between the NNSA production sites and design labs that worked on the W87 weapon system, including the KCP, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

February 16, 2011
Thomas D’Agostino, NNSA administrator, highlights the Obama Administration’s commitment to nuclear security in a keynote address to the third annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit.

February 17, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment to SoloPower, Inc., for a $197 million loan guarantee to support the retrofit of an existing building and installation of additional equipment to operate a thin-film solar panel manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, Oregon. When completed and at full capacity, the facility is expected to produce over 400 megawatts of flexible photovoltaic (PV) panels annually. SoloPower's innovative manufacturing process deposits copper, indium, gallium and selenide (CIGS) onto rolls of flexible stainless steel materials and transforms them into flexible modules. This approach improves module size and weight, ease of installation, and reduces mounting hardware.

February 17, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the establishment of a Task Force on Asset Revitalization to facilitate a discussion among DOE, communities around DOE sites, nonprofits, tribal governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders to identify reuse approaches as environmental cleanup efforts reach completion. The task force will explore opportunities to re-utilize DOE site assets for beneficial purposes, which may include clean energy development, environmental sustainability projects, open space, or other uses.

February 17, 2011
Secretary Chu participates in a Cabinet Meeting, two years after the signing of the Recovery Act, on administration plans to build on the success of the Recovery Act’s Race to the Top program by applying the competitive-based model to new education, infrastructure, and energy initiatives to spur innovation and reform. The Secretary discusses DOE’s new $200 million program, the Plug-In Challenge, which is modeled after Race to the Top and provides an incentive for communities to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure and purchases.

February 17, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman delivers remarks on "Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation" at the Third Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Arlington, Virginia.

February 17, 2011
The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling releases the full report on the Chief Counsel’s investigation, which provides details of the series of engineering and management mistakes by those responsible for the drilling operations, including BP, Halliburton, and Transocean.

February 22, 2011
President Obama, joined by Secretary Chu, gives opening remarks and meets with small business leaders in Cleveland, Ohio, to get their ideas on how the federal government can support their work in clean energy. The Secretary does a blog post published on the Energy Blog and the White House Blog.

February 22, 2011
NNSA and the U.S. Department of State announce the creation of a new Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute at the Khalifa University of Science, Technology, and Research in Abu Dhabi. The Institute will strengthen nuclear energy security, safeguards, and safety infrastructure development throughout the Persian Gulf.

February 22, 2011
NNSA and the Republic of Lithuania announce that they have signed an Implementation Agreement on Cooperation in Preventing Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material. Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service under the Ministry of the Interior will work with NNSA to implement the agreement.

February 23, 2011
Secretary Chu makes a surprise appearance at the annual meeting of DOE's Ultra Deepwater Advisory Committee. After brief opening remarks,
he asks the committee to advise on ways to prevent and/or reduce the risk of a “Macondo-like” oil spill from occurring again, and ways to improve the safety of operations in ultra-deepwater. The Secretary discusses various topics related to safety and risk assessment in ultra-deepwater operations, and talks about his experience in working to help stop the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

February 23, 2011
DOE and the U.S. Department of the Interior announce that the DOE Solar Decathlon 2011 will be held at the National Mall's West Potomac Park, on the banks of the Potomac River along the path between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The event is being moved from its previous location on the Mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol to balance the many uses and demands on the Mall.

February 23, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, delivers an energy and financial markets overview presentation on Crude Oil Price Formation at the Society of Petroleum Engineers, National Capital Section, meeting in Washington, DC.

February 23, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have identified hyperactive cells in a tiny brain structure that may play an important role in depression. The study, conducted in rats, is helping to reveal a cellular mechanism for depressive disorders that could lead to new, effective treatments.

February 23, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announces the completion of a yearlong technology evaluation of gasoline hybrid electric (gHEV) trucks compared with conventional diesel vehicles. A report details NREL’s efforts to determine the impact of hybridization on performance, emissions, and fuel economy, finding that gHEV trucks produced substantially reduced tailpipe emissions during all drive cycles tested in the laboratory when compared to conventional diesel vehicles. The study attempted to show how a gasoline hybrid might perform compared to a conventional diesel truck given that gasoline engines are less efficient than diesel engines and generally not used in heavier vehicles,

February 23, 2011
The Department's Richland Operations Office announces that two new supercells are going into service to expand disposal capacity for contaminated soil and debris at the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) at the Hanford Site. Finished seven months ahead of schedule and nearly $16.4 million under budget, the supercell expansion is part of a $100 million upgrade to facilities at ERDF supported by the Recovery Act.

February 24, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $96.8 million Recovery Act supported loan guarantee to a project sponsored by U.S. Geothermal, Inc., to construct a 23 megawatt (net) geothermal power project in Malheur County, in southeastern Oregon. The project uses an improved technology to extract energy from rock and fluids in the Earth's crust more efficiently. The technology, referred to as a supercritical binary geothermal cycle, is estimated to be more efficient than traditional geothermal binary systems, allowing lower-temperature geothermal resources to be used for power generation.

February 24, 2011
Oil prices briefly spike above $100 per barrel due to concerns about unrest in the Middle East. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tells reporters that the administration is "very closely watching this situation. I don’t want to speculate on where oil prices may or may not go or what the effects of unrest in Libya may or may not have tomorrow or next week or down the road on oil prices. But we have the capacity to act in case of a major supply disruption, and we are talking with international institutions and other  — and oil-producing nations to  — as we examine the developments in the markets."

February 25, 2011
The Department issues a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), for violations of DOE's classified information security program requirements. BEA is the management and operating contractor for DOE's Idaho National Laboratory. DOE has proposed a civil penalty of $425,000 based on the significance of the violations and in consideration of BEA's timely implementation of a comprehensive set of corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

February 25, 2011
NNSA announces the successful installation of radiation detection equipment at the Port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Working in partnership with the American Institute in Taiwan and Taiwan's Ministry of Finance and Directorate General of Customs, the equipment was successfully installed as part of NNSA's Megaports Initiative, which works in more than 35 countries to detect and prevent nuclear smuggling.

February 28, 2011
The Department and Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multifaceted renewable energy initiative, announce that they will collaborate to test the performance of specially coated solar photovoltaic modules designed to avoid the moisture and cementation problems currently faced by PV module producers worldwide and prevent dry dust adhesion. Developed by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the coatings have been selected for testing following exchanges of scientific and technical information with Masdar. The cooperation is a direct result of a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the DOE and Masdar on April 26, 2010, to promote collaboration on clean and sustainable energy technologies.

February 28, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that a brain-imaging study reveals a subtle difference between ordinary obese subjects and those who compulsively overeat or binge: In binge eaters but not ordinary obese subjects, the mere sight or smell of favorite foods triggers a spike in dopamine — a brain chemical linked to reward and motivation. The findings suggest that this dopamine spike may play a role in triggering compulsive overeating.

February 28, 2011
Solyndra, Inc., a California-based company that DOE provided a $535 million loan guarantee in September 2009 for the manufacture of innovative cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels, announces that DOE has agreed to "certain loan modifications including an extension of the amortization period."

February 28, 2011
The FutureGen Alliance announces the selection of Morgan County, Illinois, as the preferred location for the FutureGen 2.0 carbon dioxide (CO2) storage site, visitor center, research, and training facilities. The Department is committing $1 billion in Recovery Act funding to the $1.3 billion project,

March 1, 2011
Secretary Chu delivers the opening keynote address to approximately 1,800 attendees at the second annual "ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit" taking place in Washington, DC. The three-day event serves as a forum for the nation's energy leaders to share ideas and identify key technology opportunities and challenges in the energy field and includes a Technology Showcase of more than 200 groundbreaking technologies.

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March 1, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that the national average retail price for regular grade gasoline is $3.38 per gallon, an increase of 19 cents per gallon from the previous week. This is the second largest one-week increase since EIA began tracking weekly retail gasoline price data in 1990. The only week posting a larger one-week increase was in September 2005 when retail prices rose sharply due to Hurricane Katrina.

March 1, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, in the first of two days of testimony before the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations, states that President Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Request provides the necessary resources to invest in the future of the nuclear security enterprise, implement the president’s nuclear security agenda, and improve the way the NNSA does business.

March 2, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has issued a determination and market impact analysis authorizing uranium transfers to fund accelerated cleanup activities at the Portsmouth Site in Piketon, Ohio, through the third quarter of calendar year 2013. The determination finds that the proposed transfer of uranium will not have an adverse material impact on the domestic uranium industries. The determination authorizes DOE to conduct transfers on a quarterly basis, with no more than 450 metric tons (MTU) of natural uranium to be transferred in a quarter. The Secretary is required by the United States Enrichment Corporation Privatization Act of 1996 to determine that this kind of transfer of uranium will not have an adverse material impact on the domestic uranium mining, conversion, or enrichment industries. 

March 2, 2011
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announces new steps between the Departments of Energy and Defense to strengthen national security through the continued development of advanced clean energy technologies. This follows on the Memorandum of Understanding between the departments announced on July 27, 2010, to accelerate clean energy innovation.

March 2, 2011
The Department's Savannah River Operations Office announces that the Savannah River Site (SRS) in 22 months has spent $1 billion in Recovery Act funds to accelerate the environmental cleanup of the remaining Cold War legacy. This funding milestone has resulted in 122 square miles of actual footprint reduction at SRS, which means the site is more than 50 percent of the way to achieving its goal of reducing the total footprint by 75 percent or 233 square miles.

March 3, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment to Record Hill Wind LLC for a $102 million loan guarantee. The loan guarantee will support the Record Hill wind project, which includes a 50.6-megawatt wind power plant and an eight-mile transmission line and associated interconnection equipment near the town of Roxbury, Maine. Developed and managed by Wagner Wind Energy of New Hampshire and Independence Wind of Maine, Record Hill is sponsored by the Yale University Endowment fund.

March 3, 2011
The Department's Inspector General (IG) issues an audit report on DOE's Loan Guarantee Program. The IG notes that "balancing the goal of operating an estimated $71 billion loan guarantee portfolio in innovative technologies that are inherently risky with the Energy Policy Act's mandate to ensure a reasonable prospect of repayment is challenging."

March 4, 2011
The Department's Sandia National Laboratories announces that researchers are moving into the demonstration phase of a novel gas turbine system for power generation — supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton-cycle turbines — with the promise that thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency will be increased to as much as 50 percent, an improvement of 50 percent for nuclear power stations equipped with steam turbines, or a 40 percent improvement for simple gas turbines. The system is also very compact, meaning that capital costs would be relatively low.

March 7, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announces that biofuels researchers using consolidated bioprocessing at the BioEnergy Science Center at ORNL have produced isobutanol for the first time directly from cellulose. The work represents across-the-board savings in processing costs and time, plus isobutanol is a higher grade of alcohol than ethanol. Compared to ethanol, higher alcohols such as isobutanol are better candidates for gasoline replacement because they have an energy density, octane value, and Reid vapor pressure - a measurement of volatility - that is much closer to gasoline. Secretary Chu does a blog post that appears on both the Energy Blog and the White House Blog.

March 7, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration reports that oil and gas production in Libya since the outbreak of civil unrest in mid-February have fallen by an estimated 60 to 90 percent. While Libya accounts for only about 2 percent of global supply, the market impact of such a supply disruption can go beyond volumetric loss.

March 8, 2011
The Department issues a Finding of No Significant Impact stemming from an environmental assessment is performed to examine the potential environmental impacts of operating a Stand-Off Experiment Range at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL experts will use high energy linear accelerators to research and develop detection systems for nuclear and non-nuclear materials of interest. When directed at an object, high-energy x-rays produced by accelerators cause the materials of interest to emit unique signatures that can help experts detect and identify potentially dangerous nuclear and non-nuclear materials. Work at the range will focus on the generation and detection of these signatures.

March 10, 2011
The Department joins with the U.S. Department of Commerce to announce the opening of the $12 million i6 Green Challenge, which will also be conducted in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Science Foundation, and Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The funding will support awards for six teams around the country with the most innovative ideas to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy.

March 10, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a nearly $50 million loan to The Vehicle Production Group LLC. The loan will support the development of the six-passenger MV-1, a purpose-built wheelchair accessible vehicle that will run on compressed natural gas. The vehicle will be produced at the Mishawaka, Indiana, AM General Plant. Deputy Secretary Poneman does a blog post on the White House Blog.

March 10, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the launch of two new fellowship programs designed to attract the country's best and brightest scientific minds to work on advanced clean energy technologies. The two fellowship programs - the Postdoctoral Fellowships Program and the SunShot Initiative Fellowships Program - will prepare young scientists and engineers for careers in clean energy. Under the Postdoctoral Fellowships Program, DOE is seeking up to 20 postdoctoral fellows whose academic careers have focused on specific topics in the following technology areas: building efficiency, industrial efficiency, vehicles, fuel cells, biomass, geothermal, solar energy, and wind or water power. The SunShot Initiative Fellowships Program will focus on critical technology innovations that will advance the SunShot goal of reducing the total cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent so that they are cost-competitive with other forms of energy without subsidies by the end of the decade.

March 11, 2011
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean 130 kilometers east of Japan triggers a tsunami that slams into the Japanese coast. Several nuclear power plants automatically shut down, but early reports indicate a possible nuclear emergency with the chance of reactor meltdowns at nuclear power plants. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex loses its electrical power, but diesel generators continue to delivering power to circulate cooling water. The diesel generators shut down after getting hit by the tsunami, with waves as high as 15 meters. President Obama receives a briefing and issues a statement. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issues a press release stating that NRC senior officials are "following events."

March 11, 2011
President Obama, at a news conference, discusses the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and rising oil and gas prices. "Rising prices are not a new phenomenon," the President notes. "Three years ago, before the recession hit, a combination of factors, including rising demand from emerging economies like China, drove gas prices to more than $4 a gallon. The worldwide recession and the decrease in demand pushed prices back down. But over the past year, as the economy has picked up steam and global demand for oil has increased, prices have increased again. Turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East has added uncertainty to the mix and lost production in Libya has tightened supply." The President states that the "good news" is that the "global community can manage supply disruptions like this. Other oil-producing nations have committed to filling any gaps — and we will continue to coordinate closely with our international partners to keep all options on the table when it comes to any supply disruptions." He adds that "here at home, everybody should know that should the situation demand it, we are prepared to tap the significant stockpile of oil that we have in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

March 11, 2011
The Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) announces that their 28 members have selected Maria Van der Hoeven of the Netherlands, the former Dutch Minister of the Economy, to be the Agency's next Executive Director. Ms. Van der Hoeven will succeed Nobuo Tanaka of Japan effective September 1, 2011.

March 12, 2011
A hydrogen explosion blows the roof off of the Unit 1 reactor building at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex as a result of the previous day's earthquake and tsunami. Operators attempt to prevent a nuclear meltdown by injecting seawater into it. Residents within 20 kilometers are evacuated. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announces that it is deploying two officials to Japan with expertise in boiling water nuclear reactors.

March 13, 2011
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano states that a partial meltdown in Unit 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex is "highly possible." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announces that it is "coordinating with the Department of Energy and other federal agencies in providing whatever assistance the Japanese government requests." The NRC states that "all the available information indicates weather conditions have taken the small releases from the Fukushima reactors out to sea away from the population. Given the thousands of miles between the two countries, Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Territories and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity." The NRC adds that measures taken by Japan "appear to be consistent with steps the United States would take."

March 14, 2011
The Japanese government formally asks for assistance from the U.S. as it continues to respond to nuclear power plant cooling issues. Falling water levels in Units 1, 2 and 3 expose part of the nuclear fuel. A hydrogen explosion occurs in Unit 3, leaving the spent fuel pool exposed to the atmosphere. The White House releases a statement on the ongoing U.S. response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, noting that "officials from the Department of Energy, NRC, and other agencies have maintained contact with Japanese officials and will provide whatever assistance the Japanese government requests as they work to stabilize their damaged nuclear reactors."

March 14, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory announces that researchers at the lab using lasers have been to assemble nanoparticles—tiny bits of matter less than a millionth of an inch across—into larger structures. This new technique for materials design, known as "optically directed assembly" or ODA, could provide scientists and inventors with an uncharted route to new materials, technologies, and even treatments for diseases.

March 14, 2011
Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Henry Kelly publishes a letter to the editor of the New York Times in response to a piece which gave criticism to wide-scale energy efficiency measures.

March 15, 2011
A hydrogen explosion occurs at Unit 2 and a fire breaks out at Unit 4 at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. Authorities believe the spent fuel storage pool is burning in Unit 4 and releasing radiation into the atmosphere. Workers continue to pump seawater on the damaged reactor units. Joining six DOE personnel already in Japan, 33 experts from the Department and NNSA arrive in Japan and are deployed to U.S. consulates and military installations in Japan. These teams have the skills, expertise and equipment to help assess, survey, monitor, and sample areas for radiation. They include smaller groups that could be sent out to gather technical information in the area. NNSA personnel are part of its Consequence Management Response Teams.

March 15, 2011
Secretary Chu provides testimony on the proposed 2012 budget before the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development of the House Committee on Appropriations. The Secretary prefaces his testimony with remarks on what DOE is doing to assist with Japan's nuclear disaster, and he assures the committee that "the American people should have full confidence that the United States has rigorous safety regulations in place to ensure that our nuclear power is generated safely and responsibly. Information is still coming in about the events unfolding in Japan, but the Administration is committed to learning from Japan's experience as we work to continue to strengthen America's nuclear industry. Safety remains at the forefront of our effort to responsibly develop America's energy resources, and we will continue to incorporate best practices and lessons learned into that process."

March 16, 2011
Secretary Chu testifies on the proposed 2012 budget before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

March 17, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman joins White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Greg Jaczko in a press briefing at the White House on the disaster in Japan.

March 17, 2011
President Obama delivers remarks from the White House Rose Garden on the disaster situation in Japan. He assures the American people that "we do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States, whether it’s the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska, or U.S. territories in the Pacific." The President states that "nuclear power is also an important part of our own energy future, along with renewable sources like wind, solar, natural gas and clean coal. Our nuclear power plants have undergone exhaustive study, and have been declared safe for any number of extreme contingencies. But when we see a crisis like the one in Japan, we have a responsibility to learn from this event, and to draw from those lessons to ensure the safety and security of our people. That’s why I’ve asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to do a comprehensive review of the safety of our domestic nuclear plants in light of the natural disaster that unfolded in Japan."

March 17, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, testifies on rising gasoline prices and the role of available domestic oil and natural gas resources before the House Committee on Natural Resources.

March 17, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory announces that it has reached a licensing agreement with Nalco Company, with headquarters in Naperville, Illinois, for an electrodeionization technology that will help significantly reduce the cost of producing clean energy and of the chemicals and water used in industry. The separations technology can process biomass-based feedstocks into biofuels and chemicals.

March 17, 2011
The Department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announces that research indicates that modifying a vanadium redox battery's electrolyte solution significantly improves its performance. This could improve the electric grid's reliability and help connect more wind turbines and solar panels to the grid.

March 18, 2011
NASA's MESSENGER (short for MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft goes into orbit around Mercury. MESSENGER carries a germanium-based gamma ray spectrometer, developed by DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to help determine the elemental and mineral composition of Mercury's surface.

March 18, 2011
DOE and EPA issue a joint statement that the extensive network of radiation monitors around the country confirm that no radiation levels of concern have been detected as a result of the Japanese nuclear disaster. Workers continue to pump seawater on the damaged reactor units at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.

March 21, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed a new single-stage method for recharging the hydrogen storage compound ammonia borane. The breakthrough makes hydrogen a more attractive fuel for vehicles and other transportation modes.

March 21, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) releases its first call for proposals from wind industry companies interested in forming a partnership with NREL to test a multi-megawatt wind turbine drivetrain. The drivetrain will be tested in NREL’s new 5-megawatt drivetrain test facility, which is scheduled for completion by the end of June 2012.

March 22, 2011
The Department releases radiation monitoring data from the Fukushima area recorded from its Aerial Monitoring System as well as ground detectors deployed along with its Consequence Management Response Teams.

March 22, 2011
The Department releases a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting information from the public on rare earth metals and other materials used in the energy sector. Responses to the RFI will inform an update to DOE's Critical Materials Strategy, released December 15, 2010, that assessed the use of rare earth metals and other materials important to the development and deployment of a variety of clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, hybrid vehicles, solar panels and energy-efficient light bulbs.

March 22, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that it is halfway toward completing construction of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a powerful x-ray microscope nearly half a mile in circumference. Construction started in 2009 on the $912-million facility. Ready for research in 2015, NSLS-II will be one of the world’s most advanced light sources, providing sophisticated new tools for science.

March 23, 2011
The Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory announces that two new patented sorbents used for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from coal-based power plants have moved closer to commercialization as a result of a licensing agreement with ADA Environmental Solutions.

March 24, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman announces the signing of an agreement to extend nuclear security cooperation between NNSA and the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostechnadzor) for an additional seven years. As the Russian nuclear regulatory authority for the Russian Federation, Rostechnadzor is responsible for oversight of nuclear material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) operations at Russian nuclear facilities.

March 25, 2011
Secretary Chu visits the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC, to sign a book of condolence for the victims of the recent tsunami and earthquakes that have impacted the country. The Secretary also meets with Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki to express his support for the people of Japan and to reaffirm the U.S.' continued commitment to assist the Japanese government in its ongoing response and recovery efforts.

March 25, 2011
NNSA announces the completion of its latest nuclear emergency response training in Morocco. As part of its commitment to help enhance nuclear emergency preparedness and response programs, NNSA helped develop a Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) exercise held in Rabat. The four-day exercise brought together 140 representatives from 28 countries and two international organizations.

March 25, 2011
The Department's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) announces that it will build a new power line across southeast Washington. The project will carry 840 additional megawatts of renewable wind energy, enough to power about half a million Northwest homes when the wind is blowing. The line, called the Central Ferry-Lower Monumental line, will extend about 38 miles.

March 28, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA), in the latest update to its Residential Energy Consumption Survey, finds that while most home appliances have become more efficient over the past 30 years, the average U.S. household uses many more consumer electronics — in particular, personal computers, televisions, and related devices.

March 28, 2011
Under Secretary for Science Steven E. Koonin post an article about Simulation and High Performance Computing on the Office of Science website.

March 29, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge, as part of the Obama Administration's Startup America Initiative, which will give start-up companies the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies developed by DOE's National Laboratories for $1,000 and build successful businesses. As part of this effort, DOE is reducing both the cost and paperwork requirements for start-up companies to obtain an option agreement to license some of the 15,000 patents and patent applications held by the 17 National Laboratories.

March 30, 2011
NNSA and the China National Energy Administration, at a meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) of the U.S.-China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology (PUNT) Agreement in Beijing, announce that they have agreed to continue expanding cooperation between the United States and China on nuclear security issues.

March 30, 2011
The Department issues a Request for Proposals for the continuation of carrier services to transport transuranic waste (TRU) between DOE sites and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site, near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The transportation of TRU waste is accomplished by contracted trucking carriers that ship the waste via public highways on custom-designed trailers. The estimated contract cost is $80-$100 million over a five-year contract period.

March 30, 2011
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases a review report on DOE's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, which is to provide up to $25 billion in loans for more fuel-efficient vehicles and components. The GAO finds that DOE has not developed "sufficient performance measures" that would enable it to fully assess the extent to which it has achieved program goals.

March 30, 2011
President Obama delivers a major speech at Georgetown University where he "outlines the comprehensive national energy policy we’ve pursued since the day I took office" and releases a Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future. Noting the rising gas prices and the nation's continuing dependence on foreign oil, the President states that the U.S. "cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out, and even before it runs out will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground. We can’t afford it when the costs to our economy, our country, and our planet are so high. Not when your generation needs us to get this right. It’s time to do what we can to secure our energy future." Declaring that he is setting a "new goal," the President says that "when I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third. That is something that we can achieve." Meeting this goal, he adds, "depends largely on two things: first, finding and producing more oil at home; second, reducing our overall dependence on oil with cleaner alternative fuels and greater efficiency." Secretary Chu and other cabinet officials are in attendance. The White House issues a fact sheet.

March 31, 2011
Secretary Chu, following up on President Obama's energy security speech of the previous day, appears on the White House Advise the Advisor series and asks for feedback on how the nation can meet the President’s goal of reducing oil imports by one-third in a little over a decade.

March 31, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its annual report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2009. Total U.S. GHG emissions were 6,576 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) in 2009, a decrease of 5.8 percent from the 2008 level. Since 1990, U.S. GHG emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.4 percent. This is the largest percentage decline in total U.S. GHG emissions since 1990, the starting year for EIA's data on total GHG emissions. "The large decline in emissions in 2009 was driven by the economic downturn, combined with an ongoing trend toward a less energy-intensive economy and a decrease in the carbon-intensity of the energy supply," says EIA Administrator Richard Newell.

March 31, 2011
Researchers from the Department's Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories complete their second experiment in the past six months at Sandia’s Z machine to explore the properties of plutonium materials under extreme pressures and temperatures. The information is used to keep the U.S. nuclear stockpile safe, secure, and effective. The Z machine — the Earth’s most powerful and efficient laboratory radiation source — is capable of performing 200 “shots,” or experiments, every year. Experiments with plutonium require more care and are done relatively infrequently.

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April 1, 2011
President Obama announces, in remarks, the National Clean Fleets Partnership, an initiative of DOE’s Clean Cities program, at a UPS fleet facility in Landover, Maryland. This public-private partnership will draw on the DOE expertise to help large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and fuel-saving measures into their operations. Charter members of this partnership include AT&T, FedEx, Pepsi-Co, UPS, and Verizon. These companies represent five of the nation’s 10 largest fleets and collectively operate over 275,000 vehicles. They are committing to deploy more than 20,000 advanced technology vehicles that are expected to save more than 7 million gallons of fuel per year. The White House issues a Fact Sheet.

April 1, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman meets with President Zatlers of Latvia and discusses a range of energy issues, including energy security and the need for diversified resources, development opportunities in the liquid natural gas and shale gas markets, and the need to create an integrated Baltic energy market.

April 1, 2011
The Department issues a Draft Request for Proposal seeking a management and operations contractor to maintain the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) and manage the DOE National Transuranic Waste (TRU) Program in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The estimated value of the anticipated contract is from $130 to $160 million per year for five years.

April 2, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, taped at the UPS facility the previous day, discusses his strategy to reduce dependence on foreign oil and secure the nation’s energy future.

April 4, 2011
NNSA announces that in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command it conducted a successful surveillance flight test using a Joint Test Assembly (JTA) of the B61 Mod 11 (B61-11) Strategic Bomb. A JTA contains instrumentation and sensors that monitor the performance of numerous weapon components during the flight test to determine if the weapon functions as designed. It was built to simulate the actual B61-11 weapon configuration utilizing as much war reserve hardware as feasible and was not capable of nuclear yield, as it contained no special nuclear materials.

April 4, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory announces that it is partnering with major international industrial technology and solar research organizations to test how solar cells from three manufacturers perform in two geographic locations with different lighting conditions.

April 4, 2011
The Department's Hanford Site announces that engineers at the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant (WTP), also known as the “Vit Plant,” recently completed the civil, structural and architectural design for the High-Level Waste Facility. The $12.2 billion WTP will immobilize the radioactive liquid waste currently stored in 177 underground tanks using a process called “vitrification.” The High-Level Waste Facility, the most structurally complex of the WTP’s four major nuclear facilities, is 270 feet wide by 440 feet long and will stand 96 feet tall. It will house the two 90-ton melters that will heat the waste and glass-forming agents to 2,100 degrees F before they are poured into stainless steel canisters for permanent storage. Construction of the WTP began in 2001 and is 58 percent complete. The WTP is scheduled to be complete in 2016 and operational in 2019.

April 5, 2011
Secretary Chu announces, as part of the SunShot Initiative, the selection of up to $112.5 million over five years for funding to support the development of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV)-related manufacturing processes throughout the U.S. The Department's SunShot Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships is intended to help the solar power industry overcome technical barriers and reduce costs for PV installations and the U.S. regain the lead in the global market for solar technologies. The investments aim to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75 percent so that they are cost-competitive at large scale with other forms of energy without subsidies by the end of the decade.

April 5, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, provides testimony before the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee on President Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Request.

April 5, 2011
Secretary Chu and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar announce $26.6 million in funding for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology. Projects will be selected in four areas: 1) Sustainable Small Hydropower that will research, develop, and test low head small hydropower technologies that can be quickly and efficiently deployed in existing or constructed waterways, 2) Environmental Mitigation Technologies for Conventional Hydropower that will develop innovative conventional hydropower technologies that feature enhanced environmental performance designs to increase electricity generation while mitigating fish and habitat impacts and enhancing downstream water quality, 3) Sustainable Pumped Storage Hydropower for which DOE intends to provide technical and financial assistance to accelerate pumped storage hydropower projects already in the pipeline, and 4) Advanced Conventional Hydropower System Testing for which DOE will support system tests of innovative, low-head hydropower technologies at non-powered hydro facilities and sites owned by DOI's Bureau of Reclamation.

April 5, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases a new EIA-sponsored study assessing 48 shale gas basins in 32 countries. The report estimates that 5,760 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically recoverable shale gas resources are available in the 32 foreign countries, compared with 862 Tcf in the U.S.

April 6, 2011
President Obama visits the Gamesa Plant in Fair Hills, Pennsylvania, delivers remarks on energy, and holds a town hall discussion with workers there about building a 21st-century clean energy economy. Gamesa's Fairless Hills wind-energy turbine manufacturing facility employs approximately 300 workers and was built at a former U.S. Steel industrial site. Before taking questions from the audience, the President lays out his plans to reduce imports of foreign oil by one third by 2025.

April 6, 2011
The Department and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote collaboration on the development and deployment of cost-effective and sustainable clean energy technologies. Under the expanded partnership, the U.S. and Qatar will exchange scientific and technical information and undertake joint research, development, and deployment initiatives that will help spur energy innovation, create new markets for clean energy and support economic growth. The MOU is signed by Deputy Secretary Poneman and Dr. Tidu Maini, the Executive Chairman of QSTP, on the sidelines of the 2011 Business and Investment in Qatar Forum in New York. 

April 6, 2011
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar hosts a live chat on President Obama's Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future. Secretary Salazar takes questions from viewers online, on Facebook, and college students from around the country who attended the event at the White House.

April 6, 2011
Victor Der, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, testifies on offshore drilling safety and response technologies before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

April 7, 2011
At the conclusion of the two-day, second annual Clean Energy Ministerial held in Abu Dhabi, Secretary Chu and 22 other energy ministers and high-level representatives renew support for 11 international clean energy initiatives. The initiatives are designed to accelerate the global transition to a clean energy future, with the goal of eliminating the need to build more than 500 mid-size power plants worldwide in the next 20 years. The Secretary also announces that the U.S. will join two other countries in a new Cool Roofs Working Group to help reduce energy use in buildings worldwide and to mitigate the warming effects of climate change. The group will work together to promote the expansion of cool roofs through pilot projects, best practices, and updated building codes. In addition, the U.S. will join the Sustainable Development of Hydropower initiative. Acting Under Secretary David Sandalow does a blog post on the ministerial.

April 7, 2011
NNSA and the Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (ASBGS) announce the commissioning of radiation detection equipment at the Kharkiv International Airport, a significant milestone in their shared effort to combat nuclear terrorism. Under a 2005 agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine, NNSA’s Second Line of Defense Program has been working with ASBGS to provide radiation detection equipment at more than 80 international crossing points of all types throughout Ukraine.

April 7, 2011
Under Secretary for Science Steven Koonin, in a blog post on the Energy Blog, discusses the Quadrennial Technology Review (DOE-QTR), a new process that Secretary Chu asked him to establish. The goal of the DOE-QTR is to establish a context and robust framework for DOE’s energy technology activities, including principles that can be used to establish multi-year program plans. It will also offer high-level views of the technical status and potential of various energy technologies. Multi-year program plans will allow DOE to provide the consistent, predictable support necessary for the success of its research, development, and demonstration activities.

April 7, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces that it has licensed an alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel alloy to metal alloy manufacturer Carpenter Technology Corp. The new alloy is unique in that the composition allows for alumina scales to form on the exterior of the steel, providing significant oxidation resistance. Potential applications include recuperators and heat exchangers, down-hole drilling, and chemical processing equipment and materials.

April 7, 2011
General Electric announces that a full-size, thin-film solar panel developed by the company using technology pioneered at DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) has been certified by NREL as the most efficient ever publicly reported milestone for the technology. GE intends to manufacture the solar panels at a new U.S. factory that will be larger than any existing solar panel factory in the country.

April 8, 2011
Secretary Chu, as part of DOE's SunShot Initiative, announces nearly $170 million in available funding over three years to support a range of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology areas. The SunShot Initiative aims to reduce the total cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent - to roughly $1 per watt - before the end of the decade. The research and development funding will support four areas of investment, including improving the efficiency and performance of solar cells; developing new installation - or balance of systems - technologies; advancing solar energy grid integration; and researching new materials and processes for solar PV technologies.

April 9, 2011
The Department's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) sends to Japan to assist in the Fukushima nuclear disaster a TALON robot modified with a suite of integrated sensors, enhancing its capabilities to provide visual, radiological survey, and/or mapping data about areas that are not accessible to humans due to radiation levels that may be above recommended safety guidelines. Additionally, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy and INL are also providing radiation-sensing packages for robots already in the possession of the Japanese government and a four person technical team to provide training and assistance in the deployment of robotics to “map” the radiation fields near the reactors, as well as advice regarding shielding and automated heavy equipment.

April 11, 2011
The Department finalizes $1.6 billion in loan guarantees to support the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System, three related utility-scale concentrated solar power plants. The Recovery Act funded project, sponsored by BrightSource Energy, Inc.,  will be located on federally-owned land in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California, near the Nevada border, and will be one of the world's largest concentrated solar power complexes. The three-plant complex will generate approximately 392 gross megawatts (MW) of electricity using the company's innovative, proprietary concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. Once operational, the project will produce nearly one million megawatt hours of electricity per year, enough to power over 85,000 homes.

April 12, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $1.187 billion loan guarantee to support the California Valley Solar Ranch project, sponsored by SunPower Corporation. The project, which is being built in San Luis Obispo County, California, includes the construction of a 250 megawatt alternating current photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility and associated infrastructure. California Valley Solar Ranch will be the largest utility-scale PV project in the U.S. to utilize tracking technology combined with an innovative monitoring system that will improve annual output by approximately 25 percent compared with traditional fixed PV installations.

April 12, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have found that sandwiching a barrier layer between two superconductors can make it superconducting at significantly higher temperatures. The layering approach could lead to the realization of such applications as low-power consumption, ultra-fast superconducting electronic devices.

April 12, 2011
The Bipartisan Policy Center announces the launch of the new Energy Project, with a focus on key national energy policy issues, including energy security, supply, reliability, cost and sustainability. The Co-Chairmen, former Senators Trent Lott (R-MS) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), state that they will meet with leaders from government, industry and others over the coming weeks to develop a detailed policy agenda focused on near-term legislative opportunities and long-term policy impacts. At the event, General Jim Jones (ret.), former National Security Advisor to President Obama and the project's National Security Chair, suggests that federal energy policy should be coordinated across the government by a centralized committee headed by the secretary of energy. "It seems odd that we have a Department of Energy that doesn’t have the entire energy portfolio," Jones notes. "There are eight to nine agencies with responsibilities on energy, and they need to be coordinated."

April 13, 2011
President Obama, in a speech at George Washington University, outlines his strategy for reducing the deficit. "The first step in our approach is to keep annual domestic spending low by building on the savings that both parties agreed to last week," the President notes. "That step alone will save us about $750 billion over 12 years. We will make the tough cuts necessary to achieve these savings, including in programs that I care deeply about, but I will not sacrifice the core investments that we need to grow and create jobs. We will invest in medical research. We will invest in clean energy technology. We will invest in new roads and airports and broadband access. We will invest in education. We will invest in job training. We will do what we need to do to compete, and we will win the future."

April 13, 2011
At the SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit, Michigan, DOE Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs David Sandalow announces the official launch of the EcoCar2: Plugging into the Future competition and the sixteen university teams that were selected to participate. EcoCar2 is a unique educational partnership between General Motors and DOE to help prepare future engineers for opportunities in clean energy and advanced vehicle industries.

April 13, 2011
The Department announces that proposals are now being accepted for the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, which supports high-impact scientific advances through the use of the DOE Leadership Computing Facilities located at Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. By providing some of the world’s most powerful supercomputing resources, INCITE enables researchers to address some of the toughest challenges in science and engineering.

April 13, 2011

The Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory announces that in a lab-sponsored demonstration a water treatment system that can turn wastewater into clean water has been shown to reduce potential environmental impacts associated with producing natural gas from shale formations in the Appalachian basin. Altela Inc.’s AltelaRain® 4000 water desalination system was tested at BLX, Inc.’s Sleppy well site in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. During nine continuous months of operation, the unit successfully treated 77 percent of the water stream onsite, providing distilled water as the product. The average treated water cost per barrel over the demonstration period was approximately 20 percent lower compared to the previous total conventional disposal costs at the site.

April 13, 2011
The Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory releases a new study indicating that 17 percent of the nation's imported oil for transportation could be replaced with U.S.-grown biofuels from algae. Researchers found that water use is much less if algae are grown in the U.S. regions that have the sunniest and most humid climates: the Gulf Coast, the Southeastern Seaboard, and the Great Lakes.

April 14, 2011
The Department announces that Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have joined with Dow Chemical Company as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to fund key research that will help develop the next generation of cool roof technologies in the U.S. The agreement will support research to increase the energy savings from existing cool roof technologies by more than 50 percent.

April 14, 2011
The Department announces that the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has signed a partnership deal with Duke Energy, one of the nation's largest electric power companies, and with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a non-profit research organization that focuses on the electric power utility industry in the U.S. and abroad, to identify opportunities for testing and deploying ARPA-E funded projects that will bolster the electric grid. According to the agreement, ARPA-E will facilitate the exchange of technical information between ARPA-E-supported projects and Duke Energy so Duke can perform practical, real world scenario tests at its McAlpine substation facility. EPRI plans to test ARPA-E funded technologies at its research laboratories in Charlotte, North Carolina and Knoxville, Tennessee, where they test heating and cooling systems, smart grid and electric vehicles components, and consumer electronics.

April 14, 2011
Peter B. Lyons is confirmed by the Senate as the Department's Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy.

April 15, 2011
The Departments of Agriculture and Energy jointly announce up to $30 million over three to four years that will support research and development in advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value biobased products. The projects funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) will help create a diverse group of economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass and increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products. Funding initially will be in three technical areas: feedstock development, biofuels and biobased products development, and biofuels development analysis.

April 15, 2011
President Obama signs the Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations bill (H.R. 1473). The Department's overall budget is cut by about $2.1 billion
over the remaining six months of the fiscal year.

April 15, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that scientists have developed new theory of how magnetic reconnection proceeds in high-temperature plasmas. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in physics, the continuous breaking and rearrangement of magnetic field lines in a plasma—a hot ionized gas. Understanding reconnection phenomena has broad implications in how Earth’s magnetosphere functions, how solar flares and coronal mass ejections work—and how they might affect the planet, and a wide variety of astrophysical settings.

April 15, 2011
A sophisticated cyber attack forces DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to shut down Internet access and email systems.

April 18, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to support Units 1 and 2 of the Blythe Solar Power Project, sponsored by Solar Trust of America, LLC. The concentrating solar thermal power plant includes two units comprising a combined 484 megawatt (MW) generating capacity, an eight-mile transmission line, and associated infrastructure. The project will be built adjacent to the City of Blythe, California. Units 1 and 2 represent the first phase of a larger project that, when completed, will generate 1,000 MW of solar power using parabolic trough technology. Units 1 and 2 will include HelioTroughT collectors, which feature a larger yet simplified design, making them less expensive to build and install, and more efficient than earlier trough technology. The Secretary does a blog post.

April 19, 2011
President Obama, at a town hall meeting at Northern Virginia Community College, discusses energy and rising gas prices. "What’s driving oil prices up right now is not the lack of supply," the President notes. "There’s enough supply. There’s enough oil out there for world demand. The problem is, is that oil is sold on these world markets, and speculators and people make various bets, and they say, you know what, we think that maybe there’s a 20 percent chance that something might happen in the Middle East that might disrupt oil supply, so we’re going to bet that oil is going to go up real high. And that spikes up prices significantly. We’re now in a position where we can investigate if there’s unfair speculation. We’re going to be monitoring gas stations to make sure there isn’t any price gouging that’s taking advantage of consumers. But the truth is that it is a world commodity, and when prices spike up like this there aren’t a lot of short-term solutions. What we have are medium- and long-term solutions."

April 19, 2011
Secretary Chu, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Mayor Chris Coleman of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Mayor Bob Walkup of Tucson, Arizona, hold a media conference call to discuss the success of DOE's Clean Cities program. On the call, Secretary Chu announces two new steps underway at DOE to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles:  1) the availability of $5 million in new funding for community-based efforts to deploy electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and charging stations, and 2) a partnership with Google Inc. and more than 80 EV stakeholders to help consumers find charging stations nationwide.

April 19, 2011
Secretary Chu helps kick-off the Electric Drive Transportation Association Annual Conference by participating in the Innovation Motorcade, an all electric vehicle motorcade that starts at the DOE's Forrestal building and travels around the city.

April 19, 2011
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announces the approval of a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted for the Cape Wind Energy Project, which is required before construction may begin on the generation facility planned in Nantucket Sound. The timeframe reported in the COP submitted by Cape Wind Associates suggests that construction of the nation’s first offshore wind farm could begin as early as the fall.

April 19, 2011
The Department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) at a ceremony celebrates the opening of its Capability Replacement Laboratory (CRL). The CRL represents the largest construction project in PNNL’s 46-year history and composes three separate facilities: the Physical Sciences Facility, Biological Sciences Facility, and Computational Sciences Facility.

April 20, 2011
The International Energy Agency releases a report that indicates global biofuel consumption can increase in a sustainable way — one in which production of biofuels brings significant life cycle environmental benefits and does not compromise food security — from 55 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) today to 750 Mtoe in 2050. This would mean that the global share of biofuel in total transport fuel would grow from 2 percent in 2011 to 27 percent in 2050.

April 20, 2011
In a media conference call with Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Director Arun Majumdar, Secretary Chu announces that up to $130 million from ARPA-E will be made available to develop five new program areas that could spark critical breakthrough technologies. This is ARPA-E's fourth round of funding opportunities. The five technology areas are: 1) Plants Engineered To Replace Oil (PETRO), 2) High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS), 3) Rare Earth Alternatives in Critical Technologies (REACT), 4) Green Electricity Network Integration (GENI), and 5) Solar Agile Delivery of Electrical Power Technology (Solar ADEPT). The ARPA-E program as “an example of government as its best,” says the Secretary. “With ARPA-E, we’re harnessing the US’ brightest minds.”

April 21, 2011
Secretary Chu and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, during a tour of Energy Testing Services, a family-run company that offers home energy audits and upgrades in Bohemia, Long Island, New York, announce that eighteen national, regional and local lenders will participate in a new two-year pilot program that will offer qualified borrowers living in certain parts of the country low-cost loans to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. Backed by the Federal Housing Administration, these new PowerSaver loans will offer homeowners up to $25,000 to make energy-efficient improvements of their choice, including the installation of insulation, duct sealing, replacement doors and windows, HVAC systems, water heaters, solar panels, and geothermal systems.

April 21, 2011
Secretary Chu issues a statement on the completion and startup by Los Alamos County of the Abiquiu Hydropower Project in New Mexico - the first hydropower project funded by the Recovery Act to be completed nationwide. The project received a $4.5 million Recovery Act grant from DOE's Wind and Water Power Program, which was leveraged with $4.5 million from the private sector to fully fund the project.

April 21, 2011
President Obama, in remarks ElectraTherm, a small renewable energy company in Reno, Nevada, discusses the nation's fiscal situation and getting deficits under control with a focus on the need to continue supporting clean energy. He also announces the formation of an Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group to help identify civil or criminal violations in the oil and gasoline markets, and to ensure that American consumers are not harmed by unlawful conduct.

April 22, 2011
Secretary Chu, in a blog post on the White House Blog following up on his March 31 appearance on the White House Advise the Advisor series at which he asked for feedback on how the nation can meet the President’s goal of reducing oil imports, provides a summary of suggestions that were received.

April 22, 2011
Secretary Chu and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger participate in a conference call hosted by the White House Office of Public Engagement with students from college and university energy clubs across the country.

April 22, 2011
The Department announces that it has settled a longstanding dispute over equity rights to the Naval Petroleum Reserve-1 (commonly referred to as “Elk Hills”) located in Bakersfield, California. Under the agreement, Chevron U.S.A., Inc. has agreed to pay $108 million to the U.S. to resolve all outstanding equity claims. 

April 22, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that scientists have developed non-precious-metal catalysts as a way to avoid the use of expensive platinum in hydrogen fuel cells, the environmentally friendly devices that might replace current power sources in everything from personal data devices to automobiles.

April 23, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, lays out his plans to address rising gas prices over the short and the long term. He call for an end to "the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies we give to the oil and gas companies each year. That’s $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they’re making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump. It has to stop."

April 24, 2011
The Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers of the international STAR collaboration at the lab's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider — a particle accelerator used to recreate and study conditions of the early universe — have detected the antimatter partner of the helium nucleus: antihelium-4. This new particle, also known as the anti-alpha, is the heaviest antinucleus ever detected.

April 25, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that on April 30 through May 2 DOE will host 69 high school and 41 middle school teams to compete for championship titles at the 21st annual National Science Bowl competition in Washington, DC. The 110 regional championship teams - from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - will be quizzed on various science topics including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, astronomy, and energy, as well as math.

April 25, 2011
Secretary Chu, in an interview Monday on National Public Radio, says there is evidence that “bad things have happened” with the practice of hydraulic fracturing, including instances where underground sources of drinking water have been contaminated with gas and so-called “fracking” fluids. “The question is, what is the cause of that, and how can they be prevented and mitigated,” the Secretary states. “Certainly what I anticipate is that the ingredients in the fracking fluids will probably have to come out, and companies will have to say, ‘This is what we’re using.’"

April 26, 2011
President Obama sends a letter to the House and Senate leadership urging them "to take immediate action to eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, and to use those dollars to invest in clean energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

April 26, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman joins Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn, III and other outside security and energy experts at the White House to discuss the national security implications of America’s oil dependency and what the nation is doing to address it.

April 26, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) begins its two-day 2011 EIA Energy Conference.

April 26, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases the complete version of Annual Energy Outlook 2011, which includes 57 sensitivity cases that show how different assumptions regarding market, policy, and technology drivers affect the previously released Reference case projections. A key highlight is that U.S. reliance on imported liquid fuels falls due to increased domestic production—including biofuels—and greater fuel efficiency. Although U.S. consumption of liquid fuels continues to grow through 2035 in the Reference case, reliance on petroleum imports as a share of total liquids consumption decreases. Total U.S. consumption of liquid fuels, including both fossil fuels and biofuels, rises from about 18.8 million barrels per day in 2009 to 21.9 million barrels per day in 2035 in the Reference case. The import share, which reached 60 percent in 2005 and 2006 before falling to 51 percent in 2009, falls to 42 percent in 2035. Sensitivity cases illustrate opportunities for further reductions in U.S. reliance on imported liquid fuels through additional increases in fuel efficiency or domestic liquid fuels production.

April 26, 2011
The Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory dedicates the 3-megawatt Eco 100, the latest — and largest — wind turbine erected at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Boulder, Colorado. Built by French power-generation company, Alstom, the Eco 100 is being tested at NWTC so it can be certified for use in the U.S.

April 26, 2011
USEC Inc. announces that it had reached a significant step in the company’s application for a $2 billion loan guarantee from DOE for the American Centrifuge Plant. DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program Office has substantially completed the due diligence and negotiation stage of the application process. USEC’s application now proceeds with a draft credit package.

April 26, 2011
The MIT Energy Initiative issues a report by a panel of experts on The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. The panel argues for "a century planning horizon for spent fuel storage to maintain options for the future. We believe," the panel states, "that spent fuel can be stored safety at the reactor, in a centralized facility, or in a repository with the option for future retrieval. The preferred technology for the reactor and centralized facilities is dry cask storage—a very robust storage option under extreme conditions." At a press briefing, Ernest Moniz, director of the MIT Energy Initiative and former DOE under secretary, says that "one of the outcomes of the Fukushima crisis, not that we wanted the crisis, is that it will . . . get a refocusing on the
need to get our act together on the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle,”

April 27, 2011
The Department and other federal agencies kick off the State of Environmental Justice in America 2011 Conference. This year's conference theme is "Building the Clean Energy Economy with Equity" and focuses on climate change, green jobs, and equity for low-income, minority and Tribal populations.

April 27, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that U.S. oil production, following declines in all but one year from 1986 to 2008, increased in 2009 and again in 2010. Due in part to Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, average annual production dipped below 5.0 million barrels per day (MMbbl/d) in 2008, then climbed to 5.4 MMbbl/d in 2009 and 5.5 MMbbl/d in 2010, with 2010 volumes representing an 11 percent increase over 2008.

April 28, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announces that with the final FY 2011 budget providing $95.4 million for the EIA, a reduction of $15.2 million, or 14 percent, from the FY 2010 level, there would be "significant cuts in EIA's data, analysis, and forecasting activities."

April 28, 2011
The Department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory announces that a novel water cleaning technology currently being tested in field demonstrations could help significantly reduce potential environmental impacts from producing natural gas from the Marcellus shale and other geologic formations. ABSMaterial’s Osorb® technology, which uses swelling glass to remove impurities, has been shown to clean flow back water and produced water from hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells. Produced waters are by far the largest volume byproduct associated with oil and gas exploration and production. Approximately 21 billion barrels of produced water, containing a wide variety of hydrocarbons and other chemicals, are generated each year in the U.S. from nearly one million wells.

April 29, 2011
Secretary Chu joins New Hampshire Governor John Lynch and University of New Hampshire (UNH) President Mark W. Huddleston in announcing the six businesses selected to participate in the second round of the Green Launching Pad, a partnership between the state and UNH that was established in 2010 to help innovative companies bring new clean energy products to the marketplace and create jobs. The program is funded with $1.5 million from DOE through the Recovery Act.

April 29, 2011
The Department announces the award of a contract for the remaining environmental cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to URS | CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC. The $2.2 billion contract will complete cleanup and provide support functions at ETTP, which began operations during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Its original mission was to produce enriched uranium for use in atomic weapons.

April 29, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces that the development of a 3-D nanocone-based solar cell platform has boosted the light-to-power conversion efficiency of photovoltaics by nearly 80 percent. The technology substantially overcomes the problem of poor transport of charges generated by solar photons. The new solar cell can tolerate defective materials and reduce cost in fabricating next-generation solar cells.

April 30, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, discusses rising gas prices and calls on Congress to end oil and gas subsidies. "I don’t have a problem with any company or industry being rewarded for their success," the President notes. "The incentive of healthy profits is what fuels entrepreneurialism and helps drives our economy forward. But I do have a problem with the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies we’ve been handing out to oil and gas companies — to the tune of $4 billion a year. When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right. They aren’t smart. And we need to end them."

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May 2, 2011
Start-up companies can begin applying for DOE's unlicensed patents for greatly reduced cost and paperwork. The Department's 17 national laboratories hold more than 15,000 patents and applying for them usually costs between $10,000 to $50,000 and months of paperwork. But as part of the 'America's Next Top Energy Innovator' challenge announced March 29, start-up companies can until December 15 submit a business plan and template agreement to obtain up to three patents from a single lab for $1,000. The challenge is part of the Obama administration's Startup America Initiative to accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation.

May 2, 2011
the Department’s Office of Enforcement announces 20 new enforcement cases against companies that DOE has reason to believe are selling products in the U.S. without certifying that their products comply with energy efficiency or water conservation standards. The 20 companies include manufacturers of appliance, plumbing, and lighting products.

May 2, 2011
The Mira Loma High School of Sacramento, California, and the Gale Ranch Middle School of San Ramon, California, competing against 1,800 sciences teams from across the country, become the 2011 National Science Bowl champions.

May 2, 2011
The Department’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory announces that a team of scientists has engineered a cheap, abundant alternative to the expensive platinum catalyst and coupled it with a light-absorbing electrode to make hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water. The discovery is an important development in the worldwide effort to mimic the way plants make fuel from sunlight, a key step in creating a green energy economy.

May 2, 2011
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement announces that it is reducing the area under consideration for future commercial wind energy leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts. The reduction is in response to multiple comments received in response to a Request for Interest (RFI).

May 3, 2011
The Department dedicates the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), an advanced research facility at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory that will accelerate the advancement of nuclear reactor technology. CASL researchers are using supercomputers to study the performance of light water reactors and to develop highly sophisticated modeling that will help accelerate upgrades at existing U.S. nuclear plants. These upgrades could improve the energy output of our existing reactor fleet by as much as seven reactors' worth at a fraction of the cost of building new reactors, while providing continued improvements in reliability and safety. The facility brings together four national labs, three industry partners, and three universities in a collaborative effort.

May 3, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, delivers a presentation on Biomass in the United States Energy Economy at the International Biomass Conference and Expo in St. Louis, Missouri.

May 3, 2011
The Department's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) proposes rebuilding the Creston-Bell 115-kilovolt line near Spokane, Washington. The 54-mile line, which was constructed in 1942, is supported by wood poles in an H-frame configuration. Most of the poles and other structural components such as cross arms, insulators and dampers are physically worn and structurally unsound in places.

May 4, 2011
NNSA announces that it has successfully conducted the first of a new kind of experiment aimed at improving arms control and nonproliferation treaty verification. The new experiments, called Source Physics Experiments, are being conducted at NNSA’s Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and will provide ground truth data to enhance the U.S. ability to detect and discriminate “low-yield” nuclear explosions amid the clutter of conventional explosions and small earthquake signals. The experiment was conducted 180 feet beneath the surface of Area 15 at NNSS using 220 pounds of chemical high explosives.

May 4, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, provides testimony before the Senate Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee on President Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Request.

May 4, 2011
NNSA and the Government of the Netherlands announce an agreement to expand their partnership to help combat nuclear terrorism around the world. Under the agreement, the Dutch government will contribute $500,000 to support NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program work in Kazakhstan.

May 4, 2011
The Department hosts a two-day Tribal Summit with American Indian and Alaska Native Leaders. All 565 federally recognized tribes, as well as national and regional tribal organizations, were invited to attend the summit. Secretary Chu provides the opening keynote and takes questions and answers from tribal leaders. The Secretary announces two new energy initiatives at the summit. He declares the intent to form an Indian clean energy and infrastructure working group — which will provide a forum to survey, analyze, and provide viewpoints on real-time obstacles that tribes face in deploying clean energy as well as potential solutions. He also announces the Department is planning to develop guidance that will direct DOE to, when possible, buy renewable energy from tribal lands.

May 5, 2011
In a media conference call, Secretary Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announce a total of $47 million to fund eight research and development projects that will support the production of biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value biobased products from a variety of biomass sources. The projects are funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative and will help increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products. Grant recipients are required to contribute a minimum of 20 percent of matching funds for research and development projects and 50 percent of matching funds for demonstration projects.

May 5, 2011
Secretary Chu announces a group of environmental, industry, and state regulatory experts tasked with making recommendations to improve the safety and environmental performance of natural gas hydraulic fracturing from shale formations. President Obama directed the Secretary to convene this group as part of the President's "Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future" issued on March 30. The group will be a subcommittee of the Secretary's Advisory Board and will work to identify, within 90 days of beginning their work, any immediate steps that can be taken to improve the safety and environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing. They will also develop, within six months of beginning their work, consensus recommended advice to the agencies on practices for shale extraction to ensure the protection of public health and the environment. John Deutch, former DOE under secretary, will serve as chair.

May 6, 2011
President Obama tours the Allison Transmission assembly facility in Indianapolis, Indiana. The 3000 Series transmission to be assembled there will be the base for the new hybrid propulsion system that will be in production in 2013, the H3000. The H3000 propulsion system is being directly supported by a Recovery Act Matching Grant through DOE. In his remarks to the plant workers, the President discusses rising gas prices, jobs, and the clean energy economy. "This is . . . where a clean energy economy is being built," he tells the workers. "This is the kind of company that will make sure that America remains the most prosperous nation in the world. See, other countries understand this. We’re in a competition all around the world, and other countries — Germany, China, South Korea — they know that clean energy technology is what is going to help spur job creation and economic growth for years to come."

May 6, 2011
The Department's Office of Science announces that 65 scientists from across the nation have been selected for five-year awards under the Office's Early Career Research Program. The five-year awards are designed to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years when many scientists do their most formative work. The research awards also aim at providing incentives for scientists to focus on mission research areas that are a high priority for DOE and the nation.

May 7, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, taped at the Allison Transmission facility the previous day, discusses how clean energy will help the U.S. out-compete and out-innovate the rest of the world.

May 10, 2011
The Department releases its 2011 Strategic Plan, a comprehensive blueprint to guide the agency's core mission of ensuring America's security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. As part of the release, Secretary Chu hosts a town hall event for DOE employees.

May 10, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $90.6 million loan guarantee to Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC. The loan guarantee will support the construction of the Alamosa Solar Generating Project, a 30 megawatt (MW) net capacity High Concentration Solar Photovoltaic (HCPV) generation project located in south-central Colorado near the city of Alamosa. The proposed facility will use innovative HCPV systems consisting of concentrating optics and multi-junction solar cell panels that are controlled by a dual-axis tracking system. The tracking system rotates and tilts the cells throughout the day so the surface of the solar panel maintains an optimal angle with respect to the sun. According to the project sponsor, the multi-junction solar cells are nearly 40 percent efficient or about double that of more traditional PV panels used in areas with high amounts of direct sunlight.

May 10, 2011
Jonathan Silver, director of DOE's Loan Programs Office, in a post on the Energy Blog, updates progress on DOE's loan programs. Since 2009, he states, DOE has "issued loans, loan guarantees, and conditional commitments for loan guarantees to 28 clean energy projects, 16 of which have reached financial close, meaning that they have met all requirements and their full loans are finalized. That equates to over $30 billion in financing for those projects with total project costs of over $47 billion." He also notes that one of the three types of loans or loan guarantees — Section 1705 loan guarantees from the Recovery Act — will expire by statute on September 30. Accordingly, DOE is notifying a group of companies that are farthest along in the process with these loans that the Department will be working with them to take the final steps required to complete a loan guarantee.

May 10, 2011
The Department begins its three-day 12th Annual Small Business Conference & Expo at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The conference and Expo presents information to help small businesses across the country benefit from federal funding including grant opportunities, contracting openings, and subcontracting options. The Department is the largest civilian contracting agency within the federal government.

May 10, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have assembled nanoscale pairings of particles that show promise as miniaturized power sources. Composed of light-absorbing, colloidal quantum dots linked to carbon-based fullerene nanoparticles, these tiny two-particle systems can convert light to electricity in a precisely controlled way. Potential applications include power-generating units for molecular electronics and more efficient photovoltaic solar cells.

May 10, 2011
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases a review report on the Effects of a Termination of the Yucca Mountain Repository Program and Lessons Learned. The GAO finds that "DOE’s decision to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository program was made for policy reasons, not technical or safety reasons." The GAO also notes that "concerns have been raised about DOE’s expedited procedures for disposing of property from the program, and its documentation of these procedures was limited. In addition, DOE did not consistently follow federal policy and guidance for planning or assessing risks of the shutdown. Some of these steps to dismantle the program will likely hinder progress if the license application review process resumes—should NRC or the courts require it." In a 14 page letter to the GAO published in the report, DOE "strongly disagrees with many of the conclusions drawn" in the report. "In some areas, those conclusions are based upon misapprehensions of fact. In others, the Draft Report appears to accept on faith assertions by parties who are either ill-informed or have self-interested (for example, financial) reason to disagree with DOE's considered judgments."

May 11, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman speaks before the Nuclear Energy Assembly, the annual conference of the nuclear technologies industry, on President Obama's "clarion call to create a new energy economy and invest in clean energy technologies."

May 11, 2011
The Department's Sandia National Laboratories announces that researchers have completed their second experiment in the past six months at Sandia’s Z machine to explore the properties of plutonium materials under extreme pressures and temperatures. The information is used to keep the U.S. nuclear stockpile safe, secure, and effective.

May 12, 2011
The Department announces that it has surpassed one of the Obama Administration's High Priority Performance Goals five months ahead of schedule in its effort to clean up the legacy of the Cold War. Through a $6 billion Recovery Act investment, DOE's cleanup footprint has been reduced by 45 percent, from 931 square miles to 516 square miles. By achieving this reduction, DOE is on track to reduce its overall cleanup footprint by approximately 90 percent by 2015.

May 12, 2011
A National Research Council committee issues the final volume in America's Climate Choices, a series of studies requested by Congress that examines the nation's options for responding to the risks posed by climate change. The new report reaffirms that the preponderance of scientific evidence points to human activities — especially the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere — as the most likely cause for most of the global warming that has occurred over the last several decades. This trend, according to the report, cannot be explained by natural factors such as internal climate variability or changes in incoming energy from the sun. The report adds that the impacts of climate change on human and natural systems can generally be expected to intensify with warming. The committee concludes that a coordinated national response to climate change, which the country currently lacks, is needed and should be guided by an iterative risk management framework in which actions taken can be revised as new knowledge is gained.

May 13, 2011
Secretary Chu, at an event in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California, with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to celebrate the city's success in electric vehicle and EV infrastructure deployment, announces that, to date, more than 1,800 electric vehicle chargers have been installed under the Recovery Act.

May 13, 2011
The Department's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) announces the installation of a new 12,512-processor supercomputer — known as "Fission" — that is six times more powerful than its predecessor, Icestorm, which came online in 2007. The acquisition of Fission, an Appro Xtreme-X™ supercomputer based on AMD Opteron™ processors, enables INL researchers to build more complete scientific models and better predict outcomes for a variety of nuclear and energy-related issues.

May 14, 2011
President Obama, in his weekly address, announces new plans to increase responsible and safe domestic oil production. He is directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to conduct annual lease sales in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve — while respecting sensitive areas, to speed up the evaluation of oil and gas resources in the mid and south Atlantic, and to create new incentives for industry to develop their unused leases both on and offshore. Also, to give companies more time to meet higher safety standards for exploration and drilling, the administration is extending drilling leases in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were impacted by the temporary moratorium, as well as certain leases off the coast of Alaska. The President, in addition, is establishing a new interagency working group to ensure that Arctic development projects meet health, safety, and environmental standards.

May 15, 2011
Secretary Chu delivers the commencement address at Pomona College.

May 16, 2011
The Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on its final mission, carrying with it the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment supported by the DOE Office of Science. When installed to the outside of the International Space Station, the AMS experiment will sweep the sky for cosmic rays. In addition to measuring how cosmic rays flow and what they are made of, the AMS will also search for cosmic rays consisting of antimatter.

May 16, 2011
The Department, as part of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy announced by President Obama and Prime Minister Singh of India in November 2010, announces that it has committed $25 million over the next five years to support the U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC). The JCERDC will be located in existing facilities in both countries. Teams of scientists and engineers from the U.S. and India will initially focus on research in three priority areas - building energy efficiency, second-generation biofuels, and solar energy.

May 16, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, in a keynote address before the 2011 Tennessee Valley Corridor National Technology Summit, highlights the important relationship between NNSA, the Department's Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Tennessee Valley.

May 16, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces the development of high-efficiency thermal waste heat energy converter technology that actively cools electronic devices, photovoltaic cells, computers, and large waste heat-producing systems while generating electricity. Billions of dollars lost each year as waste heat from industrial processes potentially can be converted into electricity.

May 17, 2011
The Senate blocks a bill that would repeal about $2 billion a year in tax breaks for big oil companies. The White House press secretary releases a statement saying that this is "disappointing... at a time when oil companies are posting near-record profits."

May 17, 2011
The Department announces that a fully instrumented well that will test innovative technologies for producing methane gas from hydrate deposits has been safely installed on the North Slope of Alaska. The well is the result of a partnership between ConocoPhillips and DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory. Methane hydrate consists of molecules of natural gas trapped in an open rigid framework of water molecules. It occurs in sediments within and below thick permafrost in Arctic regions, and in the subsurface of most continental waters with a depth of ~1,500 feet or greater. Many experts believe it represents a potentially vast source of global energy.

May 17, 2011
The Department's Savannah River Operations Office announces that the F Canyon box remediation program, a Recovery Act project at Savannah River Site, has come online to process legacy transuranic (TRU) waste for off-site shipment and permanent disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), a geological repository in New Mexico. The $40-million facility will process approximately 330 boxes containing TRU waste with a radiological risk higher than seen in the rest of the site’s original 5,000-cubic-meter inventory.

May 18, 2011
Secretary Chu testifies before the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the DOE fiscal year 2012 budget request. The request "doesn’t reflect the new spending reality," Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the subcommittee tells the Secretary. "It is clear that DOE and Congress will have to make some joint painful decisions, and focus the limited resources we have on the highest priorities." The Secretary responds that "Right now we have to make very, very hard decisions given the budget realities. We don’t expect Congress to give us our proposed budget."

May 18, 2011
Secretary Chu issues a statement on the ribbon cutting for the Wind Technology Testing Center, a joint effort by DOE, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Wind Technology Testing Center is the nation's first large wind blade test facility and is capable of testing longer blades than any other facility in the world. The center will help reduce the cost of wind energy, accelerate technical innovation in turbine and blade design, and speed the deployment of the next generation of wind turbine blades for both offshore and land-based wind energy. The testing center is located at the Boston Autoport in Boston Harbor, near substantial offshore wind resources. The facility also features truck access, a rail spur, and a dock for transporting blades from ocean-going vessels.

May 18, 2011
NNSA releases its new 2011 Strategic Plan, which details how NNSA will invest in the future, build the nuclear security enterprise required to implement President Barack Obama’s nuclear security agenda and enhance global security, and continue to improve the way it does business. The Strategic Plan will serve as an outline of NNSA’s goals for the next decade and a guide for its planning, programming, and budgeting processes.

May 18, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announces that researchers, using a tool called “Bio-SANS” (Biological Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument), at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, for the first time successfully characterized the earliest structural formation of the disease type of the protein that causes Huntington's disease. Knowing the shifting shapes of the structures may allow scientists to devise medicines that prevent them from forming, or counteract their toxic properties.

May 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces U.S. DRIVE, a cooperative partnership with industry to accelerate the development of clean, advanced, energy-efficient technologies for cars and light trucks and the infrastructure needed to support their widespread use. Formerly known as the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership, U.S. DRIVE - Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability - brings together top technical experts from DOE, the national laboratories, and industry partners to identify critical research and development (R&D) needs, develop technical targets and strategic roadmaps, and evaluate R&D progress on a broad range of advanced vehicle and energy infrastructure technologies.

May 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $737 million loan guarantee to support a 110-megawatt molten salt concentrating solar power (CSP) tower generating facility. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, sponsored by SolarReserve, LLC, will be the first of its kind in the U.S. and the tallest molten salt tower in the world. Located 14 miles northwest of Tonopah, Nevada, on 2,250 acres leased from the Bureau of Land Management, the project has several innovative features, including a 640-foot tall solar power structure and a molten salt-based collection and storage system that will capture and focus the sun's thermal energy with as many as 17,500 heliostats. The molten salt storage system allows the sun's thermal energy to be stored for up to ten hours, permitting steady, uninterrupted power during peak electricity demand, despite cloud cover, and even at night.

May 20, 2011
Vice President Biden visits DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, and announces that a Colorado-based start-up company has signed the first agreement under DOE’s new “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge. Based in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. e-Chromic LLC will use electrochromic technology developed by NREL to create a new thin film window material that reflects sunlight on demand, making windows more energy efficient while reducing cooling costs for consumers.

May 20, 2011
The Department issues a conditional authorization approving an application to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Louisiana. Subject to final environmental and regulatory approval, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC will retrofit an existing LNG import terminal in Louisiana so that it can also be used for exports. This is the first long-term authorization to export natural gas from the lower 48 states as LNG to all U.S. trading partners. The Department states that this will pave the way for "thousands of new construction and domestic natural gas production jobs in Louisiana, Texas, and several other states."

May 21, 2011
The Department's Western Area Power Administration announces that it has energized two new transmission line segments of the Sacramento Area Voltage Support Project, marking the end of construction and readying the line for summer season operations in Sacramento, California. The project included building a new 31-mile, double-circuit, 230-kV transmission line and reconstructing about five miles of existing 230-kV/115-kV transmission line. Constructed to improve the ability to transfer power within the region, the project cost about $74 million.

May 23, 2011
Secretary Chu delivers the commencement address at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

May 23, 2011
The Department announces that computational power from facilities at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will be made available to Japanese physicists due to continuing electricity shortages in eastern Japan resulting from the March earthquake.

May 24, 2011
Secretary Chu, General Services Administrator (GSA) Martha Johnson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley announce the issuance of a Presidential Memorandum implementing new federal fleet management practices to "lead by example and contribute to meeting our national goals of reducing oil imports by one-third by 2025 and putting one million advanced vehicles on the road by 2015." GSA also launches a Electric Vehicle Pilot program to incorporate electric vehicles and charging infrastructure into the federal government’s vehicle and building portfolios as a first step to growing the number of electric vehicles in the federal fleet over time.

May 24, 2011
Secretary Chu joins with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Dr. Francis Eberle, Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), to announce the launch of a new energy education initiative: America's Home Energy Education Challenge. This initiative will work to educate America's youth about the benefits of energy efficiency, motivate students to play an active role in how their families use energy, and help families across the country save money.

May 24, 2011
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission files a civil enforcement action in U.S. District Court against Parnon Energy Inc., Arcadia Petroleum Ltd., Arcadia Energy (Suisse) SA, charging them with unlawfully manipulating and attempting to manipulate New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures prices from January 2008 to April 2008. The complaint alleges a yield excess of $50 million in unlawful profits for the defendants.

May 24, 2011
The Department's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) announces that it is pursuing a new long-term agreement with BC Hydro to use additional reservoir storage on the upper Columbia River in Canada to provide safer flows for protected fish and support power generation. Such an agreement would also provide flexibility to control river flows during high runoff periods. This flexibility could help manage power generation and spill to protect fish. The federal plan for protecting threatened and endangered Snake and Columbia river salmon calls for BPA to pursue such an agreement for additional water storage in Canada.

May 25, 2011
Secretary Chu welcomes nearly 1,000 of America's top energy researchers to Washington, D.C. for the inaugural Science for the Nation's Energy Future: The Energy Frontier Research Centers Summit and Forum. The three-day public conference showcases early successes of DOE's Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) and brings together scientists and energy policy leaders to explore the challenges and opportunities in applying America's scientific and technical resources to helping shape the clean energy future. The Secretary, in remarks, urges Congress to provide sustained funding for energy-related research and development. "We need some policy and some steady long-term support — not stuff that goes up and down — to actually make this happen. In order to get in the race, stay in the race, and [win] this race, we really need a sustained commitment and a long view on energy innovation."

May 25, 2011
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and EPA announce new fuel economy labels. Starting with model year 2013, the improved fuel economy labels will be required to be affixed to all new passenger cars and trucks — both conventional gasoline-powered and “next generation” cars, such as plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. On the new labels, the traditional miles per gallon estimates will be joined by the average annual fuel costs for each vehicle, along with a comparison of emissions and fuel costs and savings in relation to the average new vehicle. The labels also will feature a Quick Response (QR) code that allows car buyers to comparison shop on the go. Shoppers can scan the QR code with their smartphones to store that vehicle's information, compare it to other vehicles.

May 26, 2011
Secretary Chu congratulates Dr. Charles F. McMillan on his appointment as the new director of the NNSA Los Alamos National Laboratory.

May 27, 2011
The Department's Sandia National Laboratories announces the formation of an institute focused on data-intensive supercomputers with supercomputer manufacturer Cray Inc. The Supercomputing Institute for Learning and Knowledge Systems, to be located at Sandia in Albuquerque, will take advantage of the strengths of Sandia and Cray by making software and hardware resources available to researchers who focus on a relatively new application of supercomputing. That task is to make sense of huge collections of data rather than carry out more traditional modeling and simulation of scientific problems.

May 27, 2011
The Department's Idaho Operations Office announces that it has selected Idaho Treatment Group, LLC (ITG) to perform waste processing at the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at DOE’s Idaho Site near Idaho Falls. The contract is estimated at approximately $417 million. ITG will be responsible for processing and disposing of transuranic waste and mixed low-level waste being stored at the site’s Transuranic Storage Area. The contract will run through September 30, 2015.

May 28, 2011
President Obama, on a visit to Poland, discusses with Polish leaders the potential for the U.S. and Poland to cooperate on a wide range of clean energy initiatives, including how both countries can, in an environmentally sound way, develop natural gas and how they can cooperate on the natural gas technology and science.

May 31, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman delivers remarks on “After Fukushima: The Future of Nuclear Energy in the United States and Europe” before a Conference Hosted by the Center on Transatlantic Relations & the Atlantic Council.

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June 1, 2011
The Department hosts the two-day Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Natural Gas Subcommittee meeting. Subcommittee members hear from key stakeholders as it works to identify immediate steps that can be taken to improve the safety and environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing.

June 1, 2011
Secretary Chu announces, as part of the Obama Administration's SunShot Initiative to make solar energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels within the decade, the availability of more than $27 million in new funding that will reduce the non-hardware costs of solar energy projects, a critical element in bringing down the overall costs of installed solar energy systems. The funding will support a $12.5 million challenge — the Rooftop Solar Challenge — yo encourage cities and counties to compete to streamline and digitize permitting processes, as well as $15 million that will be made available to advance innovations in information technology systems, local zoning and building codes and regulations, and more.

June 2, 2011
Secretary Chu, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) announce the offer of a conditional commitment for a $45.6 million loan guarantee by DOE to support a 20 megawatt AC photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility sponsored by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, Inc. Located approximately 25 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, the facility will include over 90,000 polycrystalline silicon modules attached to single-axis horizontal tracker technology that will capture more energy than fixed-tilt photovoltaic systems.

June 2, 2011
Secretary Chu gives a public lecture at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in conjunction with the lab's Users' Meeting.

June 3, 2011
Secretary Chu participates in a groundbreaking ceremony this morning at DOE's Argonne National laboratory to celebrate the new Energy Sciences Building.

June 3, 2011
The Department announces that in a little over two years one-quarter of the uranium mill tailings pile located in Moab, Utah, has been relocated to the Crescent Junction, Utah, site for permanent disposal. This amounts to four million tons of the total 16 million tons relocated. The project received a boost in funding from the Recovery Act that increased the weekly train shipments from four to 10.

June 6, 2011
Secretary Chu begins a five-day trip to Russia. The visit highlights the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation and shared economic opportunities with Russia in the areas of innovative clean energy technology, safe and reliable civilian nuclear power, best practices in energy efficiency, and nuclear non-proliferation. The visit promotes continued collaboration between U.S. and Russian scientists, technical experts, and energy sector businesses. It also is intended to pave the way for U.S. investment and clean technology exports to Russia.

June 6, 2011
NNSA and the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation (Rosatom) announce the successful completion of the first meeting of the U.S. and Russian laboratory directors since 2004. The two-day meeting, held near the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, provided an opportunity for U.S. and Russian laboratory directors, and representatives of Rosatom and NNSA, to craft the next set of steps toward scientific and technical cooperation in areas that include non-proliferation, fundamental and applied research, energy and the environment, and nuclear medicine.

June 6, 2011
The Department, in response to the March accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, convenes a two-day Nuclear Safety Workshop to bring together senior managers and technical experts from across the government and commercial nuclear industry to identify preliminary lessons learned and discuss ways to enhance the safety of our nuclear facilities.

June 7, 2011
Secretary Chu announces nearly $15 million to support eight new research and development projects that will accelerate the development and deployment of high-efficiency solid-state lighting technologies like LEDs and OLEDs. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have the potential to be ten times more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times as long. The projects selected are located in four states across the country and are focused on advancing core R&D goals, developing new products, and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity.

June 7, 2011
The National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC), announces that it has successfully commissioned a new test center for evaluating improved technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal‐based power plant flue gas. The new center, the Post‐Combustion Carbon Capture Center (PC4), is a part of the larger NCCC — a national testing and evaluation center established by DOE in Wilsonville, Alabama, in 2009 and operated and managed by Southern Company. NCCC works collaboratively with third‐party technology developers to test and improve their emerging CO2 capture technologies.

June 8, 2011
Secretary Chu, during his ongoing trip to Russia, posts an article on the Energy Blog on opportunities for partnership between the U.S. and Russia in the area of nuclear power and nuclear security.

June 8, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the availability of up to $70 million in new funding over three years for technology advancements in geothermal energy. Areas of funding include exploration technologies to locate geothermal energy resources and improvements in resource characterization, drilling, and reservoir engineering techniques.

June 8, 2011
NNSA announces the award of a contract for up to $89 million to Appro — a leading developer of high-performance Linux cluster computing systems based in Silicon Valley — to bolster computing for stockpile stewardship at its three national security laboratories. Under the terms of the contract, Appro will provide computing systems that will have an aggregate total “capacity” computing capability of three petaflops (quadrillion floating operations per second) for $39 million as initial delivery.

June 8, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, in remarks delivered during a symposium in Moscow co-hosted by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academies of Science, highlights the strong cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on minimizing the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in civilian research reactors. Administrator D’Agostino says converting research reactors to the use of low enriched uranium (LEU) is “a vital international security priority” and called it “vital to the nuclear security agenda outlined by our two presidents.”

June 8, 2011
The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology releases a report, prepared by the Majority Staff, outlining the findings from numerous document requests and official correspondence between Committee Members and Administration officials over the last two and half years, regarding the termination of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository. The report details "the complete absence of scientific information and analysis used to support the shutdown decision, and reviews Administration actions in the context of promises and specific guidelines on scientific integrity, openness, and transparency set forth by President Obama and senior Administration officials."

June 9, 2011
Secretary Chu, on his second day in Moscow during his visit to Russia, signs two energy agreements. The first, cosigned with Rosatom General Director Sergey Kiriyenko, highlights U.S.-Russia joint nuclear cooperation and includes support for national and international efforts on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, for advancing research efforts, and for the development of a legal framework to expand joint activities on nuclear research. The second is a joint statement with Russian Minister of Energy Sergei Shmatko following the Energy Working Group meeting concerning their action plan for the coming year. The plan includes a previously announced Smart Grid sister city project between San Diego and Belgorod, an Energy Savings Performance Contract pilot program in development in St. Petersburg, and several clean energy joint research projects.

June 9, 2011
Secretary Chu and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announce the offer of a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $350 million loan for a geothermal power generation project. The project, sponsored by Ormat Nevada, Inc., is expected to produce a total of 121 megawatts (MW) of clean, baseload power from three geothermal power facilities and will increase geothermal power production in Nevada by nearly 25 percent.  The facilities are Jersey Valley in Pershing County, McGinness Hills in Lander County and Tuscarora in Elko County.

June 9, 2011
NNSA announces the award of a five-year, $25 million grant to the University of California, Berkeley, to establish the National Science and Security Consortium that will support the nation's nuclear nonproliferation mission through the training and education of experts in the nuclear security field. The consortium will bring together more than 100 researchers.

June 10, 2011
Secretary Chu concludes his five-day visit in Russia with a special visit to the All Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF), considered to be the Russian equivalent of DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory. VNIIEF, located in Sarov, has a long scientific tradition in Russia, beginning when it was established in 1946 to design nuclear weapons. It’s also where the first Soviet nuclear bomb was created.

June 10, 2011
Secretary Chu announces up to $36 million to fund six small-scale projects in California, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin, that will advance the technology improvements and process integration needed to produce drop-in advanced biofuels and other valuable bio-based chemicals. The projects aim to improve the economics and efficiency of biological and chemical processes that convert non-food biomass feedstocks into replacements for petroleum-based feedstocks, products, and fuels.

June 10, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announces that a memorandum of understanding with SWAY, a Norwegian renewable energy company, that has developed floating towers for wind turbines located in deep water. Though California has not yet approved offshore wind turbines, SWAY will launch a 1/5 scale prototype of the technology off the coast of Norway on June 10 to demonstrate how the system could work in the Pacific Ocean. LLNL scientists will provide their expertise in wind energy technology to help launch the project internationally, nationally, and regionally.

June 13, 2011
Secretary Chu participates in an event at the White House on "Building the 21st Century Grid." At the event, the Administration announces a number of new public- and private-sector initiatives designed to accelerate the modernization of the Nation's electric infrastructure, bolster electric-grid innovation, and advance a clean energy economy, in part by taking greater advantage of digital and communications or "smart grid" technologies. The White House releases a report by the Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council, "A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid," which charts a collaborative path forward for applying smart grid technologies to the Nation's electricity infrastructure to facilitate the integration of renewable sources of power into the grid; help accommodate the growing number of electric vehicles; help avoid blackouts and restore power quicker when outages occur; and reduce the need for new power plants. The White House also releases a fact sheet. Secretary Chu announces that more than five million smart meters have been installed nationwide as part of Recovery Act-funded efforts to accelerate modernization of the Nation's electric grid. The Secretary also posts an article on the Energy Blog.

June 13, 2011
President Obama travels to Durham, North Carolina, to meet with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council at the corporate and U.S. manufacturing headquarters of Cree, a leading manufacturer of energy efficient LED lighting. The President tours Cree’s manufacturing facilities, delivers remarks, and meet with the Jobs Council to discuss initiatives and policies to spur economic growth, promote job creation and accelerate hiring across the nation. 

June 13, 2011
Secretary Chu announces a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that is intended to help expand access to energy efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings and help American businesses to reduce energy waste. Under the new partnership, DOE and The Appraisal Foundation will work to ensure that appraisers nationwide have the information, practical guidelines, and professional resources they need to evaluate energy performance when conducting commercial building appraisals. This will help enable investors, building owners and operators, and others to accurately assess the value of energy efficiency as part of the building's overall appraisal.

June 14, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of conditional commitments to provide loan guarantees to support two concentrating solar power (CSP) projects - the Mojave Solar Project in San Bernardino County, California, and the Genesis Solar Project, located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Riverside County, California. The Department is offering a conditional commitment for a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to support the Mojave Solar Project and a conditional commitment for up to a $681.6 million loan guarantee to support the Genesis Solar Project. At 250 megawatts (MW) each, the projects' combined capacity will double the nation's currently installed CSP capacity and displace a total of 40 percent of the output from a typical 500MW coal-fired plant.

June 14, 2011
The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, in a report to Secretary Chu, states that it has determined that the prevailing safety culture at the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) at DOE's Hanford Site is flawed. "The Board's investigative record," the report says, "demonstrates that both DOE and contractor project management behaviors reinforce a subculture at WTP that deters the timely reporting, acknowledgment, and ultimate resolution of technical safety concerns."

June 15, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $359.1 million loan guarantee to Mesquite Solar 1, LLC, to support the development of a photovoltaic solar generating project. The optimized 150 megawatt (MW) alternating current (AC) photovoltaic (PV) solar generation project is sponsored by Sempra Generation and will be located in Maricopa County, Arizona, approximately 45 miles west of Phoenix.

June 15, 2011
A team of researchers from DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory bring the Planet criticality assembly machine located at DOE's Nevada National Security Site to a supercritical point for approximately eight minutes, successfully repeating an experiment last conducted at Los Alamos in 2004. The experiment, bringing a small amount of nuclear material into a chain reaction using the Planet assembly, demonstrates the restoration of a national capability to perform critical operations that was lost with the closure in 2005 of Technical Area 18 at Los Alamos.

June 16, 2011
Secretary Chu welcomes the sponsors and 16 student teams participating in EcoCAR: the NeXt Challenge, a three-year collegiate student engineering competition that focuses on advanced vehicle technologies that minimize fuel consumption and emissions, to the Finish Line at DOE's Forrestal building in Washington, DC. Secretary Chu tours the vehicles on display and speaks with the students who engineered and built them. The first place award goes to the team from Virginia Tech.

June 16, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the availability of more than $30 million to train undergraduate- and graduate-level engineering students in manufacturing efficiency to help them become the nation's next generation of industrial energy efficiency experts. Through the Industrial Assessment Center program, university teams across the country will gain practical training and skills that will enable them to conduct energy assessments in a broad range of manufacturing facilities and help them compete in today's economy. These groups of student engineers will help local companies and factories to reduce energy waste, save money, and become more economically competitive.

June 16, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $275 million loan guarantee to Calisolar Inc. to commercialize its innovative solar silicon manufacturing process. Calisolar's process should produce silicon for use in solar cells at less than half the cost of traditional polysilicon purification processes, which will reduce the overall cost of solar modules and panels. At full production, the manufacturing plant is expected to produce 16,000 metric tons (MT) of solar silicon annually, equivalent to more than two gigawatts of solar power generation per year. The project will be built in three phases of 5,333 MT capacity each and is expected to be located in a former General Motors stamping plant in Ontario, Richland County, Ohio.

June 16, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announces the release, as part of its Energy and Financial Markets Initiative, of a web-based assessment of key factors that can influence oil markets: Energy and Financial Markets: What Drives Crude Oil Prices? The site covers the period from 2000 to the present.

June 16, 2011
The Department's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory announces that researchers have discovered a hidden property of glass. When scientists squeezed tiny samples of metallic glass under high pressure, they found that the atoms lined up in a regular pattern to form a single crystal. By definition, glass is amorphous — its atoms lack order and are arranged every which way. This discovery offers new insight into the atomic structure and behavior of metallic glasses, which are in products such as anti-theft tags and power transformers.

June 16, 2011
The Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces the development of the world’s first three-dimensional plasmon rulers capable of measuring nanometer-scale spatial changes in macromolecular systems. These 3D plasmon rulers could provide scientists with unprecedented details on such critical dynamic events in biology as the interaction of DNA with enzymes, the folding of proteins, the motion of peptides, or the vibrations of cell membranes.

June 17, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies, Inc., for the development of a multicrystalline wafer manufacturing project. The project will be capable of producing approximately 700 to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of silicon-based wafers annually using a revolutionary manufacturing process called Direct Wafer. The innovative process could reduce the manufacturing costs of the wafers by approximately 50 percent, dramatically cutting the cost of solar power. Phase 1 of the project will be located in Lexington, Massachusetts. The company is evaluating site locations for another planned phase.

June 17, 2011
NNSA releases a new quarterly summary of experiments conducted as part of its science-based stockpile stewardship program. The quarterly summary provides descriptions of key NNSA facilities that conduct stockpile stewardship experiments. These include some of the most sophisticated scientific research facilities in the world, including the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test (DARHT) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories. The summary also provides the number of experiments performed at each facility during each quarter of the fiscal year.

June 17, 2011
The Blythe Solar Power Project breaks ground on a concentrating solar thermal power plant near Blythe, California. In April, DOE extended the Blythe project to the Department's largest conditional loan guarantee for a solar project — $2.1 billion. Upon completion, the facility will generate 1,000 megawatts of solar power, enough to power more than 300,000 single-family homes a year. Secretary Chu posts an article about the project on the Energy Blog.

June 20, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman addresses the plenary session at the International Atomic Energy Agency's Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety. The Deputy Secretary emphasizes the importance of international cooperation and information sharing for developing lessons learned from the Fukushima accident.

June 20, 2011
The Department announces that CPS Energy — a municipally owned utility serving San Antonio, Texas — will purchase electricity generated by the DOE-sponsored Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP), a first-of-a-kind commercial clean coal power plant, starting in mid-2014. TCEP, a 400-megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle facility located about 15 miles west of Odessa, will capture 90 percent of its carbon dioxide (CO2) — approximately 3 million tons annually more than any power plant of commercial-scale operating anywhere in the world.

June 20, 2011
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous 8-0 ruling, decides states cannot force electric utilities to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions in order to combat global climate change. The court states that the types of carbon-dioxide curbs that the states were seeking are already being implemented by EPA, which began regulating industrial carbon emissions in January.

June 21, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a to Granite Reliable Power, LLC to provide up to $135.76 million in loan guarantees for a new wind generation project. The 99-megawatt (MW) project will be located in the central portion of Coos County in northern New Hampshire, approximately 110 miles north of Concord. The wind generation project will consist of 33 Vestas V90 3.0-MW wind turbines.

June 21, 2011
Richard G. Newell, Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA), delivers a presentation on Shale Gas and the Outlook for U.S. Natural Gas Markets and Global Gas Resources at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting in Paris, France.

June 21, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that world oil demand will increase by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2011. The projected increase in global oil demand coincides with non-OPEC supply constraints and the ongoing Libyan production shortfall. As a result, EIA estimates that, after accounting for OPEC non-crude liquids and non-OPEC supply, the call on OPEC crude and inventories will grow by 2.2 million and 1.4 million bb/d in the third and fourth quarters of 2011, respectively, from the second-quarter levels. Higher production from the rest of OPEC will be required to meet demand growth and replace significant amounts of Libyan supply through the end of 2012 due to the Libyan oil supply disruption. Crude oil prices reached their highest level of the year at the end of April, the EIA notes, but fell by over 10 percent by mid-June. Despite the recent fall in crude oil and gasoline prices, oil markets are more likely to tighten than soften in the short term.

June 22, 2011
The Department announces that DOE researchers have won 36 of the 100 awards given out this year by R&D Magazine for the most outstanding technology developments with promising commercial potential. The coveted awards are presented annually in recognition of exceptional new products, processes, materials, or software developed throughout the world and introduced into the market the previous year.

June 22, 2011
Secretary Chu and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis host a media conference call to discuss Nevada's progress in developing a clean and renewable energy economy. Secretary Chu also previews his trip to the state on June 23.

June 22, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment to provide a partial guarantee for a $1.4 billion loan to support Project Amp. This project will support the installation of solar panels on industrial buildings across the country, with the electricity generated from those panels contributing directly to the electrical grid, as opposed to powering the buildings where they are installed. Supported by funding from the 2009 Recovery Act, the solar generation project includes the installation of approximately 733 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which is nearly equal to the total amount of PV installed in the U.S. in 2010.

June 23, 2011
The White House issues a statement welcoming the decision of the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to approve new guidelines covering transfers of sensitive nuclear technologies used for the enrichment of uranium or the processing of spent nuclear fuel. 

June 23, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that the U.S. and its partners in the International Energy Agency have decided to release a total of 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market over the next 30 days to offset the disruption in the oil supply caused by unrest in the Middle East. As part of this effort, the U.S. will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR is currently at a historically high level with 727 million barrels. "We are taking this action in response to the ongoing loss of crude oil due to supply disruptions in Libya and other countries and their impact on the global economic recovery," says the Secretary. "As we move forward, we will continue to monitor the situation and stand ready to take additional steps if necessary." Senior administration officials hold a background conference call regarding the ongoing oil supply disruptions and the release of oil.

June 23, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that eight projects in five states - California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Texas, and Utah - have been selected to receive up to $11.3 million to support the research and development of pioneering geothermal technologies. The projects selected will foster innovation in the technologies and methods used to generate geothermal energy.

June 23, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announces the signing of a Memo of Understanding (MOU) with three research institutes within the German Helmholtz Association. The MOU identifies several key solar energy topics to explore for joint research cooperation.

June 23, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the new Amonix solar power system manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The company was able to take advantage of a $5.9 million clean energy manufacturing tax credit to build the $18 million facility. The 214,000-square-foot plant manufacturers Amonix MegaModules®, part of the company’s concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power system.

June 23, 2011
The first electron beam at the new Facility for Advanced aCcelerator Experimental Tests (FACET) at the Department's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory travels 1¼ miles through the linac to the location where the FACET experiments will be installed. Researchers will use FACET’s extremely short, intense pulses of electrons to investigate two innovative methods of accelerating electrons and positrons to exceedingly high energies in extraordinarily short distances. These “wakefield acceleration” techniques could ultimately lead to powerful tabletop accelerators for science, medicine, and industry, as well as the ability to reach much higher energies at accelerators like the SLAC linac.

June 24, 2011
President Obama, in remarks at an event at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announces the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, which includes an investment of up to $120 million from DOE over three years to develop transformational manufacturing technologies and innovative materials that could enable industrial facilities to dramatically increase their energy efficiency. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in emerging technologies. DOE expects to fund 35 to 50 cost-shared projects under the initiative.

June 24, 2011
NNSA announces that, working with the U.S. Air Force, it conducted two successful W80 Joint Test Assembly (JTA) flight tests the previous week, helping ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear stockpile. During the two separate test missions at the Utah Test and Training Range outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, the Air Force successfully launched an Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) carrying a JTA. A B52-H originating from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, launched both of the ALCMs. A JTA contains a set of sensors and hardware used during flight tests to ensure that weapons perform as designed. The purpose of the test was to evaluate the overall performance of the nuclear cruise missile weapon system. The JTAs were not capable of nuclear yield, as they contained no special nuclear materials.

June 24, 2011
Scientists of the MINOS experiment at DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announce the results from a search for a rare phenomenon, the transformation of muon neutrinos into electron neutrinos. The result is consistent with and significantly constrains a measurement reported 10 days earlier by the Japanese T2K experiment, which announced an indication of this type of transformation. The results of these two experiments could have implications for understanding of the role that neutrinos may have played in the evolution of the universe. If muon neutrinos transform into electron neutrinos, neutrinos could be the reason that the big bang produced more matter than antimatter, leading to the universe as it exists today.

June 26, 2011
A forest fire breaks out in the Jemez Mountains about 12 miles southwest of DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory. The lab is closed the following day due to the proximity of the fire, which now known as the Las Conchas fire is the largest fire in New Mexico history. A mandatory evacuation is ordered for the Los Alamos town site. The lab escapes serious damage but does not reopen until July 6.

June 27, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA), reacting to a New York Times article, “Behind Veneer, Doubt on Future of Natural Gas,” focusing on EIA's consideration of shale gas, makes available the EIA response to the inquiry from the Times.

June 28, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that six projects in four states - California, Colorado, Florida, and New York - have been selected to receive nearly $7.5 million over two years to advance next-generation designs for wind turbine drivetrains. Drivetrains, which include a turbine's gearbox and generator, are at the heart of the turbine and are responsible for producing electricity from the rotation of the blades.

June 28, 2011
The Department seals the access to the historic P and R Reactors as part of footprint reduction and legacy cleanup at the Savannah River Site. Recovery Act funds were used to deactivate and perform in situ, or in place, decommissioning of the two reactors. The underground areas and vessels of both reactors were grouted in place to 0-foot elevation with an estimated 260,000 cubic yards of concrete grout. The two structures are expected to stay in their present state for 1,400 years.

June 29, 2011
Secretary Chu, complementing the Obama Administration's launch the previous week of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, announces a series of new manufacturing job training partnerships using DOE's National Training and Education Resource (NTER). DOE will partner with the Manufacturing Institute, an affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, and Macomb Community College  to explore opportunities to provide students with highly interactive and engaging materials in a variety of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas, as well as virtual technician training. Partner organizations will be able to access the federal resources available through the NTER - an open-source, web-based, interactive learning environment - and be able to develop new training programs and materials.

June 29, 2011
The Department awards a contract to CH2M Hill-B&W West Valley of Englewood, Colorado, for the Phase I Decommissioning and Facility Disposition activities at the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York. The total contract value is $333.4 million.

June 29, 2011
ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar hosts DOE's second "Energy Matters" live chat and discuss the investments being made in innovative research and technology

June 30, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the transformer manufacturing plant of Waukesha Electric Systems in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The company received $12.5 million from DOE’s Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, which enabled it to expand the facility by 50 percent.

June 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Chicago the 14 initial partners committing to the Better Buildings Challenge. The Challenge is part of the Better Buildings Initiative that President Obama launched in February to catalyze private sector investment in commercial building upgrades and make America's commercial buildings 20 percent more efficient over the next decade. The Better Buildings Initiative is co-led by the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and former President Clinton. Earlier in June, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness recommended to President Obama prioritizing the Better Buildings Initiative as an important way to support job creation. The initial partners in the Challenge include private sector companies, financial institutions, and local governments. Senior Administration officials Maria Vargas and Michelle Moore, and Member of the President's Jobs Council Laura Tyson, hold an on-the-record conference call to discuss the Administration's announcement.

June 30, 2011
The Department announces that industry interest in DOE's sale of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) oil, announces on June 23, was very high. Over 90 offers to purchase oil were received yesterday and the Department's offering of 30.2 million barrels of light, sweet crude oil was substantially oversubscribed. The Department expects all contract awards to be completed by July 11, at which time details about purchasers and sales prices will be released.

June 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces offers of conditional commitments for loan guarantees, of approximately $4.5 billion, to support three alternating current Cadmium Telluride (Cd-Te) thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar generation facilities. The Department is offering a conditional commitment for a $680 million loan guarantee to support the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project, conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees of $1.88 billion in loans to support the Desert Sunlight project, and conditional commitments for partial loan guarantees of $1.93 billion in loans to support the Topaz Solar project. First Solar, Inc., with headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, is sponsoring all three projects and will provide Cd-Te thin film solar PV modules for the projects from a new manufacturing plant that has begun construction in Mesa, Arizona, as well as from its recently expanded manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, which serves as its primary hub for engineering, research and development. All three projects are located in California.

June 30, 2011
Secretary Chu, in a letter in response to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board's June 14 report stating that the prevailing safety culture at DOE's Hanford Site is flawed, says that DOE "cannot accept the allegations without the opportunity to evaluate the Board's full investigative record." He adds, however, that "in the spirit of continual improvement DOE accepts the Board's recommendation to assert federal control to direct, track, and validate corrective actions to strengthen the safety culture."

June 30, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announces the opening of the High Performance Computing Innovation Center (HPCIC). The innovation center will facilitate national lab/industry collaboration, applying high-performance computing to product design, development and manufacturing, data management, and the operation of complex energy and communication systems. Industries expected to benefit from the use of HPC range from aerospace, automotive, and transportation to utilities, energy, health care, finance, materials manufacturing, nanotechnology, and consumer electronics.

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July 1, 2011
The Department announces that in June it completed the cleanup of Cold War legacy waste at the Nuclear Radiation Development, LLC (NRD) site near Grand Island, New York, and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. The two locations became the 18th and 19th sites to be completely cleaned of legacy waste.

July 1, 2011
Thomas D'Agostino, NNSA administrator, visits the State of New Mexico's Emergency Operations Center where he is briefed on the statewide response to the wildfires near Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He then meets with various state officials at the LANL  Emergency Operations Center.

July 1, 2011
Calisolar Inc. tells local officials in Ontario, Ohio, that it will not be able to meet a September construction deadline on its proposed silicon manufacturing plant required to fulfill the terms of a loan guarantee offered by DOE on June 16. The project would have been funded through the Recovery Act, which mandates that projects commence construction by September 30. A Calisolar spokesman confirms that the company is no longer going to build the Ohio plant.

July 1, 2011
A sophisticated cyberattack forces DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to shut down most of its internal network services, including email and access to the Internet.

July 5, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that six new corporate partners have joined the National Clean Fleets Partnership. The new partners — Coca-Cola, Enterprise Holdings, General Electric, OSRAM SYLVANIA, Ryder, and Staples — operate a total of nearly a million commercial vehicles nationwide. The National Clean Fleets Partnership, announced by President Obama on April 1, is a public-private partnership that helps large companies reduce diesel and gasoline use in their fleets by incorporating electric vehicles, alternative fuels, and fuel-saving measures into their daily operations.

July 6, 2011
NNSA and the Djiboutian Ministry of Equipment and Transport announce the commissioning of radiation detection equipment at the Port of Djibouti as part of cooperative efforts to prevent the illicit smuggling of nuclear and other radiological material.

July 6, 2011
The Department announces three field projects aimed at confirming that long-term geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is safe and environmentally secure. The three projects, which collectively will receive $34.5 million over four years, will conduct small-scale injection testing of CO2 into promising geologic formations.

July 7, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $105 million loan guarantee to support the development of the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. Project LIBERTY, sponsored by POET, LLC, will produce up to 25 million gallons of ethanol per year and will be located in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Unlike many conventional corn ethanol plants, Project LIBERTY will use corncobs, leaves, and husks - sources provided by local farmers - that do not compete with feed grains. The project's innovative process uses enzymatic hydrolysis to convert waste into ethanol and will produce enough biogas to power both Project LIBERTY and POET's adjacent grain-based ethanol plant.

July 7, 2011
The Department's Office of Science announces the selection of a collaboration of top scientists from across the nation to lead the development of a computer-based Systems Biology Knowledgebase for the scientific community that is designed to advance understanding of microbes and plants for energy and environmental solutions.

July 7, 2011
NNSA announces that the BlueGene/Q, which will be deployed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2012 as Sequoia, has been listed on the bi-annual Green500 list as the world’s most efficient supercomputer.

July 7, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory announces that it has awarded three industry teams a total of $7 million for the development of computer-aided software design tools to help produce the next generation of electric-drive vehicle (EDV) batteries.

July 7, 2011
The Department's Sandia National Laboratories announces that it has developed a new technology — the “Sandia Cooler,” also known as the “Air Bearing Heat Exchanger” — with the potential to dramatically alter the air-cooling landscape in computing and microelectronics. Lab officials are seeking licensees in the electronics chip cooling field to license and commercialize the device.

July 8, 2011
President Obama announces his intent to nominate Charles McConnell as DOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy.

July 8, 2011
Secretary Chu joins with former Senator John Warner (R-VA) on a media conference call to discuss the bipartisan energy-saving standards for residential lighting that were included in the 2007 energy bill and how these standards will help U.S. households save money.

July 8, 2011
Secretary Chu, in an email to DOE employees, announces that Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Inés Triay is stepping down. He also announces a reorganization that will "transition the Office of Environmental Management, the Office of Legacy Management, and the Office of the Chief of Nuclear Safety so that these offices will report directly to the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, Tom D’Agostino. This reorganization will capitalize on the expertise that exists throughout the Department on project management, nuclear materials and waste, and nuclear safety and security."

July 8, 2011
NNSA announces that, working with the U.S. Air Force, it conducted a successful W78 Joint Test Assembly (JTA) flight test. The Minuteman payload consisted of a single instrumented JTA launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was the first flight test incorporating a new command destruct system, Command Receiver Decoder, developed for the Minuteman program. A JTA contains a set of sensors and hardware used during flight tests to ensure that weapons perform as intended. The joint flight testing program helps ensure the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapon stockpile.

July 11, 2011
The Department announces the completion of the bid process and successful contract award for the full 30.64 million barrels sold from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through DOE's competitive sale process. A total of 28 contracts were awarded to 15 companies. The Department is currently coordinating with the successful contract awardees, the Maritime Administration, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to facilitate and streamline deliveries, including those for companies that have requested early delivery of the crude oil in July 2011. This completes the initial phase of the drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and fulfills the U.S.'s obligation, announced on June 23, under the International Energy Agency response to offset the disruption in oil supply caused by unrest in the Middle East.

July 11, 2011
Secretary Chu discusses the Troops to Energy Jobs initiative led by the Center for Energy Workforce Development at the National Press Club. Secretary Chu recognizes the service of U.S. veterans and emphasizes the importance of connecting veterans with green jobs.

July 11, 2011
Secretary Chu, in response to a move by leaders in the House to roll back standards for residential lighting, posts an article on the Energy Blog that also appears on the White House Blog. "These standards were passed just a few years ago with overwhelming bipartisan support from 86 Senators and 314 members of the House," the Secretary notes. "They were championed and co-sponsored by the former Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, and signed into law by President Bush. I also want to take this opportunity to dispel a myth. The standards do NOT ban incandescent bulbs. You’ll still be able to buy energy-saving halogen incandescent bulbs that look exactly the same as the ones you’re used to, and more than pay for themselves over the life of the 100-watt replacement bulb. The only difference is that your electric bills will be lower."

July 11, 2011
NNSA announces that recent test results show its second Single Event Upset Xilinx-Sandia Experiment (SEUXSE II — pronounced "Suzie Two") package is very resistant to a severe space radiation environment, providing a revolutionary level of performance, reduced costs, and greater flexibility for NNSA’s treaty monitoring mission. Materials International Space Station Experiment-8 (MISSE-8), which includes SEUXSE II, was launched on NASA’s space shuttle Endeavor on May 16. NASA astronauts installed MISSE-8 on the outside of the International Space Station on May 20, and SEUXSE II became operational one week later. SEUXSE II is a second-generation experiment that has enabled NNSA to investigate the effects of space radiation on commercial-off-the-shelf supercomputer components for possible use in space-based treaty monitoring technology.

July 12, 2011
President Obama issues an Executive Order establishing the Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska. The working group consists of representatives from eight federal agencies, including DOE, and is chaired by the Deputy Secretary of the Interior.

July 12, 2011
A team of experts from NNSA supports the overall conduct of preventative radiological/nuclear detection during the Major League Baseball All-Star game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

July 13, 2011
The Department hosts a day-long public forum on the DOE Quadrennial Technology Review (DOE-QTR) in Washington, DC. The final of six workshops, the event provides an opportunity for public comment on the DOE-QTR's principles constructing the DOE energy technology portfolio in order to address the nation's energy challenges. Secretary Chu delivers the keynote address and discusses outlining DOE's plan for building a clean energy future portfolio.

July 13, 2011
Secretary Chu, in a media conference call with Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) announces the offer of a $730 million conditional loan commitment to Severstal Dearborn, LLC to support the modernization of existing facilities in Dearborn, Michigan, in addition to the design, manufacture, and construction of new facilities to produce the next generation of automotive advanced high strength steel (AHSS). The Severstal project has the potential to significantly increase the supply of AHSS in North America as demand continues to grow for fuel-efficient vehicles.

July 13, 2011
Secretary Chu and World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick discuss at the World Bank's Washington headquarters how technology and policy can help the world move toward a low-carbon future. The Chu-Zoellick dialogue is part of an all-day gathering of high-level representatives from developing and developed countries, international institutions, and think tanks.

July 13, 2011
The Department issues a notice seeking comment on its Preliminary Plan to implement Executive Order 13563, "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review". The plan describes how DOE intends to conduct a retrospective review of its regulations.

July 13, 2011
NNSA announces the formal entry into force of the amended Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement after an exchange of diplomatic notes by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the State Department. The U.S. and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to each dispose of no less than 34 metric tons each of their surplus weapon-grade plutonium by irradiating the plutonium as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in nuclear power reactors. The material to be disposed of under the Agreement is enough for 17,000 nuclear weapons.

July 13, 2011
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announces that he is recommending to Congress the establishment of a national historical park to commemorate the Manhattan Project, the top-secret effort to create an atomic bomb during World War II. The park would consist of three sites where much of the critical scientific activity associated with the project occurred: Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The recommendation has been endorsed by DOE, which would partner with the National Park Service in developing and managing the proposed park. The study calls for DOE to continue managing and operating the facilities associated with the Manhattan Project and for the National Park Service to provide interpretation and education in connection with these resources.

July 14, 2011
DOE and EPA announce for the first time products recognized as the most energy-efficient in their categories among those that have earned the Energy Star label. The new designation of Most Efficient aims to provide all manufacturers with an incentive for greater product energy efficiency while providing consumers new information about the products that comprise the top tier in the categories.

July 14, 2011
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announces the approval of four new large-scale renewable energy projects on public lands: two utility-scale solar developments in California, a wind energy project in Oregon, and a transmission line in Southern California. Salazar also announces that the Interior Department, in cooperation with DOE, will prepare a targeted supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development (Solar PEIS). First released for public review in December 2010, the Solar PEIS will establish a framework for developing large utility-scale solar energy projects on public lands, based on landscape-level planning and the best available science, designed to promote the development in “solar energy zones” in six western states. The supplement will address key issues identified through public comments and provide a number of enhancements.

July 14, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations votes to subpoena documents from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) relating to DOE's issuance of a loan guarantee to Solyndra, Inc. OMB is responsible for reviewing and approving the Credit Subsidy Costs of all DOE loan guarantees.

July 14, 2011
American Electric Power announces that it is terminating its cooperative agreement with DOE and placing its plans to advance carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology to commercial scale at its existing Mountaineer Power Plant on hold, citing the uncertain status of U.S. climate policy and the continued weak economy as contributors to the decision. Secretary Chu announced in December 2009 that DOE was conditionally awarding the project $334 million in grant funds to cover an estimated half of the cost of the project.

July 15, 2011
The Department announces that the eastern third of the C-410 Feed Plant complex at the Paducah Site has been demolished using Recovery Act funding. Once a nine-facility complex spanning nearly 200,000 square feet, the Feed Plant operated from 1957 to 1977 to produce uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and fluorine.

July 18, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman delivers remarks on clean energy at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi, India.

July 18, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the A123 Systems advanced battery manufacturing facility in Romulus, Michigan. The Department has supported A123’s innovative technology, including basic research and assisting with technology testing and development. After his visit, the Secretary comments on why he believes that A123 Systems can serve as a model for America to lead in advanced manufacturing. In August 2009, the company received $249 million in Recovery Act funds to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

July 18, 2011
The Department, the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and private partners launch a project to improve wind forecasting. The Wind Forecast Improvement Project (WFIP) focuses on improving forecast accuracy for large changes in wind speed over periods of time in the range of an hour or less, which will help utilities plan the mix of electricity generators in operation on an hourly basis and ultimately reduce costs. With better forecasting from projects such as WFIP, utilities can more reliably connect variable power sources including wind energy with electricity grids.

July 18, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces that a new approach to growing graphene greatly reduces problems that have plagued researchers in the past and clears a path to the crystalline form of graphite's use in sophisticated electronic devices, including batteries, transistors, and computer chips.

July 19, 2011
The Department announces that as part of an interagency partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to strengthen American energy security and develop new clean energy technologies, DOD will be installing and operating 18 fuel cell backup power systems at eight military installations across the country. The departments will test how the fuel cells perform in real-world operations, identify any technical improvements manufacturers could make to enhance performance, and highlight the benefits of fuel cells for emergency backup power applications. The projects are being conducted under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two departments in July 2010.

July 19, 2011
The Department and the Ad Council launch a national consumer education campaign to help consumers save money on utility bills. Created pro bono by Texas-based advertising agency GSD&M, the public service advertisements aim to help consumers save money on their energy bills by doing things such as sealing leaks in their homes and using energy-efficient products.

July 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that David Huizenga, NNSA’s Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, is the new Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.

July 19, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) dedicates a new Chemical and Materials Sciences Building. The 160,000 square foot facility provides modern laboratory and office space for ORNL researchers who are studying and developing materials and chemical processes for energy-related technologies, including advanced batteries and high-efficiency solar panels.

July 19, 2011
The US ITER Project Office at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory competitively awards a multi-year contract to General Atomics to produce superconducting magnets for the central solenoid of ITER, an experimental fusion facility that aims to demonstrate the feasibility of fusion energy for the commercial power grid. The U.S. is one of seven ITER members. The ITER facility is currently under construction in France.

July 19, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces that fourteen companies have agreed to join with the lab to establish the Oak Ridge Carbon Fiber Composites Consortium, which will work to accelerate the development, demonstration, and commercial application of new low-cost carbon fiber and composites materials in many different industry sectors.

July 19, 2011
Howard Gruenspecht, Acting Administrator of DOE's Energy Information Administration, testifies on current and projected supply and demand conditions for natural gas before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

July 20, 2011
The Department announces the selection of ten projects at nine universities under the Office of Fossil Energy’s University Turbine Systems Research Program. The projects will develop technologies for use in the new generation of advanced turbines that operate cleanly and efficiently using fuels derived from coal and containing high amounts of hydrogen.

July 20, 2011
Secretary Chu offers opening remarks at the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) public meeting. The Secretary discusses the rationale for placing the Office of Environmental Management under the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security. Waste issues are closely aligned with nuclear security issues, the Secretary notes. “When I look back at the history of the undersecretary of energy, none of them gave [EM] their full attention,” he says. “When you’re an undersecretary for energy, you’re focused on renewable energy, transmission, many things, and you’re probably less focused on Cold War legacy sites.”

July 20, 2011
The Department’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announces the observation of a new particle, the neutral Xi-sub-b (Ξb0). This particle contains three quarks: a strange quark, an up quark and a bottom quark (s-u-b). While its existence was predicted by the Standard Model, the observation of the neutral Xi-sub-b is significant because it strengthens understanding of how quarks form matter.

July 21, 2011
Secretary Chu announces $2 million in available funding for the National University Clean Energy Business Challenge. This nationwide initiative will create a network of regional student-focused clean energy business creation competitions whose winners will compete for a National Grand Prize at a completion held at DOE in Washington, DC, in early summer 2012.

July 21, 2011
Secretary Chu announces 31 tribal energy projects to receive $6.3 million over two years as part of DOE's ongoing efforts to support tribal energy development and continue strengthening the partnership with Tribal Nations.

July 21, 2011
NNSA issues a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for the management and operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Pantex Plant, with an option for phase-in of Tritium Operations performed at the Savannah River Site. The draft RFP also includes a separate contract line item for the project management of the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

July 21, 2011
The Department begins the demolition of Building K-25’s east wing. The former uranium enrichment facility, located at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), was once the world’s largest building under one roof, covering more than 44 acres. Demolition of the superstructure’s west wing, measuring 844,000 square feet, concluded in January 2010. K-25 was constructed in 1944, as part of the Manhattan Project, to develop the first atomic weapon.

July 25, 2011
The Department announces that it has signed an agreement with the Indian Department of Atomic Energy to help advance scientific discovery in the field of accelerator and particle detector research. The agreement will leverage scientific, technical, and engineering expertise to facilitate basic science research and development (R&D) between the two departments. Deputy Secretary Poneman and Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, the Chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, signed the agreement on the sidelines of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi the previous week.

July 25, 2011
Secretary Chu participates in the ribbon-cutting in the dedication ceremony for Celgard's new lithium-ion battery separator facility at Concord, North Carolina. In August 2009, the Secretary visited Celgard's facility in Charlotte to announce $2.4 billion in Recovery Act-funding for 48 advanced battery and electric vehicle projects, including $49 million for Celgard to help expand its Charlotte operations and build the Concord facility.

July 25, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that four regional transmission organizations set or just missed daily demand records during the latter part of the previous week due to a heat wave affecting over 30 states.

July 25, 2011
The Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have observed a new way that magnetic and electric properties — which have a long history of ignoring and counteracting each other — can coexist in a special class of metals. These materials, known as multiferroics, could serve as the basis for the next generation of faster and energy-efficient logic, memory, and sensing technology.

July 26, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman and CenterPoint Energy, Inc.'s electric transmission and distribution subsidiary, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, release survey results from a 500 participant smart meter In-Home Display pilot program begun last fall. Based on surveys, 71 percent of customers reported that they have changed their electricity consumption behavior as a result of the energy use data they accessed on their in-home displays. The results were released while the Deputy Secretary visited Houston to see how smart meters and intelligent grid technology - partially funded with a $200 million Smart Grid Investment Grant from DOE - are enabling consumers to better monitor and manage their electric use and helping modernize the electric infrastructure.

July 26, 2011
The Congressional Budget Office issues a study, The Effects of Renewable or Clean Electricity Standards, examining how a federal renewable or clean electricity standard would change the mix of fuels used for electricity generation, the amount of CO2 emissions, and the retail price of electricity in different parts of the U.S. Renewable electricity standards would require a certain share of the nation’s electricity generation to come from renewable sources, such as wind or solar power. Clean electricity standards would require a certain percentage of the nation’s electricity generation to come from renewable sources or nonrenewable sources that reduce or eliminate CO2 emissions, such as nuclear power, coal-fired plants that capture and store CO2 emissions, and possibly natural-gas-fired plants.

July 26, 2011
The Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed a computational model for analyzing the metabolic processes in rapeseed plants — particularly those related to the production of oils in their seeds. Their goal is to find ways to optimize the production of plant oils that have widespread potential as renewable resources for fuel and industrial chemicals. The model may help to identify ways to maximize the conversion of carbon to biomass to improve the production of plant-derived biofuels.

July 26, 2011
NNSA announces the successful installation and start of radiation detection equipment operations at the Port of Barcelona, Spain. The specialized equipment, installed as part of a cost-sharing agreement between NNSA’s Megaports Initiative and the Spanish Government, will help detect and deter the illicit smuggling or shipments of nuclear and other radiological materials.

July 26, 2011
The Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy hosts a two-day Biomass conference.

July 27, 2011
President Obama announces his intent to nominate David Danielson as DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

July 27, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Verizon sign a memorandum of understanding that could lead to the development of new innovative ways to reduce energy use in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. Through this first-of-its-kind agreement between an ICT company and a DOE national laboratory, NREL’s work with Verizon could produce a blueprint for energy-efficient operations in one of the most energy-intensive industries in the world on a square-foot basis.

July 29, 2011
President Obama, in remarks at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C., announces an agreement with thirteen major automakers to pursue the next phase in the Administration’s national vehicle program, increasing fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. The President is joined by Ford, GM, Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, and Volvo — which together account for over 90% of all vehicles sold in the United States — as well as the United Auto Workers (UAW), and the State of California, who were integral to developing the agreement. The new standards build on an agreement for Model Years 2012-2016 vehicles, which will raise fuel efficiency to 35.5 mpg.

July 29, 2011
The Department's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future issues a draft report. The purpose of the 15-member commission, established by DOE in January 2010, is to conduct a comprehensive review of policies for managing the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and provide recommendations for developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the Nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The Commission concludes that "new institutional leadership is needed. Specifically, we believe a single-purpose, Congressionally-chartered federal corporation is best suited to provide the stability, focus, and credibility needed to get the waste program back on track." The overall record of DOE and of the federal government as a whole, states the Commission, "has not inspired confidence or trust in our nation’s nuclear waste management program."

July 31, 2011
Congress reaches a bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit and reduce the deficit.

Top of page

August 1, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE is considering offers for a new site for Solar Decathlon 2013. For the first time, DOE is inviting venues across the nation to compete for the opportunity to host this award-winning event. The Solar Decathlon has been held on the National Mall in Washington, DC, since 2002.

August 1, 2011
The Department announces a total of 11 research projects worth $12.4 million that will help find ways to extract more energy from unconventional oil and gas resources while reducing environmental risks. The selections include $10.3 million for eight projects that will reduce the environmental risks of shale gas development while accelerating the application of new exploration and production technologies; and $2.1 million for three projects investigating innovative processes for extracting additional oil from mature domestic oil fields including Enhanced Oil Recovery.

August 2, 2011
Secretary Chu announces a $50 million investment over two years for the SUNPATH program, aimed to help the nation reclaim its competitive edge in solar manufacturing. SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home, represents the second solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative (PVMI) supporting DOE's SunShot Initiative. PVMI Part II: SUNPATH seeks to increase domestic manufacturing through investments that have sustainable, competitive cost, and performance advantages. SUNPATH will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production scale up their manufacturing capabilities, enabling them to overcome a funding gap that often curtails domestic business at a critical stage.

August 3, 2011
The Department announces that Philips Lighting North America has won the 60-watt replacement bulb category of the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition. The Department's L Prize challenged the lighting industry to develop high performance, energy-saving replacements for conventional light bulbs. Submitted in 2009, the Philips LED bulb successfully completed 18 months of intensive field, lab, and product testing to meet the rigorous requirements of the L Prize competition - ensuring that performance, quality, lifetime, cost, and availability meet expectations for widespread adoption and mass manufacturing.

August 3, 2011
NNSA announces that it has begun production runs focusing on high-resolution 3-D weapon simulations on NNSA’s largest supercomputer platform, Cielo. A petascale resource for conducting NNSA weapons simulations in the 2011-2015 timeframe, Cielo, located at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, can achieve more than one quadrillion floating-point operations per second. The simulations will be used to ensure the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nuclear stockpile while maintaining the moratorium on underground nuclear explosive testing.

August 3, 2011
NNSA announces a new plan — the Tritium Responsive Infrastructure Modifications (TRIM) — to modernize and consolidate the tritium facilities at the Savannah River Site as part of NNSA’s mission to turn a Cold War nuclear weapons complex into a 21st-century nuclear security enterprise. Similar to the strategy at Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, it includes consolidation of existing facilities, deployment of new technology and process equipment, and demolition and removal of the old buildings.

August 3, 2011
The Congressional Budget Office issues a report examining the main factors that influence the cost to the federal government of providing loan guarantees for the construction of nuclear power plants.

August 4, 2011
The Department announces the next step of its comprehensive website reform, making DOE's website, Energy.gov, a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually. Through a complete overhaul of its front-end and back-end design, Energy.gov modernizes how consumers and businesses access the information and resources they need to save money and energy while improving departmental staff’s ability to interact with the public and each other.

August 4, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that an Iowa based start-up company has been selected to participate in DOE’s “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge. Iowa Powder Atomization Technologies has signed a technology license agreement to use technologies developed by DOE's Ames Laboratory to produce fine titanium powder that can be used to improve military, biomedical, and aerospace components, and can possibly be used in artificial limbs like those used by wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan less expensive. “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge is part of the Obama Administration’s Startup America Initiative to encourage high-growth entrepreneurship in the U.S.

August 4, 2011
NNSA announces the successful installation and start of operations of radiation detection equipment at the Port of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The specialized equipment provided by NNSA scans shipping containers for the presence of potentially dangerous nuclear and other radioactive materials.

August 5, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE finalized a $967 million loan guarantee to Agua Caliente Solar, LLC. The loan guarantee will support the construction of the Agua Caliente Solar project, a 290-megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility in Yuma County, Arizona, that will use thin-film solar panels manufactured by First Solar, Inc. The Agua Caliente Solar project will deploy fault ride-through and dynamic voltage regulation, innovative technologies that are new to photovoltaic solar power plants in the U.S. These technologies will improve the reliability and predictability of the electricity supplied to the electricity grid.

August 8, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory announces that researchers have created controllable "micro-robots." The robots, just half a millimeter wide, are composed of microparticles. Confined between two liquids, they assemble themselves into star shapes when an alternating magnetic field is applied. The robots can be made to pick up, transport, and put down other non-magnetic particles — potentially enabling the fabrication of precisely designed functional materials in ways not currently possible.

August 9, 2011
President Obama, meeting with industry officials, announces first of their kind fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas pollution standards for work trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles and thanks the officials for their leadership in finalizing a successful national program for these vehicles. Under the comprehensive new national program, trucks and buses built in 2014 through 2018 will reduce oil consumption by a projected 530 million barrels and greenhouse gas pollution by approximately 270 million metric tons. Like the Administration’s car standards, this program — which relies heavily on off-the-shelf technologies — was developed in coordination with truck and engine manufacturers, fleet owners, the State of California, environmental groups, and other stakeholders.

August 9, 2011
The Department announces nearly $7 million over five years for independent cost analyses that will support research and development efforts for fuel cells and hydrogen storage systems. The four projects — in California, Ohio, and Virginia — will generate rigorous cost estimates for manufacturing equipment, labor, energy, raw materials, and various components that will help identify ways to drive down production costs of transportation fuel cell systems, stationary fuel cell systems, and hydrogen storage systems. These projects will provide important data that will help DOE focus future research and development funding on the fuel cell components and manufacturing processes that can deliver the greatest gains in efficiency.

August 9, 2011
The Department announces that it has awarded up to $39 million in research grants aimed at developing cutting-edge nuclear energy technologies and training and educating the next generation of leaders in the U.S. nuclear industry. Speaking at DOE’s annual Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) workshop in Chicago, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Lyons says the grants would support up to 51 projects at colleges and universities around the country.

August 9, 2011
The Department announces the selection of three projects to develop novel sensing and control technologies aimed at the efficient operation of advanced, zero-emission power systems and the improvement of operations at existing fossil energy power plants. The total value of the projects is approximately $4.9 million, with $3.9 million of DOE funding and $1 million in recipients’ cost-sharing.

August 10, 2011
Secretary Chu announces more than $175 million over the next three to five years to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced vehicle technologies. The funding will support 40 projects across 15 states and will help improve the fuel efficiency of next-generation vehicles. The projects will target new innovations throughout the vehicle, including better fuels and lubricants, lighter weight materials, longer-lasting, and cheaper electric vehicle batteries and components, more efficient engine technologies, and more.

August 10, 2011
The Department releases a report — 2011 U.S. Billion-Ton Update: Biomass Supply for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry — detailing U.S. biomass feedstock potential nationwide. The report examines the nation’s capacity to produce a billion dry tons of biomass resources annually for energy uses without impacting other vital U.S. farm and forest products, such as food, feed, and fiber crops. The study provides industry, policymakers, and the agricultural community with county-level data and includes analyses of current U.S. feedstock capacity and the potential for growth in crops and agricultural products for clean energy applications. The study finds that, with continued developments in biorefinery capacity and technology, the feedstock resources identified could produce about 85 billion gallons of biofuels — enough to replace approximately 30 percent of the nation’s current petroleum consumption

August 10, 2011
The Department's Office of Enforcement settles a civil penalty action against Hudson-Reed, Limited, after the manufacturer failed to certify over 60 of its showerhead models. In the settlement, the manufacturer further acknowledges that its showerheads used more water than allowed by federal law. DOE agreed to accept a civil penalty of $80,000 for the violation.

August 11, 2011
President Obama Holland, Michigan tours the Johnson Controls Inc. advanced battery facility in Holland, Michigan, and delivers remarks to the workers. At Johnson Controls, the President highlights the key role innovative technologies will play in helping automakers achieve fuel economy standards, establishing U.S. leadership in advanced vehicle manufacturing, spurring economic growth, and creating high-quality domestic jobs in cutting edge industries across America.

August 11, 2011
The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production releases a draft Ninety-Day Report containing a series of consensus-based recommendations calling for increased measurement, public disclosure, and a commitment to continuous improvement in the development and environmental management of shale gas. The report, the first such ever from a federal-level body on shale gas and fracking, calls for industry leadership in improving environmental performance, underpinned by strong regulations and rigorous enforcement, evolving to meet the identified challenges. Noting that it is not within the scope of the report to "make recommendations about the proper regulatory roles for state and federal governments," the Subcommittee emphasizes that "effective and capable regulation is essential to protect the public interest. The challenges of protecting human health and the environment in light of the anticipated rapid expansion of shale gas production require the joint efforts of state and federal regulators. This means that resources dedicated to oversight of the industry must be sufficient to do the job and that there is adequate regulatory staff at the state and federal level with the technical expertise to issue, inspect, and enforce regulations."

August 11, 2011
The Department announces that a team of researchers at DOE’s BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) have pinpointed the exact, single gene that controls ethanol production capacity in a microorganism. The discovery will mean that scientists can now experiment with genetically altering biomass plants to produce more ethanol. Current methods to make ethanol from a type of biomass found in switchgrass and agricultural waste require the addition of expensive enzymes to break down the plant’s barriers that guard energy-rich sugars. BESC is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and is one of three Bioenergy Research Centers established by the DOE's Office of Science in 2007.

August 11, 2011
The Departments of Energy and Agriculture award 10 grants totaling $12.2 million to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops. The projects are designed to improve special crops to be grown for biofuels—including selected trees and grasses—by increasing their yield, quality, and ability to adapt to extreme environments. Researchers will rely on the most advanced techniques of modern genomics to develop breeding and other strategies to improve the crops. The research will be conducted on switchgrass, poplar, Miscanthus, and Brachypodium, among other plants.

August 11, 2011
The Department's Hanford Site announces the completion of the removal of nearly half a million tons of contaminated soil funded by the Recovery Act. Workers shipped more than 20,000 truckloads of contaminated soil excavated from an area covering 140 acres that were part of the BC Control Area. BC refers to the nearby BC Cribs and Trenches, underground structures that received millions of gallons of contaminated liquids from plutonium production facilities during the Cold War.

August 11, 2011
The Department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announces that researchers have used a common protein to guide the design of a material that can make energy-storing hydrogen gas. The synthetic material works 10 times faster than the original protein found in water-dwelling microbes, clocking in at 100,000 molecules of hydrogen gas every second. This step is just one part of a series of reactions to split water and make hydrogen gas and thereby learn how to control those reactions to make durable synthetic catalysts for energy storage, such as in fuel cells.

August 15, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $102 million loan guarantee to Record Hill Wind, LLC. The loan guarantee, in conjunction with an investment by the Yale University Endowment, will support the Record Hill wind project, which consists of a 50.6 megawatt wind power plant, an eight mile transmission line, and associated interconnection equipment near the town of Roxbury, Maine, in Oxford County. Developed and managed by Wagner Wind Energy I, LLC of New Hampshire and Independence Wind, LLC of Maine, the project will consist of 22 turbines and new transmission lines to interconnect with Central Maine Power, the local utility. The turbines will be installed with innovative Turbine Load Control (TLC) technology, a system of sensors and processing software that allows the turbines to continue to generate electricity under turbulent conditions, rather than be shut down completely.

August 15, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman discusses U.S.-Brazil energy interests and issues at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP) Energy Conference in São Paulo, Brazil.

August 15, 2011
The Department announces the selection of four projects aimed at reducing the energy and cost penalties of advanced carbon capture systems applied to power plants. Valued at approximately $67 million (including $15 million in non-federal cost sharing) over four years, the overall goal of the research is to develop carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and separation technologies that can achieve at least 90 percent CO2 removal at no more than a 35 percent increase in the cost of electricity.

August 16, 2011
President Obama announces that the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Navy will invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation. To accelerate the production of bio-based jet and diesel fuel, Secretary Chu, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus have developed a plan to jointly construct or retrofit several drop-in biofuel plants and refineries. The initiative responds to a directive from the President issued in March as part of his Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future, the Administration’s framework for reducing dependence on foreign oil. The biofuels initiative is being steered by the White House Biofuels Interagency Work Group and Rural Council.

August 16, 2011
The Department issues a statement in support of the commissioning of the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station to provide transportation fuel to the public and electric power to an industrial facility, located at the Orange County Sanitation District's wastewater treatment plant in Fountain Valley, California. The fuel cell is a combined heat, hydrogen, and power system that co-produces hydrogen in addition to electricity and heat, making it a tri-generation system. The hydrogen produced by the system is sent to a hydrogen fueling station that will be open to the public and can support between 25 and 50 fuel cell electric vehicle fill-ups per day. The fuel cell also produces approximately 250 kW of power for use by the wastewater treatment plant.

August 16, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory announces the completion of the $68.5 million SING project to design, build, and install the five instruments for neutron scattering analysis at the lab's Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). In total, the SNS currently has 15 operational instruments for neutron analysis including the five SING instruments, and will eventually have 24 instruments arrayed around its neutron-producing target.

August 17, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman, in Brasilia, joins with Dr. Márcio Zimmermann, Executive Secretary of Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, to launch the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Brazil Strategic Energy Dialogue, a presidential-level partnership that provides an overarching framework to deepen energy cooperation between the two nations’ energy sectors. Announced by Presidents Obama and Rousseff during President Obama’s visit to Brazil in March, the Dialogue initially focuses on four areas: biofuels; renewable energy and energy efficiency; oil and natural gas; and nuclear energy and nuclear security. The Deputy Secretary posts an article about his visit to Brazil on the Energy Blog.

August 17, 2011
NNSA announces the return of 6.3 kilograms (13.8 pounds) of U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent fuel from a nuclear research facility in South Africa. The operation was completed in partnership with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation.

August 17, 2011
The Department's Idaho National Laboratory announces that construction will soon start on a new 148,000-square-foot research and education laboratory in Idaho Falls. The $50 million, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient facility will feature dozens of offices and multiple laboratories used for conducting experiments and performing energy security research. It will also include space for conducting laboratory conferences, employee meetings, and community outreach activities.

August 17, 2011
The American National Standards Institute submits to DOE a report outlining priority areas where standards and conformance activities are needed to facilitate the large-scale deployment of electric drive vehicles (EDV) in the U.S. Priority areas include the compatibility of various makes of vehicles with charging centers and consumer confidence and acceptance.

August 18, 2011
The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production submits to Secretary Chu its final Ninety-Day Report on recommendations to reduce the environmental impacts from shale gas production. The Secretary issues a statement.

August 18, 2011
The Department announces that powerful X-ray technology at DOE's national laboratories helped enable the development of the drug, Zelboraf (vemurafenib), which received Food and Drug Administration approval the previous day and is a potentially groundbreaking new treatment for malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Researchers from Plexxikon Inc., the drug discovery company that developed the melanoma treatment, used X-ray light sources at three national laboratories — SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory — to determine the specific, 3-D protein structure of a mutated enzyme that tells melanoma cancer cells to multiply uncontrollably.

August 18, 2011
The Department and NNSA announce the availability of a reserve stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for use as a commercial nuclear power fuel. The stockpile was derived from down-blending surplus highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the U.S. stockpile. This new American Assured Fuel Supply creates a vehicle for promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy without exacerbating nuclear proliferation risks. Through this plan, the U.S. is able to encourage wider use of nuclear power production at the same time as it meets U.S. nuclear disarmament obligations.

August 18, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases an online analysis, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2010, reporting that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels were 5,638 million metric tons carbon dioxide in 2010, an increase of 3.9 percent from the 2009 level. This is the largest percentage increase in U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions since 1988. However emissions are still 6 percent below the 2005 level. Since 1990, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions have grown at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent. Among the factors that influenced the rise in emissions was an increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.0 percent. In addition, the energy intensity of the U.S. economy, measured as energy consumed per dollar of GDP, increased by 0.7 percent in 2010.

August 18, 2011
The Department announces that new contracts have been awarded for commercial storage of 650,000 barrels of ultra low sulfur distillate for the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR). Awards were made to two companies for storage in New England — Hess Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, for 400,000 barrels, and Global Companies LLC in Revere, Massachusetts, for 250,000 barrels. NEHHOR was authorized by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2000 as an emergency stockpile of up to two million barrels of Government-owned heating oil for the Northeastern States.

August 18, 2011
The Department announces in the Federal Register that it intends to modify the methods it uses to estimate the likely impacts of energy conservation standards for consumer products on energy use and emissions and will work to expand the energy use and emissions information made available to consumers. The Department will use full-fuel-cycle (FFC) measures of energy use and emissions, rather than the primary (or site) energy measures it currently uses. Using the FFC measure in these analyses will provide more complete information about the total energy use.

August 18, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit (ABPDU) at a site in Emeryville, California. Built and operated with Recovery Act funding, the ABPDU is a 15,000 square-foot state-of-the art facility designed to help expedite the commercialization of advanced next-generation biofuels by providing industry-scale test beds for discoveries made in the laboratory.

August 18, 2011
Solar Trust of America announces that it will now use photovoltaic panels instead of parabolic trough technology at its Blythe Solar Power Project. This makes the company ineligible for a conditional $2.1 billion loan guarantee offered by DOE on April 18.

August 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $197 million loan guarantee to SoloPower, Inc. The loan guarantee will support the construction and operation of state-of-the-art thin-film solar module manufacturing facilities at two sites in Portland, Oregon, and an existing site in San Jose, California. When completed and at full capacity, the facilities are expected to produce over 400 megawatts of flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules annually.

August 19, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a $133.9 million loan guarantee to Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC to support the development of a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. The Abengoa Bioenergy project is expected to convert approximately 300,000 tons of corn stover (stalks and leaves) into approximately 23 million gallons of ethanol per year using an innovative enzymatic hydrolysis process. The project maximizes the use of agricultural crop residues that would otherwise not be utilized and uses feedstock that does not compete with feed grains.

August 22, 2011

The Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) announces that a new training center — the Advanced Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research (AVESTAR™) — developed to teach personnel how to operate clean integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants is operational. The center consists of two equivalent facilities — one at NETL and the other at West Virginia University’s National Research Center for Coal and Energy. Established as part of DOE’s initiative to advance new clean coal technology for power generation, the goal of the facility is to train the workforce needed to operate future IGCC plants.

August 22, 2011
The Department's Inspector General (IG) issues an audit report on DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

August 23, 2011
Secretary Chu joins with Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC) at South Carolina’s Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College to meet with small business owners from across the state and share some of the resources that agencies have developed to help small businesses find more ways to work with the government.

August 23, 2011
NNSA announces that Y-12 National Security Complex has completed all five phases of the transfer of highly enriched uranium into the nation’s Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) more than one month ahead of an already accelerated schedule. HEUMF operations were authorized and loading began in January 2010. After a focused effort completed the first phase of loading from the former warehouse in 73 days, additional highly enriched uranium located in four processing areas at Y-12 was moved to HEUMF to provide more efficient and secure storage and to free valuable space for materials needed in manufacturing operations.

August 23, 2011
A rare 5.8-magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter about 100 miles southwest of Washington, DC, hits the east coast of the U.S. Secretary Chu, the following day, issues a statement thanking all employees and contractors in Washington who responded to the earthquake with "great calm and professionalism." He notes that "all six DOE buildings in the area were safely evacuated and we have no reports of any injuries to our staff or visitors." The General Services Administration conducts an assessment of the structural and operational integrity of the buildings, and DOE reopens on August 24.

August 23, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s Pulsed Field Facility at the lab have set a new world record for the strongest magnetic field produced by a nondestructive magnet. The ability to create pulses of extremely high magnetic fields nondestructively (high-power magnets routinely rip themselves to pieces due to the large forces involved) provides researchers with an unprecedented tool for studying fundamental properties of materials, from metals and superconductors to semiconductors and insulators.

August 24, 2011
The Department issues a statement in support of the groundbreaking for construction of the nation’s first large-scale industrial carbon capture and storage facility in Decatur, Illinois. Supported by Recovery Act funding, the project will capture and store one million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year produced as the result of processing corn into fuel-grade ethanol from the nearby Archer Daniels Midland biofuels plant. Since all of the captured CO2 will be produced from biologic fermentation, a significant feature of the facility is its “negative carbon footprint,” meaning that the storage results in a net reduction of atmospheric CO2.

August 25, 2011
The Department announces the selection of 16 projects aimed at developing advanced post-combustion technologies for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired power plants. The projects, valued at $41 million over three years, are focused on reducing the energy and cost penalties associated with applying currently available carbon capture technologies to existing and new power plants.

August 25, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that scientists discovered a supernova on August 24 that is closer to Earth — approximately 21 million light-years away — than any other of its kind in a generation. Astronomers believe they caught the supernova within hours of its explosion, a rare feat made possible with a specialized survey telescope and state-of-the-art computational tools.

August 26, 2011
The Department issues final energy efficiency standards for home refrigerators and freezers that will improve their efficiency by about 25 percent by 2014. These new standards, developed through a consensus process with manufacturers, consumer groups, and environmentalists, are expected to deliver more than $200 in electricity bill savings for the typical consumer over the lifetime of the refrigerator.

August 26, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that the Department has finalized a partial guarantee for an $852 million loan to support the development of the Genesis Solar Project. The Genesis Solar Project is a 250 megawatt (MW) parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility that will increase the nation’s currently installed CSP capacity by about 50 percent. The project, sponsored by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, is located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Riverside County, California. The partial loan guarantee will support a utility-scale deployment of proven and scalable parabolic trough solar thermal technology that has been used commercially for more than two decades.

August 26, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory celebrates its 80th anniversary. The lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a University of California Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron, a circular particle accelerator that opened the door to high-energy physics.

August 26, 2011
Hurricane Irene makes landfall in North Carolina. Over the next several days, the storm traveled up the East Coast and into the mid-Atlantic and New England areas of the U.S. On August 28 — the worst day for power outages — nearly 6 million customers have no electricity.

August 29, 2011
The Department announces that the first shipment of transuranic waste using the newly approved shipping package known as the TRUPACT-III safely arrived at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The new shipping package — the Transuranic Package Transporter Model 3 or TRUPACT-III — allows the Department to package and ship large-sized transuranic waste in a single box that would otherwise have to be broken down into smaller waste boxes. The design and manufacturing of the TRUPACT-III was completed with $12 million in funding from the Recovery Act.

August 30, 2011
Secretary Chu, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announce the next step in the creation of a public-private partnership to develop drop-in advanced biofuels. The Secretaries issue a Request for Information (RFI) laying out the Administration’s goals, assumptions, and tools and requesting from industry-specific ideas for how to leverage private capital markets to establish a commercially viable drop-in biofuels industry. The RFI follows on the announcement that the three Departments would invest in the private sector of up to $510 million during the next three years to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.

August 30, 2011
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at the National Clean Energy Summit 4.0 today in Las Vegas, Nevada, announces that five innovative companies that received seed funding from DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) in 2009 and 2010 have now attracted more than $100 million in outside private capital investment. Secretary Chu also delivers remarks at the summit.

August 30, 2011
NNSA breaks ground on the new High Explosives Pressing Facility (HEPF) at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. The $65 million, 45,000-square-foot HEPF will combine operations currently conducted in six different buildings — two of which date back to World War II — into one state-of-the-art facility. The current facilities suffer from aging infrastructure and equipment that is more than 20 years old, making them unreliable and difficult to repair.

August 30, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory breaks ground on a $34.5 million Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility (APCF) that will enable scientists to produce, purify, and characterize a wide range of proteins more rapidly and have a critical role in the development of important medical therapeutics. The State of Illinois will provide funding for the design and construction of the APCF, which is slated to open in 2014.

August 31, 2011
Secretary Chu announces up to $12 million to fund three small-scale projects in Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Carolina that aim to commercialize novel conversion technologies to accelerate the development of advanced, drop-in biofuels and other valuable bio-based chemicals. Drop-in biofuels are fuels that can serve as direct replacements or supplements to existing gasoline, diesel and jet fuels, without any changes to existing fuel distribution networks or engines.

August 31, 2011
Secretary Chu and Intel President Paul Otellini join with business leaders and the Deans of Engineering schools in Portland, Oregon, to discuss America’s need for engineers as part of a regional Listening and Action session hosted by the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The council, in partnership with the Business Council, Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and the American Chemistry Council, announces that 45 industry leaders have committed to double the engineering internships available at their companies in 2012.

August 31, 2011
Solyndra, the California-based manufacturer of cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels and recipient of a $535 million loan guarantee from DOE in 2009, announces that it will close its factory, lay off its1,100 employees, and file for bankruptcy. DOE Director of Public Affairs Dan Leistikow, in a post on the Energy Blog, defends DOE's Loan Program and the decision to grant Solyndra a loan. "Our loan program catalyzes American innovation and private sector investment behind promising companies — so that American workers have a chance to compete against China and other countries that much more heavily subsidize clean energy companies," Leistikow says. "While each transaction undergoes months of extensive and careful expert review to minimize risk, there will always be an element of risk with investments in the most innovative companies. The alternative is simply walking off the field and letting the rest of the world pass us by."

August 31, 2011
NNSA announces that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has removed 90 percent inventory of nuclear material requiring the highest level of security protection. The move is part of NNSA’s efforts to consolidate Category I and II special nuclear material, requiring the highest level of security, at five sites by the end of 2012.

August 31, 2011
The Department announces that DOE-sponsored research at the University of Kansas Center for Research has established the feasibility of using carbon dioxide (CO2) injection for recovering between 250 million and 500 million additional barrels of oil from Kansas oilfields.

August 31, 2011
The Department's Office of Electricity and Energy Reliability announces the publication of a new report, Year-in-Review: 2010: Energy Infrastructure Events and Expansions. The Year-in-Review provides an overview of the events that occurred in 2010: disruptions and additions to energy infrastructure in the U.S. as well as international events of importance to U.S. energy supplies.

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September 1, 2011
The Department issues a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to Washington Group International, Inc., for a September 2010 incident that violated DOE’s radiation protection and nuclear safety regulations, and proposes a $412,500 civil penalty. The violations are associated with a radiological contamination incident that occurred on September 29, 2010, during open-air demolition of Building H2 at the Separations Process Research Unit nuclear facilities located at DOE's Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, New York.

September 1, 2011
Secretary Chu announces, as part of the SunShot Initiative, more than $145 million for 69 projects in 24 states that will accelerate research and development of solar energy technologies to increase efficiency, lower costs, and advance cutting-edge technologies. The projects also will improve materials, manufacturing processes, and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and components of solar energy systems. Some of the investments support efforts that will shorten the overall timeline from prototype to production and streamline building codes, zoning laws, permitting rules, and business processes for installing solar energy systems.

September 1, 2011
Evacuation of personnel from platforms and rigs begins in the Gulf of Mexico in anticipation of approaching Tropical Storm Lee.

September 4, 2011
Slow-moving Tropical Storm Lee makes landfall in south-central Louisiana. Shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico peaked on the previous day, when 60.3 percent of crude oil and 54.6 percent of natural gas production from platforms and rigs were off-line.

September 6, 2011
Secretary Chu and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announce nearly $17 million in funding over the next three years for research and development projects to advance hydropower technology. Sixteen projects in 11 states were selected through a competitive grant process for their ability to contribute to the development of innovative technologies that produce hydropower more efficiently, reduce costs, and increase sustainable hydropower generation.

September 7, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the offer of a conditional commitment for a partial guarantee of a $344 million loan that will support the SolarStrong Project, which is expected to be a record expansion of residential rooftop solar power in the U.S. Under the SolarStrong Project, SolarCity Corporation will install, own, and operate up to 160,000 rooftop solar installations on as many as 124 U.S. military bases in up to 33 states.

September 8, 2011
Secretary Chu announces $43 million over the next five years to speed technical innovations, lower costs, and shorten the timeline for deploying offshore wind energy systems. The 41 projects across 20 states will advance wind turbine design tools and hardware, improve information about U.S. offshore wind resources, and accelerate the deployment of offshore wind by reducing market barriers such as supply chain development, transmission, and infrastructure.

September 8, 2011
The Department finalizes a $150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies, Inc., for the development of a multicrystalline wafer manufacturing project that could significantly drive down the costs of solar manufacturing. The project will be capable of producing approximately 700 to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of silicon-based wafers annually using a revolutionary manufacturing process called Direct Wafer. The innovative process could reduce manufacturing costs of the wafers by approximately 50 percent, dramatically cutting the cost of solar power. Phase 1 of the project will be located in Lexington, Massachusetts.

September 8, 2011
Secretary Chu announces $38 million over three years for projects to accelerate the development of promising geothermal energy technologies. Thirty-two innovative projects in 14 states will develop and test new ways to locate geothermal resources and improve resource characterization, drilling, and reservoir engineering techniques.

September 8, 2011
Secretary Chu announces 16 projects supporting activities in 24 states and the District of Columbia to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in communities across the nation, and seven additional projects in seven states to help prepare college students for careers designing and building advanced vehicle technologies. Total award funding is $14.9 million.

September 8, 2011
President Obama, speaking before a Joint Session of Congress, lays out the American Jobs Act, a strategy for putting Americans back to work. Secretary Chu, the following day, posts an article on the American Jobs Act on the Energy Blog.

September 8, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announces that researcher have designed a lithium ion battery that uses titanium dioxide instead of graphite in the anode and thus increases surface area and features a fast charge-discharge capability. At the same level of current, the ORNL battery takes just six minutes to be 50 percent charged, while a graphite-based lithium-ion battery sees only a 10 percent charge in the same timeframe. The battery has the potential to be used in a wide range of heavy-duty applications, especially places where increased strength and safety are at a premium such as hybrid electric vehicles, power grids, and the energy storage systems of wind and solar power generators. Additional research needs to be performed, but scientists at ORNL believe that if titanium dioxide proves scalable in batteries, they could be on the market within five years.

September 8, 2011
NNSA announces the successful installation and start of operations of radiation detection equipment at the Port of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. With the specialized equipment provided by NNSA, Cambodia now has the capability to scan 100 percent of all import and export containers passing through the port for the presence of potentially dangerous nuclear and other radioactive materials.

September 8, 2011
The Department's Sandia National Laboratories announces that researchers have designed and built a mobile research facility to trace and identify the origin of greenhouse gases. In addition to pinpointing the chemicals’ location, the unique mobile facility can help researchers learn whether the gases are biogenic (coming from plant sources) or anthropogenic (coming from man-made sources). The mobile system consists of two moving van-sized trucks, each equipped with instrumentation and equipment.

September 8, 2011
The FBI, as part of a joint investigation with DOE's Office of Inspector General, conducts a raid of the headquarters offices of Solyndra.

September 9, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $90.6 million loan guarantee to Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC. The loan guarantee will support the Alamosa Solar Generating Project, a 30 megawatt (MW) High Concentration Photovoltaic power generation facility that will generate clean, emissions-free power.  The project, located in south-central Colorado near the city of Alamosa, represents one of the first utility-scale, high concentration photovoltaic energy generation facilities in the nation and, when completed, the largest of its kind in the world.

September 9, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the selection of six projects aimed at developing technologies to lower the cost of producing electricity in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants using carbon capture, while maintaining the highest environmental standards. Supported with up to $14 million in total funding, the selected projects will improve the economics of IGCC plants and promote the use of coal resources to produce clean energy.

September 9, 2011
The Department's Western Area Power Administration announces an agreement with TransWest Express LLC to fund the TransWest Express Transmission (TWE) Project’s development phase. The TWE Project development phase will determine the feasibility of constructing and operating a 725-mile, 600-kilovolt, direct current transmission line that would facilitate renewable energy delivery from Wyoming to the southwestern U.S.

September 12, 2011
Under Secretary for Science Steven Koonin participates in a conference on Inertial Fusion Science Applications in Bordeaux, France, and posts and article on the Energy Blog on DOE's inertial fusion activities..

September 13, 2011
Secretary Chu announces more than $30 million for 24 universities in 23 states across the country to train undergraduate- and graduate-level engineering students in manufacturing efficiency to help them become the nation's next generation of industrial energy efficiency experts. Each school will receive $200,000 to $300,000 per year for up to 5 years to help university teams to gain practical training on core energy management concepts through DOE’s successful Industrial Assessment Center program.

September 13, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to Mojave Solar LLC for the development of the Mojave Solar Project.  When complete, the 250MW solar generation project located in San Bernardino County, California, will increase the nation’s currently installed concentrating solar power capacity by approximately 50 percent.

September 13, 2011
Secretary Chu and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, hosting the first-ever joint Transportation and Energy Ministerial Conference held by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco, announce that ministers from 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region have agreed to continue progress on initiatives to make transportation in the region cleaner and more energy-efficient. While at the APEC conference, Secretary Chu meets with the Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Seishu Makino. They reaffirm the shared commitment of the U.S. and Japan to cooperate on a range of energy issues, in particular through the Clean Energy Policy Dialogue and the Energy Smart Communities Initiative for the Asia Pacific (ESCI).

September 13, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman, in response to an editorial on the Solyndra bankruptcy in USA Today stating that the federal government should not be "trying to pick winners among individual start-up companies," issues an opposing view that appears in both the newspaper and on the Energy Blog. The Deputy Secretary says that a "perfect storm of deteriorating market conditions" sank Solyndra. Government support, he says, "has an important role to play in developing new industries and emerging technologies, where private financing is not sufficiently available to support investment at commercial scale."

September 14, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing to discuss Solyndra Solar, the California-based solar manufacturer that declared bankruptcy earlier in the month. The Department provided a $535 million loan guarantee to the company in 2009. Jonathan Silver, Executive Director of DOE’s Loan Programs Office, provides testimony. The DOE Office of Public Affairs provides background material on the Energy Blog.

September 14, 2011
The Department's Western Area Power Administration and a group of electricity providers in Arizona commit to build a large-scale transmission project in Arizona’s Maricopa and Pinal counties. Financed through Western’s authority to borrow funds from the U.S. Treasury, the project will increase transmission capacity to deliver renewable energy, primarily solar, to consumers in Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern California.

September 15, 2011
Director of Public Affairs Dan Leistikow in an article posted on the Energy Blog, in response to a Washington Post article claiming that DOE's loan program has created only 3,500 new jobs, states the the Post's assertions "are both incomplete and inaccurate." The loan program, he says, "has already created or saved roughly 44,000 jobs."

September 15, 2011
The Department releases the 2011 Roadmap to Achieve Energy Delivery Systems Cybersecurity. Developed as an update to the 2006 Roadmap to Secure Control Systems in the Energy Sector, the report outlines a strategic framework over the next decade among industry, vendors, academia, and government stakeholders to design, install, operate, and maintain a resilient energy delivery system capable of surviving a cyber incident while sustaining critical functions. Based on ideas and input from the energy sector, the 2011 Roadmap signifies a continued effort by public and private stakeholders to identify steps to build, deploy, and improve the cyber resilience of the nation’s computer-based systems that manage operational processes in the electric, oil, and natural gas industries. The Department also releases The Vulnerability Analysis of Energy Delivery Control Systems report, prepared by Idaho National Laboratory, that supports the the 2011 Roadmap goals and describes the common vulnerabilities on energy sector control systems, and provides recommendations for vendors and owners of those systems to identify and reduce those risks.

September 15, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory announces that researchers have decoded the structure of a protein that confers drug resistance against the best antibiotics. The work could provide the foundation for new treatments to fight emerging drug-resistant superbugs.

September 16, 2011
The Department announces next steps under the Asset Revitalization Initiative, a DOE-wide initiative to examine ways to work with local communities to support the reuse of DOE resources at former Cold War weapons sites around the country. These steps build on the recommendations from the Task Force on Asset Revitalization, which was convened by Secretary Chu in February 2011, and will facilitate local efforts to support beneficial reuse options at DOE sites, including reindustrialization, manufacturing, clean energy development, nature preserves, and educational centers. As part of the path forward for the Department, Under Secretary for Nuclear Security D’Agostino will convene a Phase II of the task force.

September 16, 2011
Secretary Chu joins with Saft America to announce the grand opening of the company’s Jacksonville, Florida, factory, which will produce advanced lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles and other applications. Supported in part through DOE investments, batteries produced at the new facility will go into cutting-edge electric drive vehicles. They will also be used to power military hybrid vehicles and for other industrial, agricultural, and military applications.

September 16, 2011
Director of Public Affairs Dan Leistikow posts an article on the Energy Blog in response to a New York Times story about loan guarantees DOE has issued for electric vehicle manufacturing claiming that the rapidly declining prices for advanced batteries could hurt the vehicle manufactures. The declining price of batteries, Leistikow says, "will help them, not hurt them. It makes them less likely to default."

September 19, 2011
Secretary Chu addresses the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna. Opening with a message from President Obama, the Secretary in his remarks highlights the importance of safety and security in the nuclear industry in light of the tragic events at Fukushima this year, and outlines the four priorities of the President’s nuclear agenda: promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, strengthening the nuclear proliferation regime, pursuing nuclear disarmament, and enhancing nuclear security.

September 19, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its annual International Energy Outlook 2011, with updated projections for world energy markets through 2035. Worldwide energy consumption grows by 53 percent between 2008 and 2035, with much of the increase driven by strong economic growth in the developing nations especially China and India. "China and India account for half of the projected increase in world energy use over the next 25 years. China alone, which only recently became the world's top energy consumer, is projected to use 68 percent more energy than the United States by 2035." says Acting EIA Administrator Howard Gruenspecht.

September 19, 2011
The Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory announces that researchers have discovered how an enzyme “knows” where to insert a double bond when desaturating plant fatty acids. Understanding the mechanism — which relies on a single amino acid far from the enzyme’s active site — solves a 40-year mystery of how these enzymes exert such location-specific control. The work may lead to new ways to engineer plant oils as a renewable replacement for petrochemicals.

September 20, 2011
The Department announces the signing of a Joint Statement on the strategic directions of U.S.-Russian nuclear cooperation with the State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM. Secretary Chu and ROSATOM Director General Sergey Kirienko signed the Joint Statement at the conclusion of bilateral consultations at the International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference in Vienna, Austria. The Joint Statement recognizes that the U.S. and Russia have together actively and consistently demonstrated leadership in the nuclear sphere, particularly in the areas of nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism.

September 20, 2011
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases a review report on NNSA new acquisition strategy proposed in March 2010 that includes consolidating the management and operating (M&O) contracts for two of its eight sites — the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee and the Pantex Plant in Texas — and consolidating all construction projects for all of its sites under a single, enterprise-wide contract.

September 21, 2011
The Department announces that the weatherization program under the Recovery Act has now made more than 500,000 low-income homes nationwide more energy-efficient.

September 21, 2011
The Department announces that $17 million in research grants will be awarded to 23 university-led teams aimed at strengthening the research and development capabilities of American universities and colleges to develop the next generation of nuclear energy technologies and upgrade research reactors across the country. Supported through DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Programs, the projects selected cover two nuclear energy research fields: Integrated Research Projects and University Research Infrastructure Improvements.

September 22, 2011
NNSA and the Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia announce the completion of their joint work on equipping all Russian border crossing points with sophisticated technology designed to stop nuclear and radiological smuggling. NNSA’s Second Line of Defense program and FCS have now equipped all 383 border crossings with radiation detection monitors.

September 22, 2011
The Department hosts the opening ceremony on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park for the Solar Decathalon, a biennial competition that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate houses powered by the sun that are affordable, energy-efficient, attractive, and easy to live in. Student teams in the 2011 competition hail from five countries across four continents, including the U.S., Belgium, Canada, China and New Zealand. The competition involves 10 contests during 10 days that gauge each house’s performance, livability, and affordability.

September 22, 2011
NNSA announces that it has completed the Ion Beam Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The facility was built at Sandia National Laboratories and was six months early and $5.5 million under budget. The 27,000-square-foot building was constructed and equipped at a cost of $39.6 million.

September 22, 2011
First Solar, Inc., announces that its Topaz Solar Farm project will not meet the statutory deadline to receive a partial loan guarantee of $1.93 billion from DOE. The Topaz project received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee from DOE on June 30, but there was insufficient time to begin construction before the September 30 deadline. Two other First Solar projects, which also received conditional commitments from DOE for loan guarantees on June 30, remain in the DOE process.

September 23, 2011
Secretary Chu and Minister Wan Gang, of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, witness the signing of letters of endorsement recognizing intellectual property guidelines agreed upon by each of the three consortia comprising the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center. The agreement protects American and Chinese researchers, scientists, and engineers by ensuring their intellectual property rights for the technology they create. It also defines how intellectual property may be shared or licensed in each country.

September 23, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a partial guarantee for $168.9 million loan to Granite Reliable Power, LLC. The loan guarantee will support a 99 megawatt (MW) wind generation project that will be New Hampshire’s largest wind farm. The project will be located in Coos County in northern New Hampshire, approximately 110 miles north of Concord.

September 23, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a partial guarantee for up to a $350 million loan to support a geothermal power generation project. The project, sponsored by Ormat Nevada, Inc., is expected to produce up to 113 megawatts (MW) of clean, baseload power from three geothermal power facilities and will increase geothermal power production in Nevada by nearly 25 percent. The facilities are Jersey Valley in Pershing County, McGinness Hills in Lander County, and Tuscarora in Elko County.

September 23, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that the Department has finalized a $105 million loan guarantee to support the development of one of the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. Project LIBERTY, sponsored by POET, will be built in Emmetsburg, Iowa, and is expected to produce up to 25 million gallons of ethanol per year.

September 23, 2011
NNSA releases its most recent quarterly summary of experiments conducted as part of its science-based stockpile stewardship program, a program of scientific inquiry used to sustain and assess the nuclear weapons stockpile without the use of underground nuclear tests.

September 23, 2011
NNSA and Office of Science announce a financial assistance funding opportunity for research grants through their joint program in High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP).

September 23, 2011
The Department announces the successfully completed cleanup of all Cold War legacy transuranic (TRU) waste at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory (BAPL) near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania., permanently disposing of it at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). BAPL is the 20th site to be completely cleaned of legacy TRU waste.

September 23, 2011
The OPERA neutrino experiment announces that they have observed subatomic particles seeming to travel faster than the speed of light. The OPERA experiment's study of more than 15,000 neutrino events over the course of three years indicated that the particles reached a velocity 20 parts per million above light speed. OPERA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment, meaning that its detector sits far from its neutrino source. For the OPERA experiment, particles stream from their origins at CERN to Gran Sasso, Italy, more than 450 miles away. Physicists on the MINOS collaboration at DOE's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory plan to verify the OPERA results.

September 23, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed a revolutionary conducting polymer that enables the use of low-cost, high-energy silicon for the next generation of lithium-ion battery anodes. The anode can absorb eight times the lithium of current designs and has maintained its greatly increased energy capacity after over a year of testing and many hundreds of charge-discharge cycles. The new anode could contribute to lowering the cost and extending the range of electric cars. Researchers say the anode can be built at a comparatively low cost and in a way that’s already compatible with established manufacturing technologies.

September 23, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing on “From DOE Loan Guarantee to Bankruptcy to FBI Raid: What Solyndra's Executives Knew.”

September 26, 2011
President Obama names 13 DOE researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. This is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are early in their independent research careers. DOE nominated the awardees and DOE’s Office of Science and NNSA fund their work.

September 26, 2011
The Department announces $2 million over three years for six regional awardees to create and administer a network of student-focused business creation competitions and inspire young entrepreneurs to found innovative, clean energy companies.

September 26, 2011
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases a review report on DOE's surplus uranium program, which in 2009 began using natural uranium to pay for cleanup work at the former uranium enrichment facility outside Portsmouth, Ohio. GAO finds that by not depositing the value of the net proceeds from the sales of uranium into the Treasury, DOE violated the miscellaneous receipts statute. This statute requires an official or agent of the government receiving money from any source on the government’s behalf to deposit the money in the Treasury. The Department, in response, says the barter transactions did not violate the statute.

September 27, 2011
The Department joins with the Řež Nuclear Research Institute, the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Texas A&M, and the Czech Nuclear Education Network (CENEN) to announce a series of bilateral nuclear research and development programs that will help to advance safe and secure nuclear energy technologies in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. These efforts, including workshops and teacher exchanges, will leverage the expertise of research institutions and universities in both countries. The announcement is made at the American Center in Prague by Deputy Secretary Poneman, U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen, and Mr. Miroslav Horak, the Executive Director of the Řež Nuclear Research Institute. The Deputy Secretary posts an article on the Energy Blog.

September 27, 2011
The Department releases its inaugural Quadrennial Technology Review report (DOE-QTR) — an assessment of DOE’s energy technology research and development portfolios. The DOE-QTR establishes a framework for DOE’s energy technology activities, including principles it can use to prioritize its technology research and development. Inspired by the Quadrennial Defense Review, the DOE-QTR was recommended by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology as an initial step toward a government-wide Quadrennial Energy Review to help formulate national energy policy. The DOE-QTR defines six key strategies: increase vehicle efficiency; electrification of the light-duty fleet; deploy alternative fuels; increase building and industrial efficiency; modernize the electrical grid; and deploy clean electricity.

September 27, 2011
Secretary Chu announces $8.4 million over three to four years for suppliers and vehicle manufacturers to develop and demonstrate technologies that increase the efficiency of engines and powertrain systems for future highway transportation vehicles. Four projects, located in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin, will focus on new innovations that achieve breakthrough thermal efficiencies while meeting federal emission standards for passenger vehicles — cars and light trucks — as well as commercial vehicles, including long-haul tractor trailers.

September 27, 2011
The Department issues a Record of Decision that — along with a signed cooperative agreement — will allow federal funding to be used to help build the Summit Texas Clean Energy Project, just west of Midland-Odessa, Texas. This 400-megawatt, first-of-a-kind facility combines integrated gasification combined-cycle power generation, urea production, and carbon dioxide (CO2) capture, utilization, and storage technology. The project will be partially funded with $450 million from DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. Of this, $211 million will come from the Recovery Act.

September 27, 2011
The Department approves revised National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations to improve efficiency in its environmental reviews of proposed energy projects. The revisions focus on DOE’s categorical exclusion provisions, which apply to a class of actions that an agency has determined normally do not individually or cumulatively have a significant impact on the human environment.

September 27, 2011
NNSA officially transfers a radiation detection system to Dominican Customs, the Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA), Dominican Republic, during a ceremony at the Port of Caucedo.

September 28, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman delivers remarks on U.S.-Poland energy issues and interests at an event in Warsaw, Poland, sponsored by demosEUROP  —  Centre for European Strategy.

September 28, 2011
The Department announces that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has received its 10,000th shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste, marking an important milestone in DOE’s mission to clean up the country’s Cold War legacy. The 10,000th shipment, which consisted of defense-generated contact-handled TRU waste, arrived at WIPP on September 24. The shipment came from DOE’s Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project in Idaho, which has accounted for nearly half of the shipments WIPP has received.

September 28, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC to develop the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. The solar project, sponsored by SolarReserve, LLC, is a 110-megawatt concentrating solar power tower generating facility with molten salt as the primary heat transfer and storage medium. Located 14 miles northwest of Tonopah, Nevada, on land leased from the Bureau of Land Management, the project will be the first of its kind in the U.S. and the tallest molten salt tower in the world.

September 28, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $337 million loan guarantee to Mesquite Solar 1, LLC to support the development of the optimized 150-megawatt (MW), alternating-current photovoltaic (PV) solar generation project to be located in Maricopa County, Arizona, approximately 45 miles west of Phoenix. The project will be one of the first utility-scale PV power plants in the country to use U.S.-manufactured, innovative transformer-less, and liquid-cooled inverter technology.

September 29, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman heads the U.S. delegation at the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) Executive Committee Meeting in Warsaw, Poland. The ministerial-level conference aims to advance cooperation among participating states to support the peaceful use of nuclear energy in a manner that meets high standards of safety, security and nonproliferation. The Deputy discusses these issues in his remarks, and the meeting also features video remarks by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with nuclear energy, including the key role of private sector innovation in partnership with governments. A Joint Statement is issued at the conclusion of the meeting.

September 29, 2011
The Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announces $156 million in FY 2011 funding for 60 cutting-edge research projects. The new ARPA-E selections focus on accelerating innovations in clean technology while increasing U.S. competitiveness in rare-earth alternatives and breakthroughs in biofuels, thermal storage, grid controls, and solar power electronics.

September 29, 2011
The Obama Administration announces the six winners of the i6 Green Challenge, an initiative to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy. Projects in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New England, and Washington will each receive up to $1 million from the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and up to $6 million in additional funding and technical assistance from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, EPA, the National Science Foundation, and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and United States Patent and Trademark Office.

September 29, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $132.4 million loan guarantee to Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC to support the development of a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. The project is expected to convert approximately 300,000 tons of agricultural crop residues, including corn stover (stalks and leaves), into approximately 23 million gallons of ethanol per year using an innovative enzymatic hydrolysis process. The project maximizes the use of agricultural crop residues that would otherwise not be utilized and uses feedstock that does not compete with feed grains.

September 29, 2011
The Department celebrates the cleanup and closure of the P and R Reactor Areas at the Savannah River Site. The 30-month effort contributed 62 square miles to the site’s operational footprint reduction strategy five years ahead of schedule through $1.6 billion in Recovery Act funds.

September 29, 2011
Two technicians at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory using a sealed source of radiation to test radiation detectors around the laboratory spill a small amount of the material in their truck and track it into a parking lot and a lab building. Brookhaven launches a broad investigation into its use of radioactive materials.

September 29, 2011
R&D Magazine names Secretary Chu as its Scientist of the Year.

September 30, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the Solar Village at the 2011 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park and speaks to students about the competition.

September 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized partial loan guarantees of $1.46 billion in loans to Desert Sunlight 250, LLC and Desert Sunlight 300, LLC to support the Desert Sunlight Project. The 550 MW project, located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in eastern Riverside County, California, is expected to be one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plants. Project construction will take place in two phases, both of which are supported by power purchase agreements.

September 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $646 million loan guarantee to AV Solar Ranch 1, LLC. The loan guarantee will support the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 Project, a 230 megawatt (MW) alternating current cadmium telluride (Cd-Te) thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar generation facility that will be located in Antelope Valley in North Los Angeles County, California. The project will employ First Solar’s FS Series 3 PV Module and will feature innovative inverters with voltage regulation and monitoring technologies that are new to the U.S. market. The inverters enable the project to provide more stable and continuous power, increasing the reliability of large-scale solar power plants. The facility is expected to generate over 622,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to powering over 54,000 homes.

September 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a partial guarantee for a $1.4 billion loan to support Project Amp. The solar generation project includes the installation of approximately 752 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which is over 80% of the total amount of PV installed in the U.S. in 2010. Project Amp will support the installation of solar panels across approximately 750 existing rooftops owned and managed by Prologis. The electricity generated from those panels will contribute directly to the electrical grid.

September 30, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that DOE has finalized a $1.237 billion loan guarantee to support the California Valley Solar Ranch Project, sponsored by SunPower Corporation. The project, which is being built in San Luis Obispo County, California, includes the construction of a 250 megawatt alternating current photovoltaic (PV) solar generating facility and associated infrastructure. The project will be the largest utility-scale PV project in the U.S. to utilize tracking technology combined with an innovative monitoring system that will improve annual output by approximately 25 percent compared with traditional fixed PV installations.

September 30, 2011
The Department announces that the Oak Ridge Environmental Management program has completed, several months ahead of schedule, its largest demolition project to date: the removal of K-33, a former gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facility spanning 32-acres. Constructed in 1954, the facility enriched uranium for defense and naval fleet purposes until 1985.

September 30, 2011
The Department's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory shuts down its Tevatron particle accelerator after nearly 30 years in operation. Named one of the top engineering achievements of the past 100 years, the Tevatron accelerated particles to almost the speed of light along its 4-mile ring, smashed them together, and studied the resulting particle showers in order to understand fundamental facts about elementary particles and forces. The Tevatron made many discoveries in its 28-year run. For instance, it found the top quark as well as five baryons, which helped to test and refine the Standard Model of particle physics and shape our understanding of matter, energy, space and time.

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October 1, 2011
The University of Maryland's "WaterShed" house wins the 2011 Solar Decathlon. Secretary Chu congratulates the winners at the awards ceremony.

October 3, 2011
Secretary Chu issues a statement on workforce diversity.

October 4, 2011
The Department issues a Preliminary Notice of Violation (PNOV) to URS -Washington Division (URS-WD) based on an investigation of an October 2010 incident at DOE's Idaho Site. The PNOV cites URS-WD with two violations of DOE’s worker safety and health regulations associated with a hoisting incident that occurred when a telescopic hydraulic gantry system tipped while lifting a 7,800 pound shield plug at the Sodium Bearing Waste Treatment Project. The Department proposes a $150,000 civil penalty.

October 4, 2011
The Department announces that it has received the first official submission by a manufacturer to a voluntary challenge for a new generation of high-efficiency cost-effective air conditioners for commercial buildings. The Department will begin testing the new Daikin McQuay “Rebel” unit from McQuay International to determine whether it meets the high energy-efficiency performance levels outlined by the challenge. The challenge aims to reduce energy use by as much as 50 to 60 percent over current equipment.

October 4, 2011
Saul Perlmutter, a physicist at DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley, wins the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery that galaxies are receding from one another faster now than they were billions of years ago. Secretary Chu issues his congratulations.

October 4, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory and Dow Chemical Company announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for a multi-year research collaboration to jointly develop the next generation of materials for advanced battery technologies.

October 4, 2011
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing on the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s Shale Gas Production Subcommittee’s 90-day report.

October 4, 2011
Officials from NNSA, the U.S. Embassy Mexico City, and the Mexican National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Security dedicate a new emergency operations center in Mexico City. The emergency operations center will provide advanced communication technology to promote enhanced cooperation between the Government of Mexico and U.S. agencies to detect and prevent nuclear or radiological emergencies. NNSA assisted in setting up the center.

October 4, 2011
A National Research Council committee finds in a congressionally requested report that it is unlikely the U.S. will meet the cellulosic biofuels mandate under the current Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022 unless innovative technologies are developed or policies change. Currently, no commercially viable biorefineries exist for converting cellulosic biomass to fuel. The capacity to meet the renewable fuel mandate for cellulosic biofuels will not be available unless the production process is unexpectedly improved and technologies are scaled up and undergo several commercial-scale demonstrations in the next few years. Finally, the committee finds that only in an economic environment characterized by high oil prices, technological breakthroughs, and a high implicit or actual carbon price would biofuels be cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels.

October 4, 2011
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Task Force on Climate Remediation Research releases a report calling for a coordinated federal research program to explore the potential effectiveness, feasibility, and consequences of climate remediation technologies. While emphasizing that it is far too premature to contemplate deployment of any climate remediation technology, the Task Force report finds that it is time for the U.S. to undertake a climate remediation research program to understand the risks, costs, and feasibility of these approaches.

October 4, 2011
Ameren Energy Resources Company, LLC, announces that the Meredosia Energy Center in Meredosia, Illinois, will cease operating by the end of 2011. The center is the proposed site for the FutureGen 2.0 full-scale, oxy-combustion coal-fired plant for capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). "Ceasing current operations at Meredosia has no impact on the viability of FutureGen 2.0," says Ameren. "FutureGen is still several years from needing a generating unit to test clean coal technology. We are currently in discussions with the FutureGen Alliance to determine how Meredosia Unit 4 could best be used for this project."

October 5, 2011
The Department hosts the second day of a two-day Trilateral Conference on Critical Materials for a Clean Energy Future in Washington, DC, bringing together U.S., Japanese, and European Union officials, along with a number of industry stakeholders.

October 5, 2011
The Obama Administration announces that it will accelerate the permitting and construction of seven proposed electric transmission lines. The projects will serve as pilot demonstrations of streamlined federal permitting and increased cooperation at the federal, state, and tribal levels. Project developers expect that the streamlined projects will increase grid capacity in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

October 5, 2011
Daniel Shechtman, an associate scientist at DOE’s Ames Laboratory and an Iowa State University professor of materials science and engineering, wins the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of quasicrystals whose atoms do not line up periodically like every crystal studied during 70 years of modern crystallography. Secretary Chu issues his congratulations.

October 5, 2011
The Department’s Argonne National Laboratory and Western Lithium USA Corporation announce the signing of an agreement as a step toward the commercialization of lithium carbonate from the company’s Kings Valley Lithium Project located in Humboldt County, Nevada. Under the agreement, Argonne will analyze and develop the company’s lithium carbonate products for battery applications.

October 5, 2011
The Department's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) makes a scheduled payment of $830 million for fiscal year 2011 to the U.S. Treasury. BPA’s annual Treasury payments comprise principal and interest primarily on the federal investment in the Federal Columbia River Power System’s power and transmission facilities. BPA is a self-financed agency that covers all of its costs with revenues from Northwest ratepayers and other purchasers of its power and transmission products and services.

October 6, 2011
President Obama, in response to a news conference question on the Solyndra bankruptcy and the DOE loan guarantee program, says that Solyndra "is a loan guarantee program that predates me that historically has had support from Democrats and Republicans as well. And the idea is pretty straightforward: If we are going to be able to compete in the 21st century, then we’ve got to dominate cutting-edge technologies, we’ve got to dominate cutting-edge manufacturing. Clean energy is part of that package of technologies of the future that have to be based here in the United States if we’re going to be able to succeed." He adds that "the Department of Energy made these decisions based on their best judgment about what would make sense. And the nature of these programs are going to be ones in which for every success there may be one that does not work out as well. But that’s exactly what the loan guarantee program was designed by Congress to do, was to take bets on these areas where we need to make sure that we’re maintaining our lead."

October 6, 2011
President Obama proclaims October 2011 as National Energy Action Month. He calls upon the citizens of the U.S. to "recognize this month by making cleaner energy choices that will help build a stronger Nation, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children."

October 6, 2011
The US ITER Project Office DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory awards a $13.2 million task order to AREVA Federal Services for the fabrication of five drain tanks for the ITER tokamak cooling water system. The international ITER project aims to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion energy for the commercial power grid.

October 6, 2011
David Geiser, Director of the Office of Legacy Management, testifies before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Children’s Health and Environmental Responsibility. The focus of the hearing is the status of existing federal plans and potential future needs to clean up contamination from legacy- or Cold War-era uranium mining and milling operations in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation, part of which is in New Mexico.

October 6, 2011
NNSA announces that it has successfully disassembled nuclear weapons “pits” and converted them into more than 240 kg of plutonium oxide, an initial step in permanent plutonium disposition. The certified oxide is an initial source of feed for NNSA’s Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, which is currently under construction at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The disassembly, conversion, and certification were completed at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

October 6, 2011
Jonathan Silver, director of DOE's Loan Program office, announces that he is leaving the Department.

October 7, 2011
DOE and EPA, in coordination with the Washington Department of Ecology, announce that they have made plans for remediating contaminated soil at four locations in the center of the Hanford Site. The agencies have chosen to pursue a combination of alternatives: retrieving, treating, and disposing of contaminated soil; extracting contamination through an air-handling system; and maintaining a soil barrier over some of the contaminated soil. During World War II and the Cold War, liquids containing low levels of plutonium and other contaminants were disposed directly to underground structures in the soil, such as ditches, contaminating the underlying soil. These areas of contaminated soils have been identified as waste sites that require remediation.

October 7, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) announces that it has successfully disassembled nuclear weapons "pits" and converted them into more than 240 kilograms of plutonium oxide, an initial step in permanent plutonium disposition. The certified oxide is an initial source of feed for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, currently under construction at the Savannah River Site. LANL is expected to convert at least 2 metric tons of plutonium to oxide by 2018 as part of a larger effort to provide up to 10 metric tons of early feedstock for MOX.

October 11, 2011
Secretary Chu announces his decision that DOE will work more closely with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in reviewing proposed electric transmission projects under section 216 of the Federal Power Act, as an alternative to delegating additional authority to FERC. The Department, FERC, and other federal agencies had been considering whether it might be appropriate for the Secretary to delegate his powers under FPA § 216(a) to FERC in order to efficiently expedite consideration of transmission project proposals under the limited backstop siting powers authorized by that section.

October 11, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory awards a contract to Cray Inc. to increase the Jaguar supercomputer's science impact and energy efficiency. The upgrade, which will provide advanced capabilities in modeling and simulation, will transform the Cray XT5 system, currently capable of 2.3 million billion calculations per second (petaflops), into a Cray XK6 system with a peak speed between 10 and 20 petaflops. The system, which will be known as Titan, will be ready for users in early 2013.

October 12, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman, in an address at the International Forum for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World in Astana, Kazakhstan, announces the removal and permanent disposition of 33 kilograms (approximately 72 pounds) of highly enriched uranium (HEU) fresh fuel from the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty. The HEU was sent to the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, where it was downblended into low-enriched uranium (LEU) and can no longer be used to make a nuclear weapon. Completed in secrecy over a seven week span, the operation was a combined effort between NNSA, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

October 13, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the activation of an ultra-high speed network connection for scientists, researchers, and educators at universities and National Laboratories that is at least ten times faster than commercial Internet providers. The project — funded with $62 million from the Recovery Act — is intended for research use but could pave the way for widespread commercial use of similar technology.

October 13, 2011
Secretary Chu applauds the winners of the 30th annual Federal Energy and Water Management Awards, which recognize individuals, groups, and agencies for their outstanding contributions in the areas of energy efficiency, water conservation, and the use of advanced and renewable energy technologies at federal facilities.

October 13, 2011
Secretary Chu and Minister of Knowledge Economy Joong-Kyung Choi of the Republic of Korea sign a new agreement establishing the U.S.-Korea Clean Energy Technology Partnership that will strengthen bilateral cooperation in clean energy technology research and development.

October 13, 2011
The Department celebrates its 13 winners of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which recognizes individuals who show exceptional potential for accomplishment while early in their research careers.

October 13, 2011
NNSA issues an Amended Record of Decision (ROD) concerning the Nuclear Facility portion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement project (CMRR-NF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Following a supplemental environmental impact analysis and public input process, NNSA selected the Modified CMRR-NF Alternative described in the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to proceed forward with the design and construction of the nuclear facility. The facility will replace the 60-year-old Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building and consolidate existing research capabilities at LANL to ensure continuous support of NNSA stockpile stewardship and strategic objectives.

October 13, 2011
General Electric announces that it will build a new thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar panel manufacturing facility in Aurora, Colorado, to produce highly-efficient, low-cost panels. The facility will be larger than any existing solar panel factory in the country. The innovative technology originally was developed at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Lab.

October 14, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing on “Continuing Developments Regarding the Solyndra Loan Guarantee.” Two Treasury officials testify. No DOE officials are invited.

October 17, 2011
NNSA, working with the DOE Office of Science and Office of Nuclear Energy, announces that it has transferred 40 grams of the special isotope curium-244 from Los Alamos National Laboratory to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory. The 40 grams of curium-244 has an estimated market value of $8.8 million. NNSA formerly used the curium-244 to support nuclear security research work.

October 18, 2011
The International Energy Agency (IEA) holds its two-day Ministerial meeting in Paris. Secretary Chu's remarks focus on the long-term rise of global oil prices. "Given that the multinationals are going to deep offshore, the Arctic, given the fact that we see more and more of the oil resources being controlled by the national companies," the Secretary says, "the price of oil is likely to rise in the coming decades."

October 20, 2011
Richard Kauffman, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, does a live video chat on the financial and deployment obstacles facing renewable energy technologies.

October 20, 2011
The Department's Inspector General (IG) issues a report on DOE's unclassified cybersecurity program. The IG notes that DOE has taken steps to enhance its unclassified cybersecurity program, including resolving 11 of 35 cybersecurity weaknesses identified during a 2010 evaluation. The IG nonetheless finds that additional action is needed to further strengthen the unclassified cybersecurity program and help address threats to its information and systems. The evaluation discloses numerous weaknesses in the areas of access controls, vulnerability management web application integrity, contingency planning, change control management, and cybersecurity training.

October 20, 2011
The Department's Electricity Advisory Committee approves three new reports that include recommendations on cybersecurity, storage, and the interdependence of electricity and natural gas.

October 20, 2011
The United States International Trade Commission, in response to a petition from SolarWorld Industries America, launches preliminary investigations of imports from China of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules, which "are alleged to be sold in the United States at less than fair value and alleged to be subsidized by the Government of China."

October 21, 2011
President Obama, at a ceremony at the White House, honors the recipients of the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation—the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists, engineers, and inventors—and delivers remarks.

October 21, 2011
NNSA announces that its Y-12 National Security Complex has completed the dismantlement of all components associated with the W70, thus eliminating these materials from the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The W70 was a tactical nuclear weapons system deployed on the Lance missile as a mobile artillery tactical missile system. This weapon was retired in the early 1990s as the last nuclear missile deployed by the U.S. Army.

October 21, 2011
NNSA releases the raw radiation monitoring data it collected in response to the events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station following the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan. For ten weeks following the natural disaster, NNSA scientists utilized U.S. Air Force aircraft operated out of Yokota Air Base to collect data during more than 500 flight hours of aerial surveys to measure radiation levels associated with radioactive material deposited on the ground surrounding the nuclear power station.

October 21, 2011
USEC Inc. announces that the company and DOE are engaged in advanced but ongoing discussions regarding the future of the American Centrifuge project. The discussions involve working jointly in a Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) program to reduce the technology and financial risk of commercialization of the American Centrifuge technology. The RD&D program is expected to involve manufacturing and operating additional production-design machines so that key systems can be tested as they would actually operate at the scale necessary for full commercialization.

October 24, 2011
The Department announces that it will partner with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and ConocoPhillips to test innovative technologies for producing methane gas from hydrate deposits on the Alaska North Slope. The tests will utilize the "Iġnik Sikumi" (Iñupiaq for "fire in the ice") gas hydrate field trial well, a fully instrumented borehole that was installed in the Prudhoe Bay region earlier in the year.

October 25, 2011
Secretary Chu announces a $60 million investment over 3 years for applied scientific research to advance cutting-edge Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies. CSP technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight to produce heat, which can then be used to produce electricity. The solicitation is part of DOE's SunShot Initiative.

October 25, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory launches a new website, developer.nrel.gov, data on renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative transportation more accessible. The site provides data feeds that computer programmers can access for use in their own mobile and Web applications. The first data set to be offered is a comprehensive, nationwide list of alternative vehicle fueling station locations, including those that supply electricity, biodiesel, ethanol, or natural gas.

October 25, 2011
NNSA, at a ceremony at NNSA’s Pantex Plant outside Amarillo, Texas, announces that the last B53 nuclear bomb has been dismantled. Introduced into the stockpile in 1962, the B53 served a key role in the U.S. nuclear deterrent until its retirement in 1997. About the size of a minivan and approximately 10,000 pounds, the B53 bomb is one of the longest-lived and highest-yield nuclear weapons ever fielded. Deputy Secretary Poneman post an article on the Energy Blog.

October 25, 2011
The Department celebrates the commissioning of a 2.5-megawatt wind turbine at the Eolos Wind Energy Research Station, which is supported by funding under the Recovery Act. The research station, located at the University of Minnesota Outreach, Research and Education Park, features the newly-constructed, American-made Clipper Liberty wind turbine, as well as a 426-foot-tall meteorological research tower. The new installation will allow researchers to conduct tests that could improve wind turbine efficiency and help train the next generation of wind industry technicians and engineers.

October 27, 2011
Secretary Chu congratulates Dr. Penrose C. Albright on his appointment as the new director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

October 27, 2011
The U.S. Department of the Interior releases a supplement to the federal plan to facilitate responsible utility-scale solar development on public lands in six western states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The revised plan focuses on Interior’s efforts to establish solar energy zones with transmission solutions and incentives for solar energy development within those zones. The plan reduces the total number of solar energy zones from 24 to 17 and reduces the total acreage potentially available for development from about 677,000 acres to about 285,000 acres.

October 27, 2011
President Obama hosts Prime Minister Petr Necas of the Czech Republic for a meeting in the Oval Office. The two leaders discuss civil nuclear cooperation.

October 28, 2011
The White House issues a Presidential Memoranda directing federal agencies with research facilities to take steps to speed up the transfer of federal research and development from the laboratory to the marketplace. The Department's Technology Transfer Coordinator, Karina Edmonds, in an article posted on the Energy Blog notes that "as the largest funder of physical science research and steward of 22 National Laboratories and facilities, the Energy Department has an obligation to play a leading role in the implementation of this mandate."

October 29, 2011
Arun Majumdar, Director of the Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), speaks on energy innovation at TEDxMidAtlantic, an independently-sponsored TED event held in Washington, DC.

October 30, 2011
The Department observes the National Day of Remembrance for America’s nuclear security workers. Secretary Chu post an article on the Energy Blog.

October 31, 2011
NNSA approves the use of the H-Canyon Complex to provide approximately 3.7 MT of plutonium oxide feed for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility from the non-pit plutonium currently stored at Savannah River Site (SRS). H Canyon, located at SRS, is the only hardened nuclear chemical separations plant still in operation in the U.S.

October 31, 2011
Beacon Power Corporation, which received a $43 million loan guarantee from DOE in August 2010 for its 20 megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York, files for bankruptcy.

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November 1, 2011
The Department's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) wins the 2011 GreenGov Presidential Award for Green Innovation. NREL’s Green Data Center is recognized for its innovative design that minimizes its energy footprint and reduces costs, without compromising service quality. The award is given by the the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

November 1, 2011
NNSA announces the signing of a cooperative agreement with NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC, to further the development of accelerator-based technology to produce molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) in the U.S. The cooperative agreement, which totals $4.6 million and is funded under a 50 percent/50 percent cost-share arrangement, will accelerate the development of the NorthStar technology to produce Mo-99 without proliferation-sensitive highly enriched uranium (HEU). The agreement would also support the goal of ensuring a reliable domestic supply of this critical medical isotope for U.S. patients.

November 2, 2011
Gregory H. Friedman, DOE's Inspector General, testifies on DOE implementation of the Recovery Act at a hearing on "The Green Energy Debacle: Where Has All the Taxpayer Money Gone?" before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Friedman says DOE's efforts to use the funding " to stimulate the economy was more challenging than many had originally envisioned." The Department's programs "required extensive advance planning, organizational enhancements, and additional staffing and training," he notes. "We found this to be true at the Federal, state, and local levels. As a result, despite a major effort in a high-pressure environment, the Department struggled to obligate and expend Recovery Act funds on a timely basis. As noted, the expeditious creation of jobs was a prime goal of the program. The delay in expenditures was not helpful in this regard."

November 2, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed the first genome-scale model for predicting the functions of genes and gene networks in a grass species. Called RiceNet, this systems-level model of rice gene interactions should help speed the development of new crops for the production of advanced biofuels, as well as help boost the production and improve the quality of one of the world’s most important food staples.

November 2, 2011
The Department's Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education announces that a recent report shows enrollments of both undergraduate and graduate nuclear engineering students remain in the highest ranges reported since the early 1980s.

November 3, 2011
Secretary Chu, in his speech to the Washington Post Live Smart Energy Conference, highlights the choice America faces on whether or not to take advantage of the huge economic opportunity and compete with countries like China in the clean energy race. "Are we going to recognize the opportunity and compete in the clean energy race," the Secretary asks, "or will we wave the white flag and watch all of these jobs go to China, Korea, Germany and other countries?" On the sidelines, the Secretary tells reporters that DOE and Congress can design a better loan program. "There was recognition in Congress when they wrote the statute that not all the loans would succeed," he says. "But we can design a program so that it is actually self-paid, and still stimulates the most innovative industries."

November 3, 2011
The Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers from the lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology teamed to launch a new online tool called the Materials Project, which operates like a “Google” of material properties, enabling scientists and engineers from universities, national laboratories, and private industry to accelerate the development of new materials, including critical materials.

November 3, 2011
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations votes to subpoena documents from the Executive Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President relating to the Solyndra loan guarantee.

November 4, 2011
The Department announces that it has awarded a competitive small business contract worth $121.2 million over the next five years to remove uranium tailings at the former Atlas uranium-ore processing facility in Moab, Utah.

November 7, 2011
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announces that it has issued a loan guarantee that will allow a biofuels firm to construct a facility in New Mexico to produce "green crude" oil from algae which can be refined into transportation fuel. The loan recipient, Sapphire Energy, Inc., intends to design, build and operate a $135 million integrated algal biorefinery (IABR) in Columbus, N.M., for the production of advanced biofuel that is a "drop-in" replacement for petroleum-derived diesel and jet fuel. The IABR will be capable of producing 100 barrels of refined algal oil per day, equivalent to at least one million gallons per year.

November 8, 2011
Secretary Chu delivers remarks at the GridWise Global Forum in Washington. Noting that it is “only a matter of time” — from 10 to15 years — before solar energy achieves cost parity with coal and other forms of fossil energy, the Secretary states that “We need a grid that can accommodate these technology gains.”

November 8, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that up to $8 million in funding will be made available to encourage utilities, local governments, and communities to create programs that empower consumers to better manage their electricity use through improved access to their own electricity consumption data. Under the “Smart Grid Data Access” Funding Opportunity Announcement, local communities will be able to partner with utilities and third-party technology innovators to develop and implement programs that make consumer electricity consumption data readily available.

November 8, 2011
Secretary Chu in an internal email announces that Under Secretary of Science Steve Koonin will be leaving the Department on November 18.

November 8, 2011
NNSA and Office of Science issue a report on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) that identifies scientific challenges and research directions in laboratory astrophysics, nuclear physics, materials in extremes and planetary physics, and beam and plasma physics that NIF’s unique capabilities can address. Located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NIF is the world's largest and most energetic laser, which has the goal of achieving nuclear fusion and energy gain in the laboratory for the first time.

November 9, 2011
Howard Gruenspecht, Acting Administrator of the Department's Energy Information Administration, delivers a presentation on Factors affecting the adoption of renewable and other electricity generation technologies at the Business Environmental Leadership Council, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, in Washington, DC.

November 9, 2011
The Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory announces that scientists have made significant progress in understanding the phenomenon of quantum-dot blinking. Their findings should enhance the ability of biologists to track single particles, enable technologists to create novel light-emitting diodes and single-photon sources, and boost efforts of energy researchers to develop new types of highly efficient solar cells.

November 10, 2011
The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production releases the draft of its second and final ninety-day report reviewing the progress that has been made in implementing the twenty recommendations in its initial report of August 18. The Subcommittee was tasked with producing a report on the immediate steps that can be taken to improve the safety and environmental performance of shale gas development. The Subcommittee concludes that if action is not taken to reduce the environmental impact accompanying the very considerable expansion of shale gas production expected across the country — perhaps as many as 100,000 wells over the next several decades — there is a real risk of serious environmental consequences and a loss of public confidence that could delay or stop this activity.

November 10, 2011
The U.S. Department of State announces that, in the "transparent, thorough and rigorous review of TransCanada’s application for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project" that it has been conducting since 2008, it has "determined it is necessary to examine in-depth alternative routes that would avoid the Sand Hills in Nebraska" due to "environmental sensitivities of the current proposed route." The new pipeline would expand the capability to move oil from the oil sand fields in Alberta, Canada, into the U.S. President Obama issues a statement in support of the State Department's determination.

November 10, 2011
The Department's Inspector General (IG) issues a Special Report on "Management Challenges at the Department of Energy — Fiscal Year 2012". The list includes: Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings, Contract and Financial Assistance Award Management, Cyber Security, Energy Supply, Environmental Cleanup, Human Capital Management, Nuclear Waste Disposal, and Stockpile Stewardship. Added to the "watch list" are Infrastructure Modernization, Safeguards and Security, Worker and Community Safety, and the Loan Guarantee Program. In terms of Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings, the IG suggests that DOE examine the possible elimination of duplicative, redundant NNSA functions by starting a "deliberative process to evaluate the re-incorporation of NNSA into the Department's organizational structure." The IG also finds that DOE's laboratory "cost structure, specifically the proportion of scarce science resources diverted to administrative, overhead, and indirect costs for each laboratory, may be unsustainable in the current budget environment." The IG states that DOE "should establish an independent panel to comprehensively examine alternatives for evaluating, consolidating, and/or realigning the Department's R&D laboratory complex."

November 10, 2011
The Department issues a Federal Register Notice initiating preparations for the development of the 2012 National Electric Transmission Congestion Study. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 1 vacated the August 2006 DOE study of congested electric transmission corridors

November 13, 2011
Secretary Chu joins President Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers and Economic Leaders’ Meetings in Honolulu, Hawaii, and delivers a presentation to APEC leaders on energy efficiency in appliances.

November 13, 2011
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in Honolulu agrees on a set of measures to promote green growth and energy security. These include reducing tariffs on environmental goods and making it easier to export clean energy technologies. President Obama discusses the measures at a news conference on the following day.

November 14, 2011
The Department announces that it is now supporting scientific research at unprecedented bandwidth speeds — at least ten times faster than commercial Internet providers — with a new network that connects thousands of researchers using three of the world’s top supercomputing centers at DOE's Argonne, Oak Ridge, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. The new network is officially unveiled in Seattle, Washington, at the gala opening of SC11, the premier international conference on high-performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis, where DOE researchers use the network for groundbreaking climate data transfers and astrophysics visualizations.

November 14, 2011
Secretary Chu visits Kapolei, Hawaii, to check in on the progress of an integrated biorefinery project that promises to help increase the domestic production of advanced biofuels. Once complete, the pilot-scale facility will convert cellulosic biomass, like wood waste and algae, into clean, renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Honeywell UOP, the company leading the project, was awarded $25 million through the Recovery Act to construct the facility.

November 15, 2011
Secretary Chu announces up to $7 million to reduce the non-hardware costs of residential and commercial solar energy installations. Made available through the SunShot Incubator Program, this funding will support the development of tools and approaches that reduce non-hardware, or “soft” costs, such as installation, permitting, interconnection, and inspection. These expenses can amount to up to half of the cost of residential systems.

November 15, 2011
Under Secretary for Science Steven Koonin testifies before a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing on DOE's Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR). The Under Secretary tells the committee that the QTR "has been, at its core, about developing the principles that will help inform those difficult choices between different technically viable approaches that cannot all be pursued. Mere technical promise — that something could work — is an unjustifiably low bar for the commitment of DOE R&D funds. As every dollar matters, we must give priority in our research portfolio to those technologies that are most likely to have significant impact on timescales commensurate with the urgency of national energy challenges."

November 15, 2011
The Department's Office of Science announces awards of nearly 1.7 billion processor hours to 60 high-impact research projects which will address scientific and engineering challenges of national and global importance. The awards are part of the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program.

November 16, 2011
The Department recognizes four leading organizations for expanding the market for electricity produced from renewable energy sources during the 11th annual Green Power Leadership Awards in San Francisco, California. These organizations’ innovative “green power” programs provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase clean energy from environmentally-preferred sources, such as wind and solar energy. The winners include 3Degrees and Washington Gas Energy Sources (WGES), which are each recognized as the Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year; Detroit Edison (DTE Energy) for Utility Green Power Program of the Year; and The Clean Energy Collective, for Innovative Green Power Program of the Year.

November 16, 2011
The Department announces that injection field tests conducted by the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership indicate that geologic capacity exists to permanently store hundreds of years of regional carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in nine states stretching from Indiana to New Jersey.

November 16, 2011
EPA and DOT formally unveil their joint proposal to set stronger fuel economy and greenhouse gas pollution standards for Model Year (MY) 2017-2025 passenger cars and light trucks. The proposed program for MY 2017-2025 passenger cars and trucks is expected to require increases in fuel efficiency equivalent to 54.5 mpg by 2025.

November 16, 2011
DOE and EPA release the 2012 Fuel Economy Guide, providing consumers with information that can help them choose a more efficient new vehicle that saves them money and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

November 16, 2011
Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, discusses industrial energy efficiency on an Energy Matters video livechat.

November 16, 2011
Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs Carlos Pascual briefs reporters about the new Bureau for Energy Resources within the U.S. Department of State. The new 53-person bureau, Pascual notes, will "strengthen our capacity to coordinate our energy diplomacy issues in order to have a greater impact on protecting our national security and our national economic interests" and will be "organized around three central principles. The first of these is managing the geopolitics of today’s energy economy. . . . The second pillar is focused on stimulating the market forces that drive the demand for renewable clean energy and energy efficiency technologies, and the financial vehicles that can stimulate their adoption. . . . the third pillar is focused on energy access and transparency." Pascual says that "In developing the bureau, we’ve worked very closely with our inter-agency partners, and . . . especially with the Department of Energy. We’ve had a very close relationship with them. The Department of Energy has unparalleled expertise on technological issues. Secretary Chu has been a tremendous leader in this area. We can complement that with diplomatic capabilities on the policy side, and on market dialogues, where at times the Department of Energy doesn’t have the personnel deployed around the world to sustain that on the same kind of ongoing basis. And so between the two of us working together, we think we can achieve much greater complementarities and much greater effect between their technological capabilities and our capabilities on the diplomatic and policy side."

November 17, 2011
Secretary Chu testifies before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on "The Solyndra Failure: Views from DOE Secretary Chu." "The final decisions on Solyndra were mine," the Secretary tells the committee, "and I made them with the best interest of the taxpayer in mind. I want to be clear: over the course of Solyndra’s loan guarantee, I did not make any decision based on political considerations. My decision to guarantee a loan to Solyndra was based on the analysis of experienced professionals and on the strength of the information they had available to them at the time. The Solyndra transaction went through more than two years of rigorous technical, financial and legal due diligence, spanning two Administrations, before a loan guarantee was issued. Based on thorough internal and external analysis of both the market and the technology, and extensive review of information provided by Solyndra and others, the Department concluded that Solyndra was poised to compete in the marketplace and had a good prospect of repaying the government’s loan." The Secretary testifies before the committee for over five hours. Following the hearing, a White House spokesperson says that "Secretary Chu has the president’s full confidence."

November 17, 2011
The Department’s Oak Ridge Office announces that it has received funding for reimbursable work totaling $445 million during fiscal ear 2011. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed approximately $244 million of the work. The remaining $201 million supported work at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Capitalizing on DOE’s resources and capabilities, the Work for Others program provides an avenue for DOE to build research and development partnerships with other federal agencies, academia, and the private sector.

November 17, 2011
Admiral James A. Winnefield, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second highest-ranking U.S. military officer, visits DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory to receive a wide variety of classified briefings that covered the broad spectrum of national security science at Los Alamos.

November 17, 2011
The Department’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory announces that researchers have discovered that it is the carbon atom — and not the nitrogen or oxygen atom — in an enzyme called nitrogenase, which plays a critical role in converting nitrogen in the air into a form that living things can use. This could enable the making of plant food from nitrogen the way nature does and a much more efficient method for manufacturing fertilizer. The currently widespread industrial process of nitrogen fixation — the Haber-Bosch reaction — requires high temperatures and pressures, consuming 1.5 percent of the world’s energy. The fertilizer industry is a $17.8 billion industry in the U.S. alone.

November 17, 2011
The Department's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announces that the 15,000-ton NOvA particle detector, which will enable scientists to discover the masses of the three types of neutrinos, passes a pivotal test with the successful operation of the hydraulic system to move and rotate huge, 200-ton plastic blocks.

November 17, 2011
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases a review report on DOE's April 2010 research and development (R&D) plan to select nuclear fuel cycles and technologies, some of which reprocess spent fuel and recycle some nuclear material, such as plutonium. The GAO finds that DOE has "taken a systematic approach to planning for the complex, scientifically challenging process of identifying and selecting sustainable nuclear fuel cycle options and associated technologies by 2020 and demonstrating them by 2050." The GAO nonetheless is concerned that "DOE’s initial steps will not be followed by actions needed to sustain its plans over this long period to achieve this goal." In addition, DOE "does not have a long-term strategy for collaborating with the nuclear industry that clarifies the government’s and industry’s roles and responsibilities. Without such a strategy, DOE cannot be assured that the nuclear industry will accept and use the technologies that it develops."

November 18, 2011
The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency adopts a resolution expressing "deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program, including those which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions." This follows the circulation of an internal IAEA report detailing Iran’s systematic efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. The White House Press Secretary issues a statement on the resolution.

November 18, 2011
The Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory dedicates the largest solar photovoltaic array in the eastern U.S. The 164,312 solar panels hosted at the Lab in New York State — one of the largest solar farms built on federal property in the nation — will produce enough energy to power up to 4,500 homes. The 32-megawatt Long Island Solar Farm Project is a collaborative project between the Long Island Power Authority and BP Solar International, Inc.

November 18, 2011
Secretary Chu tours the GE solar manufacturing facility in Arvada, Colorado, and in his remarks afterward highlights the choice America faces on whether to accept defeat and watch solar jobs go overseas, or play to win in the $240 billion clean energy market and create jobs in the U.S.

November 18, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that although the U.S. has large geothermal resources its growth has not been as strong as wind and solar over the last three years during the Obama Administration's push to increase generation from renewables. U.S. geothermal net electricity generation totaled 10,898 million kilowatt-hours during the first eight months of 2011, up 10 percent from the same period in 2008.

November 18, 2011
The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Subcommittee on Shale Gas Production issues its final report. The subcommittee finds that "a prudent balance between development and environmental protection is best struck by establishing a strong foundation of regulation and enforcement, and adopting a policy and practice that measures, discloses, and continuously improves shale gas operations." The subcommittee concludes that "if action is not taken to reduce the environmental impact accompanying the very considerable expansion of shale gas production expected across the country — perhaps as many as 100,000 wells over the next several decades — there is a real risk of serious environmental consequences causing a loss of public confidence that could delay or stop this activity."

November 18, 2011
Beacon Power Corporation reaches an agreement with DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) at a Delaware court hearing on Beacon’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. Beacon Power Corporation received a $43 million loan guarantee from DOE in August 2010 for its 20-megawatt flywheel energy storage plant in Stephentown, New York, and filed for bankruptcy on October 31. Beacon asked LPO to support its restructuring efforts to preserve Beacon as an organization and retain the Stephentown plant. LPO sought to recover as much of the $39.1 million loan balance as possible. The agreement reached is to sell the Stephentown plant by January 30, 2012.

November 21, 2011
President Obama announces new sanctions on Iran for its refusal to live up to its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. The sanctions target for the first time Iran’s petrochemical sector, prohibiting the provision of goods, services, and technology to this sector and authorizing penalties against any person or entity that engages in such activity. These measures build upon the framework of national and multilateral sanctions.

November 21, 2011
The Department releases a Construction Project Review (CPR) of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project at the Hanford Site conducted at the request of the Deputy Secretary Poneman. The committee finds that " substantial advances have been made" but "that because cost growth continues to outpace savings opportunities and resolution of some technical issues has been delayed, it is increasingly unlikely that the project can be completed within the approved budget of $12.26 billion. A potential $100 million decrease to the FY 2012 Department’s funding request would further exacerbate the project’s cost and schedule challenges."

November 22, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman posts an article on cybersecurity on the Energy Blog.

November 22, 2011
The Department announces the selection of six new natural gas and oil research projects aimed at reducing risks and enhancing the environmental performance of drilling in ultra-deepwater settings. Their total value is more than $26.4 million over 3 years, with approximately $16.8 million of cost-share provided by the research partners in addition to the $9.6 million in federal funds.

November 26, 2011
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission lifts off carrying a car-sized rover named Curiosity. The rover will be powered by a radioisotope power system assembled and tested at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory.

November 28, 2011
Secretary Chu announces the winners of the 2011 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for their outstanding contributions in research and development supporting DOE and its missions. Nine winners were named in eight categories. Winners in each category receive a gold medal, a citation, and $20,000.

November 28, 2011
The Department announces that the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, is powered by nuclear systems developed by DOE, marking the 28th space mission supported by nuclear energy. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of nuclear-powered space exploration. The rover also contains an instrument originally developed at DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory called ChemCam, which will use blasts of laser energy to remotely probe Mars’s surface. The robust ChemCam system is one of 10 instruments mounted on the mission’s rover vehicle, named Curiosity.

November 28, 2011
The FutureGen Alliance announces that it is negotiating an option to purchase portions of the Meredosia Energy Center from Ameren Energy Resources Company, LLC. The purchase option would provide the Alliance with the assets it would need to continue the development of the FutureGen 2.0 clean coal power program in Morgan County, Illinois

November 29, 2011
Iranian protesters shouting “Death to England” storm the British Embassy in Tehran following the issuance of new sanctions by Britain against Iran. The White House Press Secretary issues a statement.

November 29, 2011
President Obama announces his intent to nominate Arun Majumdar as Under Secretary of Energy. Dr. Majumdar has served as the Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) since 2009.

November 29, 2011
The Department’s Joint BioEnergy Institute announces that researchers have engineered the first strains of  Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and synthesize its sugars into various transportation fuels, without any help from enzyme additives. This could make it cheaper to produce fuel from switchgrass — an advanced biofuel with the potential to replace gasoline on a gallon-for-gallon basis.

November 30, 2011
Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Patricia Hoffman addresses the 2011 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission technical conference in Washington, DC.  In remarks, she discusses recent evaluations of proposed EPA rules and the impact those rules could be expected to have on the nation’s electrical grid. She notes an emerging consensus that the new rules are not expected to create widespread resource adequacy issues.

November 30, 2011
The Department announces that ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI), after a rigorous testing process at its pilot plant in Durham, North Carolina, has validated a process that converts wood waste and forest residue into clean, renewable fuel. Pilot validation is a key milestone for biofuels companies like TRI. With critical engineering data in hand and the testing phase complete, TRI can now move toward full-scale commercialization of proven technology. The testing was supported by DOE funding.

November 30, 2011
The Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) issues a report in response to a request from Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, for an analysis of the effects of a national Clean Energy Standard (CES), a policy that requires covered electricity retailers to supply a specified share of their electricity sales from qualifying clean energy resources. The EIA finds that power generation using renewable technologies would be 60 percent greater with a CES than without in 2025 and 75 percent in 2035. As a result, projected annual electricity sector carbon dioxide emissions would be 22 percent lower in 2025 and 43 percent lower in 2035. A CES has a negligible impact on electricity prices through 2022, but prices rise in later years. Prices in some areas would be more than 25 percent higher.

November 30, 2011
NNSA announces the signing of an implementing arrangement with the Government of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and New Technology (MINT) to promote increased cooperation in nuclear safeguards and security. Deputy Secretary Poneman and Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of MINT Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev sign the arrangement to expand bilateral cooperation in key nonproliferation areas.

November 30, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab launches a new blog, TechStream, about opportunities to license technology at the lab that may lead to a new start-up or the next new product.

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December 1, 2011
The Department releases a new report examining the potential impact that the forthcoming EPA proposals for clean air standards could have on the reliability of the nation’s energy systems. The report compares compliance deadlines even more stringent than those that are expected to be associated with the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to typical timelines for the installation of pollution controls at existing older plants and construction of new generation capacity. The Department’s review indicates that the new EPA rules will not create resource adequacy issues. The White House posts a blog article.

December 1, 2011
Secretary Chu is joined by Lynn Jurich, the president and co-founder of the solar power company SunRun, and Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman to announce $12 million in funding for the awardees of the Rooftop Solar Challenge. The Challenge supports 22 regional teams to spur solar power deployment by cutting red tape — streamlining and standardizing permitting, zoning, metering, and connection processes — and improving finance options to reduce barriers and lower costs for residential and small commercial rooftop solar systems. The funding is part of the SunShot Initiative.

December 1, 2011
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recommends new proposed names for elements 114 and 116, the latest heavy elements to be added to the periodic table. In June, the IUPAC officially accepted elements 114 and 116 as the heaviest elements, more than 10 years after scientists from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and chemists from DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory discovered them. Livermorium (atomic symbol Lv) was chosen to honor the laboratory and the city of Livermore, California.

December 2, 2011
President Obama announces nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings over the next 2 years. The investment includes a $2 billion commitment, made through the issuance of a Presidential Memorandum, to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers. In addition, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents, and labor leaders commit to invest nearly $2 billion of private capital into energy efficiency projects; and to upgrade energy performance by a minimum of 20% by 2020 in 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college, and school buildings. Former President Clinton and President Obama tour the upgraded Transwestern Building in Washington, DC, and provide remarks at the announcement.

December 2, 2011
The Department launches the Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) initiative aimed at advancing clean energy generation in Indian Country and providing federally recognized Native American and Alaska Native governments with technical assistance to accelerate clean energy project deployment. Through START, DOE and National Laboratory experts will work directly with community-based project teams to evaluate financial and technical feasibility and provide early development technical assistance to get these projects better positioned for financing and construction.

December 2, 2011
NNSA announces that the Y-12 National Security Complex has received final approval for a $76 million project that aims to maintain decades-old equipment — some dating to World War II — until the site constructs a new facility to ensure that the nation has essential uranium processing capability long-term. The Nuclear Facility Risk Reduction project includes two Y-12 production buildings — Building 9212 and Building 9204-2E — and will replace items including steam stations, cooling water distribution systems, ventilation systems, vacuum pumps, and electrical switchgear, motor control centers, transformers, and breakers.

December 2, 2011
The United States International Trade Commission, in response to a petition from SolarWorld Industries on October 19 in a preliminary decision concludes that there is "a reasonable indication" that the solar industry in the U.S. is "materially injured by reason of imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules from China that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value." The Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration determines whether the subsidies violate international trade laws and whether tariffs should be imposed.

December 5, 2011
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announce that the Defense Logistics Agency signed a contract to purchase 450,000 gallons of advanced drop-in biofuel, the single largest purchase of biofuel in government history. The Department posts an article on the Energy Blog.

December 6, 2011
NNSA Administrator D’Agostino joined Vice Minister Lu Peijun of the General Administration of Customs and other Chinese officials to commission the first Chinese installation of port radiation detection equipment at the Port of Yangshan outside of Shanghai.

December 7, 2011
The Department announces a further step to implementing the President’s Executive Order on Improving Regulatory Review. The Executive Order directs federal agencies to review existing regulations and determine whether they are still necessary and crafted effectively to solve current problems. The Department issues a second RFI asking the public how best to streamline existing regulations.

December 7, 2011
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management holds an oil and gas lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. This is consistent with steps President Obama announced on May 14 to expand domestic oil and gas production.

December 8, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman announces a new pilot initiative to reduce some of the hurdles that prevent innovative companies from working with DOE’s national laboratories. The new Agreements for Commercializing Technology will help businesses bring job-creating technologies to the market faster by allowing them to work with (DOE’s national laboratories from start to finish to develop and deliver new clean energy technologies and other innovations.

December 8, 2011
The Department's Argonne National Laboratory announces that researcher have developed an extraordinarily efficient two-step process that electrolyzes, or separates, hydrogen atoms from water molecules before combining them to make molecular hydrogen (H2), which can be used in any number of applications from fuel cells to industrial processing. Easier routes to the generation of hydrogen have long been a target of scientists and engineers, principally because the process to create the gas requires a great deal of energy. Approximately 2 percent of all-electric power generated in the U.S.

December 8, 2011
Researchers at the Department's Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility present initial findings from their new suite of scanning radars designed to provide the world's most detailed data about the formation, structure, and evolution of clouds and precipitation. The highly sophisticated 18 radars, which were purchased with a $30 million investment from the Recovery Act, provide 4-dimensional information.

December 8, 2011
EPA releases a draft analysis of data from its three-year Pavillion, Wyoming, groundwater investigation. EPA constructed two deep monitoring wells to sample water in the aquifer. The draft report indicates that groundwater in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing. EPA detected synthetic chemicals, like glycols and alcohols consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards, and high methane levels. EPA expresses concern about the movement of contaminants within the aquifer and the safety of drinking water wells over time. This is the first time a federal agency has associated water contamination with hydraulic fracturing.

December 12, 2011
Secretary Chu, in Stockholm, Sweden, representing the U.S. as two scientists with ties to DOE are awarded Nobel Prizes, issues a statement.

December 12, 2011
The Department announces more than $7 million to fund four projects in California, Washington, and Oregon to advance hydrogen storage technologies to be used in fuel cell electric vehicles. The 3-year projects will help lower the costs and increase the performance of hydrogen storage systems by developing innovative materials and advanced tanks for efficient and safe transportation.

December 12, 2011
The Department's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory celebrates the 20th anniversary of the lab's launching of the first website in North America.

December 13, 2011
Scientists announce in a seminar held at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) that two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have nearly eliminated the space in which the Higgs boson could dwell. Scientists could determine as early as next March if the famous missing piece of the physics puzzle — the Higgs boson — exists or not. More than 1,600 scientists, students, engineers and technicians from more than 90 U.S. universities and five U.S. national laboratories take part in the experiments using the CMS and ATLAS particle detectors. The Department's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is the host laboratory for the U.S. contingent on the CMS experiment, while DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory hosts the U.S. ATLAS collaboration.

December 13, 2011
Secretary Chu posts an article on clean energy and the Startup America Policy Challenge on the White House Blog.

December 13, 2011
The Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announces that researchers have developed a promising new inexpensive technique for fabricating large-scale flexible and stretchable backplanes using semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotube solutions that yield networks of thin-film transistors with superb electrical properties, including a charge carrier mobility that is dramatically higher than that of organic counterparts. Among possible applications are electronic pads that could be folded away like paper, coatings that could monitor surfaces for cracks and other structural failures, medical bandages that could treat infections, and food packaging that could detect spoilage.

December 14, 2011
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management holds a major oil and gas lease sale covering more than 21 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. This is consistent with steps President Obama announced on May 14 to expand domestic oil and gas production.

December 14, 2011
NNSA Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, with an option for phase in of Tritium Operations performed at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. The RFP also includes a separate severable line item for the project management of the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

December 15, 2011
Secretary Chu announces that states and territories across the nation have reached the goal of weatherizing more than 600,000 low-income homes — including more than 125,000 multi-family homes like apartment buildings — more than three months ahead of schedule.

December 15, 2011
Deputy Secretary Poneman in remarks delivered at the Tokyo American Center discusses nuclear power after Fukushima.

December 15, 2011
The Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory announces that researchers have developed the first solar cell that produces a photocurrent that has an external quantum efficiency greater than 100 percent when photoexcited with photons from the high energy region of the solar spectrum. The external quantum efficiency for photocurrent, usually expressed as a percentage, is the number of electrons flowing per second in the external circuit of a solar cell divided by the number of photons per second of a specific energy (or wavelength) that enter the solar cell. None of the solar cells to date exhibit external photocurrent quantum efficiencies above 100 percent at any wavelength in the solar spectrum. The external quantum efficiency reached a peak value of 114 percent.

December 16, 2011
The Department's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois, breaks ground for a new accelerator research facility. The construction of the Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) will provide a state-of-the-art facility for research, development, and industrialization of particle accelerator technology. IARC will house 42,000 square feet of technical, office and educational space for scientists and engineers from Fermilab, DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, local universities, and industrial partners.

December 19, 2011
The Department announces that 36 start-up companies are participating in the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge. They have signed 43 option agreements allowing them to license valuable, cutting-edge technologies developed and patented by one of DOE’s 17 National Laboratories and the Y-12 National Security Complex. They have done so under a streamlined, simplified application process and a greatly reduced upfront fee of just $1,000 which was offered from May 2 to December 15. The top start-up companies — based on a public vote and an expert review — will be featured at the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators around the country, the 2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit.

December 20, 2011
The Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announces that Natcore Technology Inc. has been granted a patent license agreement to develop a line of black silicon products. The Black Silicon Nanocatalytic Wet-Chemical Etch emerged from work by NREL photovoltaic researchers that demonstrated that black silicon solar cells, which have been chemically etched to appear black, better absorb the sun’s energy. The inexpensive, one-step method reduces light reflection from silicon wafers to less than 2 percent, and promises to reduce manufacturing production cost and capital expense. Today’s solar cells absorb about 95 percent of the sun’s radiation.

December 21, 2011
Secretary Chu announces awards totaling nearly $7 million in research and development funding that will help to reduce the current costs of electric vehicle chargers by 50 percent over the next three years. With support from DOE, manufacturers in California, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania will work to improve the development and design of charging equipment.

December 22, 2011
The Department releases the 2011 Critical Materials Strategy. The report examines the role that rare earth metals and other key materials play in clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells, and energy-efficient lighting. The report found that several clean energy technologies use materials at risk of supply disruptions in the short term, with risks generally decreasing in the medium and long terms. Supply challenges for five rare earth metals (dysprosium, neodymium, terbium, europium and yttrium) may affect clean energy technology deployment in the years ahead.

December 22, 2011
The Department's Joint BioEnergy Institute announces a major breakthrough in engineering systems of RNA molecules through computer-assisted design, which could lead to important improvements across a range of industries, including the development of cheaper advanced biofuels. Scientists will use these new “RNA machines”, to adjust genetic expression in the cells of microorganisms. This will enable scientists to develop new strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that are better able to digest switchgrass biomass and convert released sugars to form three types of transportation fuels — gasoline, diesel and jet fuels.

December 22, 2011
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s decides to certify Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 nuclear reactor design, a significant step towards constructing a new generation of U.S. nuclear reactors. In February 2010, the Obama Administration announced the offer of a conditional commitment for an $8.33 billion loan guarantee for the construction and operation of two AP1000 reactors at Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generation Plant in Burke, Georgia. Secretary Chu issues a statement.

December 22, 2011
The Department announces completion of demolition at its Idaho site of CPP-601, a Cold War-era spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility. A six-level structure built in 1953, CPP-601 was used for the dissolution, separation, and chemical retrieval of uranium-235 from spent nuclear fuel — essentially a recycling process.

December 23, 2011
President Obama signs into law the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, funding the federal government through FY 2012. Overall spending levels were agreed upon in the July 31 bipartisan deal to raise the debt limit and reduce the deficit. Most energy-policy riders are dropped, but an included rider blocks enforcement by DOE of new energy efficiency rules for light bulbs through the end of the fiscal year.

December 27, 2011
EPA finalizes the 2012 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS2). The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established the RFS2 program and the annual renewable fuel volume targets, which steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022.

December 29, 2011
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) publishes in the Federal Register an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to give the public background information about the BLM’s interest in establishing an efficient, competitive process for issuing right-of-way leases for solar and wind energy development on the public lands. Such a process, according to the BLM, would help ensure fair access to leasing opportunities for renewable energy development and capture fair market value for the use of public lands. Existing regulations limit the competitive process to procedures for responding to overlapping right-of-way applications. The BLM is seeking input on how best to offer public lands through a nomination and competitive process instead of just by right-of-way application.

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