Oak Ridge Today

DOE funds Center for Bioenergy Innovation at ORNL to accelerate biofuels, bioproducts research

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Gerald Tuskan will serve as chief executive officer of the new ORNL-led Center for Bioenergy Innovation, one of four DOE bioenergy research centers. (Photo by ORNL)

Gerald Tuskan will serve as chief executive officer of the new ORNL-led Center for Bioenergy Innovation, one of four DOE bioenergy research centers. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced funding for new research centers to accelerate the development of specialty plants and processes for a new generation of biofuels and bioproducts.

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is one of four bioenergy centers chosen by DOE to advance a new biobased economy with the production of fuels and other products directly from nonfood biomass. The DOE announcement provides a total of $40 million in initial funding for the four centers in fiscal year 2018, with plans for a total five years of funding, a press release said.

The new centers follow the success of predecessor Bioenergy Research Centers established by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE’s Office of Science in 2007. The ORNL-led BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), for instance, has demonstrated scientific breakthroughs in its mission to overcome the natural resistance of plants to being broken down and converted into useful bioproducts.

“Our team of leading researchers is excited to use new approaches in biology to address the basic research challenges in developing real-world applications in the future sustainable bioeconomy,” said CBI Chief Executive Officer Gerald Tuskan. Tuskan, an ORNL Corporate Fellow, led the sequencing of the genome of Populus—a fast-growing perennial tree recognized for its potential in biofuels production—as well as the largest study of natural diversity in poplar trees for BESC. [Read more…]

How Roane State helped a young student on her road to MIT

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Emma Batson, who took online classes at Roane State, is now a freshman at MIT. (Submitted photo)

Emma Batson, who took online classes at Roane State, is now a freshman at MIT. (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

It’s a long way from being a bright middle school student to becoming a successful freshman at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But a Roane State Community College employee helped span that gap, and a mom is forever grateful.

Maria Gonzales, director of student enrollment and recruitment, played a transformative role in helping Emma Batson, 18, now in her second semester at MIT.

“You never know what one person can do to change the trajectory of a person’s life,” said Emma’s mom, Tresa Batson of Karns. “I wanted to let Roane State know what a special person they have in admissions.”

Tresa Batson is a Roane State grad and a Tennessee Promise mentor. “Roane State has a big place in my heart,” she said. [Read more…]

Looking ahead: SNS users visit to discuss next-generation target station at ORNL

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SNS-Second-Target-Station

More than 200 scientists from around the world met from October 27 to 29 at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide input on the scientific instruments that would be installed at a proposed Second Target Station, or STS, at the Spallation Neutron Source, which is pictured above. (Aerial photo and overlay by ORNL)

 

More than 200 scientists from around the world met from October 27 to 29 at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to provide input on the scientific instruments that would be installed at a proposed Second Target Station, or STS, at the Spallation Neutron Source.

The workshop—which was organized by ORNL’s Neutron Sciences Directorate and drew researchers from 56 universities, research institutions, and other national laboratories—aimed to define the capabilities needed to ensure the next-generation neutron source meets the biggest science challenges.

The Spallation Neutron Source is a DOE Office of Science User Facility that provides the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research and industrial development. [Read more…]

President Obama announces more DOE nominations, including science director

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WASHINGTON, D.C.— President Barack Obama recently announced plans to nominate two people to top U.S. Department of Energy posts, including a director of the Office of Science.

The Office of Science is responsible for 10 of the 17 DOE labs, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Obama nominated Marc Kastner to serve as director of the Office of Science and Franklin Orr to serve as DOE under secretary for science and energy.

“I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Obama said in a press release.

Here is more information about the two candidates: [Read more…]

Energy secretary to visit ORNL Monday

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote on May 16, and on Monday, Ernest Moniz will visit Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the first time as energy secretary.

Moniz will meet with the media at the Spallation Neutron Source.

A former under secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy on May 21. [Read more…]

Ernest Moniz sworn in as energy secretary

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Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz

Ernest Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy by Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in a Tuesday morning ceremony.

Moniz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote on May 16.

The Tuesday morning ceremony for U.S. Department of Energy employees kicked off a busy first day that includes briefings on energy and national security as well as remarks to the 2013 Energy Efficiency Global Forum, a press release said. [Read more…]

Alexander questions energy secretary nominee about Oak Ridge mercury cleanup

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Tuesday questioned energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz on whether the cleanup of mercury contamination in Oak Ridge would be a priority under his leadership, a press release said.

“One of the biggest cleanup problems we have from the Cold War era is mercury contamination of waterways in Oak Ridge,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

The release said Alexander also asked Moniz to support a planned water treatment facility.

Alexander was referring to about 200,000 gallons of mercury that arrived at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge during the 1950s and 1960s, when the United States was developing nuclear weapons as a defense against the Soviet Union. Alexander said it will cost billions of dollars to clean it up. [Read more…]

President Obama nominates MIT scientist for energy secretary

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President Barack Obama has nominated a physicist and director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to serve as his next energy secretary.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Ernest J. Moniz would replace Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, as secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. Chu announced Feb. 1 that he would not serve a second four-year term in the Obama administration.

[Read more…]