Bøger af U S Department of Energy

In a national survey at the turn of the millennium, journalists and historians ranked the dropping of the atomic bomb and the surrender of Japan to end the Second World War as the top story of the twentieth century. The advent of nuclear weapons, brought about by the Manhattan Project, not only helped bring an end to World War II but ushered in the atomic age and determined how the next war-the Cold War-would be fought. The Manhattan Project also became the organizational model behind the impressive achievements of American "big science" during the second half of the twentieth century, which demonstrated the relationship between basic scientific research and national security.

This Guide has been created to help Federal agencies effectively develop large-scale renewable energy projects at Federal facilities. For the purposes of this Guide, large-scale Federal renewable energy projects are defined as renewable energy facilities larger than 10 megawatts (MW) that are sited on Federal facilities, property, and lands, and are typically financed and owned by third parties. Because these projects often rely on private investment, it is necessary for Federal agencies to understand the types of large-scale renewable energy projects that the private sector is pursuing. In other words, if the projects that need private sector funding do not attract the private sector, they will never be built. Therefore, this Guide provides the Federal employee with an understanding of a common process that private sector developers use to select projects for investment. To accomplish Federal goals for renewable energy, sustainability, and energy security, large-scale renewable energy projects must be developed and constructed on Federal sites at a significant scale with significant private investment. The U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) helps Federal agencies meet these goals and assists agency personnel navigate the complexities of developing such projects and attract the necessary private capital to complete them. This Guide is intended to provide a general resource that will begin to develop the Federal employee's awareness and understanding of the project developer's operating environment and the private sector's awareness and understanding of the Federal environment. Because the vast majority of the investment that is required to meet the goals for large-scale renewable energy projects will come from the private sector, this Guide has been organized to match Federal processes with typical phases of commercial project development. FEMP collaborated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and professional project developers on this Guide to ensure that Federal projects have key elements recognizable to private sector developers and investors. The main purpose of this Guide is to provide a project development framework to allow the Federal Government, private developers, and investors to work in a coordinated fashion on large-scale renewable energy projects. The framework includes key elements that describe a successful, financially attractive large-scale renewable energy project.

Building commissioning has often been likened to commissioning of a ship, where the Owners thoroughly verify and prove the functional performance of all parts - engines, compasses, sonar, radar, radio, generators, potable water systems, and so on - under all possible conditions and as a condition of acceptance before placing the ship in service, and where the Owner checks the presence of system operating and procedures manuals and the availability of up-to-date navigation charts, and where the crew has been properly and thoroughly trained on the ship's systems' operations and emergency procedures. Commissioning is not new - ships and aircraft have been commissioned for years. Building commissioning has its roots in the Quality Control programs of the 1970s and is a direct product of the Total Quality Management programs of the 1980s. Commissioning is a direct response to building Owners who complain that their facilities do not meet performance expectations, are extraordinarily expensive to operate and maintain, lack valuable documentation, and are staffed by personnel who are unfamiliar with and have never been trained on the building's highly complex operations and control systems. The goals of commissioning include providing a safe and healthy facility; improving energy performance and minimize energy consumption; reducing operating costs; ensuring adequate O&M staff orientation and training; and improving systems documentation. The objectives of this guidebook include providing an introduction to commissioning approaches to a variety of professionals involved with the management, operation, and maintenance of Federal buildings; illustrating case histories, including cautionary lessons learned; providing guidance on commissioning best practices; demonstrating how commissioning can help Federal facility managers meet energy efficiency goals and LEED certification requirements; demonstrating how commissioning can be integrated in facility management and O&M programs to make those programs more efficient and effective; and demonstrating how different types of commissioning (such as retrocommissioning and continuous commissioning) can be incorporated into a variety of building types and applications, above and beyond the most commonly understood commissioning approaches.

In accordance with section 1805 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the Department of Energy is providing the sixth Triennial Report to Congress on the progress of the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund (UED&D Fund). In the last report submitted to Congress in January 2008, the Department concluded that in no case was the UED&D Fund sufficient to complete the cleanup activities at the three Gaseous Diffusion Plants located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Piketon, Ohio; and Paducah, Kentucky. The January 2008 report estimated that the UED&D Fund shortfall was about $10.9 billion, and the fund would be exhausted by 2022. This report updates the Congress on the progress and success of the cleanup over the last three years. The UED&D Fund remains insufficient. The shortfall is now estimated at $11.8 billion, with the fund predicted to be exhausted by 2020. However, there are inherent uncertainties associated with planning for large complex projects and as they progress through their life cycle, the Department's goals is to reduce this uncertainty with higher quality work estimates, good faith regulatory negotiations and project management oversight and controls.

This report highlights much of the limited information on and understanding of climate and energy-water-land (EWL) system interactions in the context of issues, potential impacts, and long-term research needs. The report begins with a detailed characterization of the climate-EWL nexus and associated issues in terms of the interfaces between the three interdependent energy, water, and land resource sectors. This report provides a framework to characterize and understand the important elements of climate and EWL system interactions. It identifies many of the important issues, discusses our understanding of those issues, and identifies the research needs to address the priority scientific challenges and gaps in our understanding. Much of the discussion is organized around two discrete case studies with the broad themes of (1) extreme events and (2) regional differences. A conceptual model is presented that defines the EWL nexus in terms of resource supply and demand linkages. Using this model, the report briefly describes the paired bilateral interfaces of energy-water, energy-land, and land-water, as well as the integrated three-part system of energy-water-land interfaces. It also includes examples of supply-demand linkages and processes for selected human and ecosystem support applications. The report then explores how individual bilateral interfaces interact in response to climate. Next, the report addresses risk, uncertainty, and vulnerability in the context of sector interfaces. Mitigation and adaptation decision-making vulnerabilities, opportunities, and coordination are then discussed in light of their EWL relationships. Finally, long-term research needs are discussed in the context of challenges and opportunities with regard to data completeness and accuracy; requirements for integrated modeling including energy, water, and land systems; and identified risks, vulnerabilities, and uncertainties.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to issue A123 Systems, Inc. (A123), loan and grant funding to retrofit several existing facilities and construct and equip a new facility to support lithium-ion phosphate battery manufacturing operations for hybrid electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. All facilities associated with the Proposed Action would be in the Detroit metropolitan area of southeastern Michigan. DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), Council on Environmental Quality NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508), and DOE NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR 1021). The EA examines the potential environmental effects associated with the Proposed Action and the No-Action Alternative. Using the targeted benchmark of 2012 for production, the incorporation of 1 year's output of A123 lithium-ion phosphate batteries into plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles would be expected to reduce national fuel consumption by more than 1 billion gallons of gasoline and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 12 million tons over a 10-year period. Therefore, the A123 project would help avoid and reduce emissions of air pollutants and human-caused greenhouse gases, as mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for passenger cars and trucks pursuant to federal emissions requirements under the Clean Air Act (65 Federal Register 6698, February 10, 2000). The analysis did not identify adverse impacts to land use (zoned use), visual resources, water resources, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, or public health and safety from implementing the Proposed Action. The analysis identified small adverse impacts to air quality and traffic. The analysis identified small short- and long-term beneficial impacts to socioeconomics in the region of influence from job creation associated with the proposed project. The No-Action Alternative would not impact the environmental resources evaluated in the EA. If DOE did not issue A123 loan and grant funding, A123 would not proceed with the project. Without the financial assistance a DOE loan and grant would provide, A123 would not pursue creation of lithium-ion phosphate battery manufacturing centers in the United States. This would not be consistent with DOE Incentive Program and Vehicle Technologies Program goals.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, which was included in the final legislation (H.R. 3183, Public Law 111-85), directed the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop this report outlining domestic unconventional fossil energy resource opportunities and associated technology applications, in support of overall research, development, and deployment (RD&D) strategy for the further development of these resources. While the strategy report is prepared by DOE, the scope of the RD&D opportunities and associated technology application is nationwide. Based on the current state of ongoing private and public research efforts, the report summarizes: the potential magnitude of the resource base for each of the unconventional fossil energy sources; the technical, safety, and environmental challenges that have been identified in connection with each of the unconventional resources; and the current status of research activity, both public and private, focused on these resources. From this review of past research activity, the report identifies the following principal remaining technological and environmental challenges: production of residual oil that remains in large domestic oil reservoirs while simultaneously storing carbon dioxide (CO2) in those same reservoirs; potential development of the nation's unmineable coal resource via underground coal gasification; the producibility of natural gas from methane hydrate and the potential for simultaneously sequestering CO2; development of gas shale and tight gas sands; application of advance computational methods for evaluating cumulative environmental and socioeconomic impacts of simultaneous development of conventional and unconventional resources on a regional basis; collection and archiving of historical baseline data related to unconventional fossil fuel resources that may facilitate collaborative efforts among researchers; and quantifying the environmental and safety impacts of unconventional resource development and identifying ways to reduce and/or mitigate these impacts, thereby improving environmentally sustainable production of the resources.

This Technical Report on "Climate Change and Energy Supply and Use" has been prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in support of the U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA). Prepared on an accelerated schedule to fit time requirements for the NCA, it is a summary of the currently existing knowledge base on its topic, nested within a broader framing of issues and questions that need further attention in the longer run. This technical input report is a summary of the currently existing knowledge base on climate change and energy supply and use, nested within a broader framing of the issues and questions that need further attention in the longer run. It builds on two previous assessments of implications of climate change for energy supply and use. The report summarizes current knowledge, especially emerging findings since 2007, about implications of climate change for energy use, implications of climate change for energy production and supply (oil and gas, thermal electricity, renewable energy, integrated perspectives, and indirect impacts on energy systems), followed by discussions of implications for future risk management strategies, research gaps, and moving toward a self-sustained continuing assessment capacity for the longer term.

This guide has been written by experts in the field to provide you, a consumer, with information about the use of solar energy to heat the water you use in your home. It is no secret that energy costs have been rising rapidly in the past several years, and that conventional sources of energy are in short supply.As more and more people feel the impact of the rising cost and limited availability of some types of energy, increasing attention is being given to the energy available in sunlight. No longer just a fad for some individual experimenters, no longer only a subject for scientific and engineering studies, solar energy applications are now a matter of intense interest to almost everyone.Of all of the ways in which we can capture and use solar energy to meet our needs, providing hot water is perhaps the simplest and most economical for the homeowner. Many manufacturers now make equipment and systems to provide solar-heated water, and many firms around the country are qualified to install, maintain, and service them. The Federal government and several states even provide tax credits to help cover the cost of solar energy systems.But deciding to buy and install a solar hot water system still requires you to consider a number of factors---whether the system will save you money now or in the future, what kind of system to buy and from whom to buy it, whether to install it yourself or have it installed, and similar matters. This guide is designed to provide some of the information you will need to make these decisions, and to tell you where to get the rest of the information you may need to install or have installed a satisfactory solar hot water system.

This guide is designed to help you search for information in the wind energy field, ranging from its history and technology basics to the latest in research and development. It is written to help several audiences, including engineers and scientists who may be unfamiliar with a particular aspect of wind energy, university researchers who are interested in this field, manufacturers who want to learn more about specific wind topics, librarians who provide information to their clients, and anyone else who is interested in knowing more about wind energy technologies.

A Manual for the Economic Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technologies provides guidance on economic evaluation approaches, metrics, and levels of detail required, while offering a consistent basis on which analysts can perform analyses using standard assumptions and bases. It not only provides information on the primary economic measures used in economic analyses and the fundamentals of finance but also provides guidance focused on the special considerations required in the economic evaluation of energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.