NREL News Release:

NREL Updates Cetane Data Used for Development of Energy Efficient Fuels and Engines

Wednesday, September 03, 2014

The Energy Department� National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a long-anticipated update to the source-of-record for cetane number data. This information is vital to the development of new, energy-efficient, low-carbon fuels and compatible engines. Researchers, as well as members of the engine, vehicle, and fuel industries, rely on these numbers to target compounds for development of new fuels capable of greater energy efficiency, cleaner emissions, and maximum performance in diesel engines.

A cetane number is a relative ranking of fuels based on the amount of time between fuel injection and ignition (ignition delay) in a diesel engine. A minimum cetane number is specified in the ASTM standard that defines the quality of diesel fuel sold in the United States. The recently published Compendium of Experimental Cetane Numberscompiles cetane number data from 62 sources for readers to use in selecting potential compounds and formulas for development of models, tools, and fuels.

In addition to updating information, the new edition provides additional measurements on a larger number of compounds, along with assessment of data quality.

The updated report includes all available single-compound cetane number data found in the scientific literature published prior to March 2014, including:

• Information on 389 pure compounds
• 584 measurements, including more than 250 new measurements
• Expanded discussion of the accuracy and precision of the methods most commonly used for determining cetane numbers
• Extensive annotation allowing readers to judge the relative reliability of individual results.

�he original report has been cited more than 130 times,�NREL Principal Engineer Robert McCormick said. �e expect that the new edition will continue be used extensively to develop models, target compounds for new fuels, and tools to help predict cetane numbers in the future.�/p>

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Verizon Plans Major Expansion of Its On-Site Green Energy Program; Company on Track to Become Largest Solar-Power Producer Among U.S. Communications Companies

NEW YORK – Verizon announced today that it will invest nearly $40 million to expand the on-site green energy program that it launched in 2013. This year, Verizon will install 10.2 megawatts of new solar power systems at eight Verizon network facilities in five states – California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. This investment nearly doubles the amount of renewable power generated by solar energy systems installed at six Verizon facilities last year.



Verizon Plans Major Expansion of Its On-Site Green Energy Program; Company on Track to Become Largest Solar-Power Producer Among U.S. Communications Companies

Verizon Is Building a Greener Network

From California to New York, Verizon has been building on-site green energy systems at 24 facilities. We believe that on-site green energy is not just good for our networks and the environment, but is also the right way to do business.

This year, Verizon is investing nearly $40 million in on-site solar power. This new investment nearly doubles the amount Verizon committed to solar in 2013. 

Verizon Is Building a Greener Network

NREL News Release:

New Process Helps Overcome Obstacles to Produce Renewable Fuels and Chemicals

Lignin Valorization Study Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

There’s an old saying in the biofuels industry: “You can make anything from lignin except money.” But now, a new study may pave the way to challenging that adage. The study from the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) demonstrates a concept that provides opportunities for the successful conversion of lignin into a variety of renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials for a sustainable energy economy.

“Lignin Valorization Through Integrated Biological Funneling and Chemical Catalysis” was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The NREL-led research project explores an innovative method for upgrading lignin.

The process for converting glucose from biomass into fuels such as ethanol has been well established. However, plants also contain a significant amount of lignin – up to 30 percent of their cell walls. Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer that plants use to strengthen cell walls, but it is typically considered a hindrance to cost-effectively obtaining carbohydrates, and residual lignin is often burned for process heat because it is difficult to depolymerize and upgrade into useful fuels or chemicals.

“Biorefineries that convert cellulosic biomass into liquid transportation fuels typically generate more lignin than necessary to power the operation,” NREL Senior Engineer and a co-author of the study Gregg Beckham said.  “Strategies that incorporate new approaches to transform the leftover lignin to more diverse and valuable products are desperately needed.”

Although lignin depolymerization has been studied for nearly a century, the development of cost-effective upgrading processes for lignin valorization has been limited.

In nature, some microorganisms have figured out how to overcome the heterogeneity of lignin. “Rot” fungi and some bacteria are able to secrete powerful enzymes or chemical oxidants to break down lignin in plant cell walls, which produces a heterogeneous mixture of aromatic molecules. Given this large pool of aromatics present in nature, some bacteria have developed “funneling” pathways to uptake the resulting aromatic molecules and use them as a carbon and energy source.

This new study shows that developing biological conversion processes for one such lignin-utilizing organism may enable new routes to overcome the heterogeneity of lignin. And, that may enable a broader slate of molecules derived from lignocellulosic biomass.

“The conceptual approach we demonstrate can be applied to many different types of biomass feedstocks and combined with many different strategies for breaking down lignin, engineering the biological pathways to produce different intermediates, and catalytically upgrading the biologically-derived product to develop a larger range of valuable molecules derived from lignin,” Beckham said. “It holds promise for a wide variety of industrial applications. While this is very exciting, certainly there remains a significant amount of technology development to make this process economically viable.”

A patent application has been filed on this research and NREL’s Technology Transfer Office will be working with researchers to identify potential licensees of the technology.

In addition, researchers from NREL participated in a recent review on lignin valorization published inScience Magazine. This review highlighted the broad potential for manufacturing value-added products from lignin, including low-cost carbon fiber, engineering plastics and thermoplastic elastomers, polymeric foams and membranes, and a variety of fuels and chemicals all currently sourced from petroleum.

The work reported in PNAS initially was financed by the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium via funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; continuing core project support was provided by the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Benefits of Insulation

From Energy Saver:

One of the most cost-effective ways to make your home more comfortable and #enegyefficient year-round is to add #insulation. Learn more about why you might want to add more insulation to your home in our newest#EnergySaver blog.

http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/why-you-might-want-add-more-insulation

Improving Fuel Efficiency by Reducing Vehicle Weight

From the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

#DidYouKnow: Reducing a vehicle's weight by just 10 percent can improve #fuel economy by 6 to 8 percent. That's why more and more #automakers are exploring new ways to incorporate strong, lightweight materials into their vehicles. Learn how new advanced materials are helping vehicles shed pounds (and saving consumers money at the pump) while maintaining vehicle safety → http://go.usa.gov/EJwe

Partners Sharing Solutions: Leveraging Green Leases To Reduce Energy And Water Use - YouTube

Video (2:17)



Partners Sharing Solutions: Leveraging Green Leases To Reduce Energy And Water Use - YouTube