Steve Casalnuovo shows a large computer printout of the design of an acoustic wave sensor See below . Using secondary ion mass spectrometry, researchers from DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory dislodged surface chemicals from basalt, a rock common to several DOE nuclear research sites, and identified them and their distribution on the rock's surface. To map the rock's chemicals, the researchers had to overcome basalt's insulating surface. The Alternative Fuel Refueling Station Locator was developed by DOE's Alternative Fuels Data Center , which is managed by the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory . The user-friendly national locator can help drivers find ethanol and methanol blends, electricity, propane and natural gas.
Drivers can search by a specific address, city, state or region.
Although turbines have generated power at hydroelectric dams for more than 100 years, not much is known about how water flowing through the turbines may harm fish. Now researchers at three DOE national laboratories have begun examining the relationship between water velocities within the turbine chamber and injuries to fish. Laboratory researchers are studying one particular phenomenon called shear force, which occurs when two different water velocities collide. Depending on the shear's intensity, a fish may be disoriented momentarily, lose its scales, or be bruised or cut. Findings from this study could provide hydroelectric dam operators with some of the information necessary to design fish-friendly turbines.