Networking opportunities were plentiful at the first full day of the MCARE conference. Credit: ACerS.

The first full day of the Materials Challenges in Alternative and Renewable Energy was dedicated to a range of plenary talks that covered the gamut of potential sources and, of course, the materials challenges each one faced. The sessions were MC’d by conference cochairs George Wicks and Jack Simon.

Put succinctly, each technology is “materials hungry,” and whether it’s solar, hydrogen, wind, hydro or nuclear, the materials mantra is: less, lighter, stronger and more efficient. And, by the way, the materials advances also need to lead to improved processing and manufacturing.

In most cases, speakers, such as Dow Corning Solar Solution’s Eric Peeters, spoke of having clear goals and roadmaps. For solar, the target is $1 per Watt (installed) by decade’s end, which would bring it close to $0.12-0.13 per kWh (comparable to natural gas).

For some, the features of the roadmap are clearer than for others. Peeters spoke of plans to use thinner wafers and glass, plus silicone-sealed frameless panels that use conductive adhesives. DOE hydrogen guru Ned Stetson discussed the short-range challenges of storing and transporting H₂ in its pure form (via materials that will permit stronger, lighter cylinders), but that chemical hydrogen storage systems—e.g., metal hydrides—can deliver higher H storage capacity (measured by weight percent) than anything involving just H₂.

GM Global R&D manager Bob Powell outlined the evolutionary steps of moving from electrical assist and hybrid technologies, through the “bridge” technologies of extended range electric vehicles, to, ultimately, fuel cell transportation (and auxiliary power generation). He says some of the challenges for the bridge materials are battery performance degradation, shrinkage–expansion and ability to withstand 5000 charge-discharge cycles.

Megan McCluer and Jim Ahlgrimm of DOE’s Wind & Hydropower Technology programs spoke widely about several traditional and novel wind and hydro (including ocean-based) technologies, but they reported that much of it—especially the strong, stable and better sited offshore wind capacity—is largely untapped. The analogy they use is, “What Saudi Arabia is to oil, the US is to wind energy and power.” But, offshore wind assets bring a new set of challenges: corrosion and biofouling, plus larger-scale blades, drivetrains and generators.

McCluer and Ahlgrimm noted their DOE programs cover a huge variety of wind and hydro generation approaches, so much of their work is based on establishing hypothetical production scenarios (e.g., supplying the US with 15 percent of power from water sources and 20 percent from wind), and then working backwards to figure out what advancements would be needed from each technology stream to meet the goals. Lab-academia-industry collaborations have been set up to address the next generation of blades, bearings/gearings and generators (including, ultimately, light-weight full superconductive generators).

Bhakta Rath from the Naval Research Lab took (friendly) issue with the suggestion that Saudi Arabia is the leader in oil and hydrocarbon-based energy reserves. What makes the US the leader, he says, are the largely untapped shale oil deposits in the Green River region of Western United States, plus rich methane hydrate deposits. Rath also mentioned the progress being made in understanding the potential of power generation based on exploiting ocean thermal energy gradients.

Is nuclear power an alternative or renewable form of energy? Savannah River National Lab’s Tom Sanders thinks there is an argument to be made. He says, in essence, whether solar is classified as alternative or renewable, remember that it is the product of fusion. Sanders, however, thinks along more practical lines than philosophical ones: He says small modular nuclear reactors are going to be manufactured, if not by the US, then by other nations. He says they can be made to deliver nuclear fuel efficiency, safety and security. In addition, their 100-300 MW size corresponds to the emerging sweet spot for modular size that existing electric utilities have found works well for new gas-fired turbines. SMNRs would also allow developing nations to leapfrog many grid infrastructure investments, similar to the way cell phones have eliminated the need for “last-mile” telecommunications wiring investments. Finally, Sanders says SMNRs can aid nonproliferation of nuclear weapons by allowing the U.S. to leverage nuclear fuel supplies at the front and back end of the generation cycles.

Each of the plenary speakers have kindly allowed ACerS to put their Powerpoint Presentations (typically converted to a pdf format) on  the Society’s website, via the MCARE Plenary Speakers page. Just click on the title of each presentation.

How do our engineers and scientists find the lighter, stronger, more efficient and easier-to-use materials? Ah—that’s the topic for the next three days of symposia. Stay tuned.

And, here are some of the photos from MCARE on Monday.

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Credit: DOE Basic Energy Sciences.

Friday afternoon, Cyrus Wadia posted a notice on the blog of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy that the DOE is planning on making available $12 million each year for funding several efforts related to the administration’s Materials Genome Initiative.

Wadia points to a new “Expression of Interest” announcement from DOE’s division of Basic Energy Science, in which BES says it “has an interest in enhancing support for research which could lead to a theory/modeling design paradigm, validated through experiment, which could enhance the rate of discovery of new or vastly improved materials, material systems, and chemical processes.”

That could cover a lot of territory, however the BES announcement mentions several (not necessarily exclusive) examples of what it is interested in (note: some of these descriptions have been edited) —

Electron Correlation: Many materials of importance to BES goals contain localized electrons which are not well described by the widely used Density Functional Theory (DFT). This includes oxide superconductors, magnetic materials, and photocatalysts.

Excited States: Excited electronic states, and their coupling to the environment, play a critical role in many energy related processes. Improved descriptions of excited states would impact photovoltaic materials, exciton transport in organic semiconductors, and light absorption in photo-catalysts. They would also provide a fundamental understanding of chemical reactivity enabling validated theories, models and computational tools for predicting rates, products, and dynamics of chemical processes involved in energy utilization and transformations.

Multiple Length and Time Scales: Projects which couple length scales, advance multi-scale modeling, or extend the time scale for dynamical simulations would be appropriate.

Electron & Ion Transport: Projects which advance the theoretical understanding of non-equilibrium effects in transport or provide validated algorithms for transport properties would be appropriate.

Novel Approaches: Efforts that utilize simulation and digital data in novel ways, such as “inverse design”, “genetic algorithms” or scanning large data sets including those with mixed theoretical and experimental data would be appropriate.

Coupling Chemistry and Turbulent Flow: Of particular note are two central issues that have been identified as required to advance the state of the art for predictive simulation of internal combustion engines: the dynamics of fuel-injection sprays and stochastic combustion processes.

BES also says it plans on dividing up the awards to three categories of projects: 1) Small groups or single investigator awards; 2) ”Glue” funding awards (”to support collaborations between funded BES activities through shared postdoctoral staff, short-term exchange of principal investigators, capability development, and related activities; and 3) Centers for materials or chemical sciences software innovation.

Interested? If so, move fast! BES says that preapplications are required and must be submitted by March 1, 2012.

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Mitsubishi i-MIEV battery electric vehicle was rated highest in latest environmental rankings provided by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. See story below. Credit: Mitsubishi.

Here is what we are hearing:

DOE to launch new Energy Innovation Hub focused on advanced batteries and energy storage

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced plans to launch a new Energy Innovation Hub for advanced research on batteries and energy storage with an investment of up to $120 million over five years. The hub, which will be funded at up to $20 million in fiscal year 2012, will focus on accelerating research and development of electrochemical energy storage for transportation and the electric grid. Letters of Intent to apply are due on March 1, 2012 with full applications due on May 31, 2012. Universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms are eligible to compete and are encouraged to form partnerships when submitting their proposals. The award selection is expected this summer.

Commission clears acquisition of joint control of Maxam by Advent, investors

The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of joint control of the Spanish company MaxamCorp Holding S.L. by US-based Advent International Corp. and approximately 110 individuals including Maxam’s current managers, technical experts, other employees and co-investors. The Commission examined the vertical links created by the proposed transaction and concluded that the merged entity would continue to face sufficient competition. Advent manages a number of investment funds. It also controls H.C. Starck GmbH, which is active mainly in refractory metals and advanced ceramics, and OXEA S.a.r.l., which primarily produces chemicals.

Hot news on advanced materials from Harper

We’ve launched on Twitter! Follow our feed to stay up to date on news in advanced materials including research developments, emerging applications, hot topics, as well as updates on Harper’s upcoming events, press releases, and more. Everyday, we’re helping customers create the next generation of materials for tomorrow’s applications. Get your updates from the world’s leading thermal processing experts at @HarperIntl.

Nanocerox redesigns new analytical lab (pdf)

Nanocerox recently invested in a new analytical lab at its corporate headquarters located in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Nanocerox continues to invest internally in our infrastructure to ensure the quality of our nanopowders,” says Todd Stefanik, vice president of technology. “As a result of our recent construction of a cleanroom facility for processing nanopowders into transparent ceramic parts, we realized significant improvements in the optical quality of optical parts produced at Nanocerox. With this redesign of our analytical laboratories, we allow ourselves to measure ceramic powder, slurry and transparent part characteristics to ensure consistent production of high optical quality laser, window and scintillator components.”

Webcast of Ceradyne Inc. presentation at Cowen and Company’s 33rd Annual Aerospace/Defense Conference available

Ceradyne CEO Joel P. Moskowitz spoke at Cowen and Company’s 33rd Annual Aerospace/Defense Conference in New York on Feb. 8, 2012. He addressed the company’s business fundamentals and growth strategies. Ceradyne develops, manufactures, and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel, and commercial applications. In many high performance applications, products made of advanced technical ceramics meet specifications that similar products made of metals, plastics or traditional ceramics cannot achieve.

U.S. Silica goes public after 111 years

Shares of U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. started trading Feb. 1, 2012, as the mining firm with roots going back more than a century raised $200 million in its initial public offering. The producer of silica used in hydraulic fracturing and solar panels was acquired in 2008 by affiliates of Golden Gate Private Equity Inc. It ranks as the second-largest producer in the United States after Unimin, a unit of Belgium-based Sibelco Group. The company originated in West Virginia as a supplier of raw material for glass used in the manufacturing sector in Pittsburgh, before it moved to its current headquarters in Frederick, Md. The company’s growth prospects are tied partially to the rise in domestic shale oil and gas production, which uses sand to break up rock underground to free-up fossil fuel in the hydraulic fracturing process, also known as fracking.

Electric car tops out greenest vehicle list

For the first time in the 12-year history of the Greencars.org Greenest Vehicle List, an electric vehicle has topped the list, based on the 14th annual comprehensive environmental rankings provided by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The Mitsubishi i-MIEV battery electric vehicle claimed the top spot from the Honda Civic Natural Gas, which, up until this year, had held the top spot for 8 years running. The i-MIEV scored a high score of 58, the highest Green Score ever awarded since the ACEEE rankings were started back in 1998. The Mitsubishi i-MIEV managed a combined city and highway fuel economy of 112 miles per gallon equivalent.

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Laser light table. Credit: NREL, DOE.

Late last year we told you about the reality-TV-inspired event ARPA-E is conducting — “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” — to accelerate tech transfer out of national labs and into start-up companies to promote “innovative and promising solution[s] to the nation’s energy challenge.”

Readers — it is time to vote!

Fourteen of the 36 companies that signed option agreements are competing in the ANTEI challenge. The ARPA-E challenge website has nice summaries of each company that tells about the technology being presented, the national lab it came out of and a brief video profile. The website is also keeps a running tally of the votes.

Voting is easy: just click the “Like” button. The winner will be determined by combining the results of the voting with the evaluations of an expert panel from DOE.  The agency also says the top startup companies will be invited to be featured at the premier annual gathering of clean energy investors and innovators around the country, the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit at the end of February.

The polls are open until Monday, Feb. 6 at 8:59 am.

While the first ANTEI is coming to a conclusion, DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced today that the agency is adding a second “season” to the program, and is launching the 2012-13 version of ANTEI Feb. 1.

To learn more about working with DOE labs and their technologies, check out the Energy Innovation Portal on the EERE website.

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