2012 Press Coverage

Biofuels Digest: The Top 100 People in Bioenergy, 2012-13

December 21, 2012 -- Argonne's Michael Wang is among the Top 100 People in Bioenergy for 2012-13, as voted by the readers of Biofuels Digest and the Digest editorial board. View the list.

R&D Magazine: Dark Clouds, But Bright Outlook for R&D

December 14, 2012 -- Changes in the R&D environment are driving research managers to look at different ways to support and grow their organizations. Read the story.

Medill Reports: Out from the shadows -- Argonne's quest to demystify nuclear energy

December 12, 2012 -- Argonne National Laboratory is trying to set the record straight on nuclear energy as a clean fuel that can be generated safely. No carbon emissions and no need for imports. Read the story.

Energy.gov: 54.5 MPG and Beyond -- Speeding Up Development of Advanced Combustion Engines

December 10, 2012 -- Most Americans who own a car or truck probably give little thought to their vehicle's engine because it operates quietly and reliably with little required maintenance. Read the story.

Christian Science Monitor: Energy Department pushes for electric car battery research

December 5, 2012 -- If you want to know how advanced cars might be in the next hundred years, just take a look at how far the car has come along in the last hundred. Read the story.

CBS News: First sustained nuclear reaction

December 2, 2012 -- And now a page from our Sunday Morning Almanac: December 2nd, 1942 ... 70 years ago today, the day a new technology was born under a grandstand at the University of Chicago's Stagg Field. Read the story.

ANS Nuclear Cafe: A Weekend of Nuclear History

December 2, 2012 -- The weekend of December 1-2, 2012, sees three events of note relative to the history of nuclear energy, including the 70th anniversary of CP-1. Read the story.

Atomic Insights: 70th Anniversary of CP-1, the First Controlled Fission Chain Reaction

December 2, 2012 -- On Sunday, December 2, 2012, I gathered together a group of nuclear professionals to talk about the impact to human history of the construction and operation of Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1). Listen to the show.

New York Times: Seeking to Start a Silicon Valley for Battery Science

November 30, 2012 -- The Energy Department will establish a research hub for batteries and energy storage at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., and spend up to $120 million over the next five years, the department announced on Friday. Read the story.

Chicago Tribune: U.S., state to fund battery research at Argonne

November 30, 2012 -- The number is five. Batteries that are five times more powerful, five times cheaper, within five years. That's the stated goal of the Argonne National Laboratory team that will establish a research institute for battery technology in Illinois that combines isolated research happening around the country into a single location. Read the story.

Energy.Gov: Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Electric Vehicles

November 30, 2012 -- Did you know that the average American's daily round-trip commute is less than 30 miles? With many electric vehicles having a range of more than 70 miles a charge, they are a reliable and comfortable way for Americans to get from point A to point B. Read the story.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Argonne lab near Chicago chosen for battery research lab

November 30, 2012 -- A sprawling national energy laboratory near Chicago will host the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced Friday. Read the story.

Chicago Business Journal: Argonne Laboratory wins $120 million to build battery research center

November 29, 2012 -- Argonne National Laboratory, southwest of Chicago, will receive $120 million from the Department of Energy to form a research center that will help develop better battery technology for electric vehicles. Read the story.

Chevrolet.com: Chevy and Argonne - The quest to create the Volt battery

November 29, 2012 -- Like Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece with the help of the Argonauts, GM enlisted Argonne (National Laboratory) to help them produce the revolutionary battery for Chevrolet's Volt. Read the story.

Cleveland.com: BASF starts electric car battery materials production in Elyria

November 13, 2012 -- Hoping to make materials that could put large numbers of drivers in electric cars within the next few years, German chemicals giant BASF opened a new Northeast Ohio plant. Read the story.

TPM Idea Lab: Smartphone Battery Life Could Be Doubled Or Tripled With Silicon Graphene Tech

November 12, 2012 -- The battery life of your smartphone could soon be extended by twice as long, ideally three times, using new lithium ion battery technology developed by researchers at Illinois institutes Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory. Read the story.

Scientific American: Household bioreactors could help ease energy woes

November 12, 2012 -- Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory are developing a mobile reactor they say will one day play a crucial role in helping people after natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy. Read the story.

Discovery News: Nuclear plant powered by spent fuel

November 9, 2012 -- An old nuclear technology is getting another look, and it could clean, emission-free electricity, while at the same solving the problem of nuclear waste. Read the story.

Medill Reports: Get your motor running: Engineer talks fuel economy

November 6, 2012 -- Steve Ciatti, a mechanical engineer at Argonne National Laboratory west of Chicago, modifies diesel engines. Ciatti is interviewed on the topic of fuel economy. Read the story.

Nanowerk: Research Aims to Create Low-Friction Lubricants to Reduce Fuel Consumption

November 5, 2012 -- Pixelligent Technologies, an innovator in manufacturing nanocrystal dispersions for the electronics, semiconductor and industrial markets, has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory. Read the story.

Popular Science: How I hacked an electronic voting machine

November 5, 2012 -- What do you need to rig an election? A basic knowledge of electronics and $30 worth of RadioShack gear, professional hacker Roger Johnston reveals. The good news: we can stop it. Read the story.

CNN Money: How your vote can be hacked

October 31, 2012 -- Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory can hack two types of commonly used electronic voting machines in under a minute. Watch the video.

OilPrice.com: Revolutionary Improvement Increases Lithium Ion Battery Capacity by 300%

October 30, 2012 -- California Lithium Battery, a finalist in Department of Energy’s 2012 Start Up America’s Next Top Energy Innovator challenge, has announced the record-setting performance of its new lithium ion battery anode. Called the “GEN3” the anode is a silicon graphene composite material engineered with Argonne National Laboratory over the past eight months. Read the story.

Newswise: Scientists build "nanobowls" to protect catalysts needed for better biofuel production

October 26, 2012 -- It may sound like a post-season football game for very tiny players, but the “nanobowl” has nothing to do with sports and everything to do with improving the way biofuels are produced. That’s the hope of a team of scientists from the Institute for Atom Efficient Chemical Transformations (IACT). Read the story.

Huffington Post: Electronic voting machines still widely used despite security concerns

October 22, 2012 -- For years, researchers have been aware of numerous security flaws in electronic voting machines. They've found ways to hack the machines to swap votes between candidates, reject ballots or accept 50,000 votes from a precinct with just 100 voters. Read the story.

Christian Science Monitor: US train companies eye shift from diesel to natural gas

October 14, 2012 -- For the past two weeks train industry executives from around the US have been holding private meetings to discuss the potential of using natural gas to power the trains, rather than diesel. Read the story.

CNNMoney: The future of rechargeable batteries

October 10, 2012 -- Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are developing car and smartphone batteries that can hold 50 percent more energy. Watch the video.

Fox News: Could EV car batteries be made from salt water?

October 5, 2012 -- The dream of building a car that runs on water could soon be a reality, just not the one you might have expected. Read the story.

Boston.com: MathWorks hosts EcoCAR2 student competitors in Natick

October 2, 2012 -- If you're looking for the newest generation of eco-friendly car builders, search no further than Natick. Read the story.

ABC Science, Australia: Wind could power the whole world; report

September 11, 2012 -- There's enough wind to power the world many times over, according to a new study, but it would take massive investment that analysts say is not realistic. Read the story.

Gizmag: Mobile machine can make biofuel for military and humanitarian operations

August 20, 2012 -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have created a device called the Endurance Bioenergy Reactor (EBR) that can produce bioenergy on location, using waste from kitchens and latrines. The fuel can go directly into engines and generators without any need for refining. Read the story.

ABC 7: Taking the Future Out for a Spin

August 17, 2012 -- It's a chance to get a glimpse at what may in the future be parked in your garage. Argonne's Glenn Keller is interviewed by ABC. Watch the video. Read the story.

Beacon News: Autos of future on display at Autobahn

August 16, 2012 -- It was like the Lollapalooza of alternative-fuel vehicles.There was a Chevy Volt. There were Nissan Leafs. There was a Chrysler Ram pickup running on compressed natural gas. And even a Porsche Cayenne hybrid. And more, more, more. Argonne's Tony Burrell is interviewed. Read the story.

Equities: Gov. Beshear Announces Opening of $20.7 Million Facility for Research on Renewable Energy, Advanced Batteries

August 15, 2012 -- Governor Steve Beshear today joined officials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and the University of Kentucky (UK) to announce the opening of a new $20.7 million facility dedicated to the research and development of renewable energy and energy storage technologies. Read the story.

Lexington Herald Leader: University of Kentucky opens $20.7 million research lab at Spindletop

August 15, 2012 -- The University of Kentucky's Center for Applied Energy Research opened a new laboratory Wednesday that backers called an economic development engine, supporting research and manufacturing of biofuels, solar technology and high-tech batteries. The facility includes a collaboration with Argonne. Read the story.

OEM Off-Highway: Battery Recycling

August 1, 2012 -- On page 9, Linda Gaines discusses Argonne's battery recycling work. Read the story.

WGN Radio: Argonne's Hussein Khalil discusses nuclear pyroprocessing

July 21, 2012 -- Hussein Khalil, division director of nuclear engineering at Argonne National Laboratory, joins Bill Moller to talk about energy potential in nuclear fuel. Listen to the interview.

SAE Vehicle Electrification: Argonne heats up Li-ion battery research

June 26, 2012 -- The U.S. Department of Energy lab near Chicago is using federal stimulus money to dive deeper in lithium battery research. Read the story.

The National Forum: The importance of facts in research -- the IFR

June 18, 2012 -- Here’s a sound principle: When writing opinion pieces that criticise internationally renowned scientists, use the best possible information. Especially when the subject is energy, and the object of your criticism sits on the panel for the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for energy: the Global Energy Prize. Read the story.

Wired Autopia: EcoCAR 2 challenges students to build road-ready hybrids

June 14, 2012 -- One of the most important student car design competitions has returned. EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future features new schools, new cars and a whole new focus. Read the story.

Scientific American: Better lithium ion battery aims to re-energize electric cars

June 12, 2012 -- A new lithium ion battery technology may finally make the devices cheap enough and durable enough to turn electric cars from a niche product into a mass-market mode of transport. Read the story.

Untrodden Ground: Researchers to model impact of earthquakes inside nuclear reactors

June 12, 2012 -- The shimmying of last summer's 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Virginia briefly hit the pause button on the work week in the nation's capital. But at the North Anna nuclear power plant, 11 miles from the epicenter in central Virginia, that pause lasted nearly three months while inspections and cosmetic repairs were made. Read the story.

SmartPlanet: DOE eyes compressed natural gas vehicles

June 11, 2012 -- The DOE lab that helped bring you the Chevy Volt and other electric vehicles has a new focus: cars, trucks and buses that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Read the story.

Crain's Chicago Business: Clean-tech leaders partner with aviation to rev up Midwest biofuel biz

June 7, 2012 -- A new coalition composed of a local clean tech group, airline corporations and a municipal agency aims to boost Midwest development of biofuels for commercial aviation. Seth Snyder is interviewed. Read the story.

Platt's Inside Energy: DOE lab that pioneered electric vehicles sets sights on natural gas cars, trucks

June 5, 2012 -- The Energy Department national laboratory that brought cutting-edge battery technology to the Chevrolet Volt and other hybrid-electric vehicles now hopes to be the vanguard of another automotive power source that many say is poised to grab a big share of the transportation-fuel market: natural gas. Read the story.

EnergyCollective: Nuclear Roads Not Taken (Yet) in Germany, Japan and the US

May 31, 2012 -- There is another nuclear road that was not taken. Ironically, the failure to take that road can lead to global catastrophe for both humankind and many of the species with whom we share this planet. This time the problem is not nuclear war but the threat of climate change, and nuclear power can be the solution. Read the story.

Forbes: Wind Power May Not Reduce Carbon Emissions As Expected

May 30, 2012 -- Adding wind power to the existing electric grid may not have the effect of reducing carbon emissions as much as expected, according to a new study published by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory. Read the story.

Toronto Star: Cruze-ing lightly saves fuel, says GM

May 25, 2012 -- Last week, I wrote that the fuel economy of Mazda’s extra-efficient internal-combustion crossover, the CX-5, seems to depend heavily on driving style. Argonne's Mike Duoba is interviewed. Read the story.

New York Times: Cramming for degrees in hybrids

May 18, 2012 -- Like many college students, Katherine Bovee, a master’s degree candidate at Ohio State University in Columbus, struggled to find a focus for her undergraduate studies. Wanting to sample a broad range of possibilities, she enrolled in a mechanical engineering program. Read the story.

Slate: Eric Isaacs on the myth of the lone inventor in the garage

May 18, 2012 -- Where are the best scientific ideas created and developed? a) A garage. b) A basement workshop. c) A dorm room. d) A kitchen. e) A full-scale laboratory equipped with the latest technology and staffed with highly trained professional researchers. It might not be romantic, but the correct answer is e). Read the story.

Green Car Congress: Argonne study identifying fuel consumption penalties for CNG use in conventional light duty vehicles

May 18, 2012 -- Preliminary findings from a study by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) show that current compressed natural gas (CNG) technology applied in conventional light-duty vehicles leads to a 2% fuel consumption penalty when the engine is not resized (i.e., the CNG-fueled engine has lower performance) and up to a 12% fuel consumption penalty when the engine is resized (i.e., “up-sizing”) to deliver comparable performance to the gasoline-fueled version. Read the story.

Scientific American: How to Build a Better Lithium Ion Battery

May 17, 2012 -- With current battery systems reaching their performance limits, researchers are scrutinizing every component of lithium-ion cells in order to develop energy storage mechanisms that can make electric vehicles better competitors to fossil-fueled engines. Read the story.

Crain's Chicago Business: Argonne to work with Northwestern, U of C on materials science research

May 14, 2012 -- Argonne National Laboratory announced plans to collaborate more closely with Northwestern University and the University of Chicago to speed up discovery of new materials. Read the story.

OutdoorsFirst: BRP to begin testing next generation biofuel

May 10, 2012 -- BRP begins a program to test butanol-extended fuel in a variety of recreational marine engines for Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office. Butanol-extended fuel will be tested as an alternative to gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol (E15). Read the story.

Darien Patch: Argonne Highlights Sustainability Research during Earth Day Fair

April 25, 2012 -- Argonne National Laboratory highlighted transportation and other sustainable energy research Tuesday at its annual Earth Day celebration that featured displays from more than half a dozen Argonne scientists. Read the story.

MarketWatch: Western Lithium Demonstrates High Performance Results From Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery Testing at Argonne National Laboratory and Provides Operations Update

April 16, 2012 -- Western Lithium USA Corporation is pleased to announce results from electrochemical performance testing by Argonne National Laboratory of US Department of Energy of lithium carbonate extracted from the Company's Kings Valley Hectorite clay lithium deposit in Nevada, USA. Read the story.

Wall Street Journal: What companies can learn from Bell Labs

March 29, 2012 -- Recently, a small technology company in California named EnviaSystems unveiled something startling: A new technology that appears to cut by half the cost of lithium-ion batteries that now power our hybrid and electric cars. Read the story.

ERL: Algal biofuels beat diesel on greenhouse emissions

March 26, 2012 -- Producing "green" electricity is relatively easy but finding an alternative fuel to keep planes in the sky, and cars, buses and trains on the move, is proving more of a challenge. Algal biofuels could be part of the solution; a new study assesses how much energy they could save. Read the story.

Forbes: Envia's Energy-Dense Battery Could Cut Electric Vehicle Costs

March 21, 2012 -- Envia Systems recently announced a breakthrough that could significantly reduce the price of electric vehicles. The California-based startup revealed that it had developed a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with nearly twice the energy density of today’s batteries. Read the story.

Nwitimes.com: Study finds effective methods for keeping mercury out of Lake Michigan

March 20, 2012 -- Technologies exist that will allow BP's Whiting Refinery to meet federal standards for mercury discharges in waste water released into Lake Michigan, a study commissioned by the company confirmed. Read the story.

Nightly Business Report: Natural Gas Could Fuel New Ways to Travel

March 16, 2012 -- Mike Duoba is interviewed in this video about the transportation uses of natural gas. Watch the video.

DigitalJournal: Lower Cost Lithium Battery Commercialized, Enabling Wider, More Affordable Use to Bring Huge Change in Energy Consumption News; California Lithium Battery, Inc Announces

March 15, 2012 -- California Lithium Battery Inc. (CalBattery) announced at last week’s Department of Energy’s ARPA-e Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. that they have entered into a Work for Others (WFO) agreement with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to commercialize a breakthrough low cost “GEN3” lithium battery. Read the story.

Green Car Reports: Ford offers tool to fleet buyers

March 14, 2012 -- Using a model from Argonne National Lab known as GREET, Ford's tool estimates the vehicle's lifetime wells-to-wheels emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)--allowing users to compare the carbon profile of miles covered via power from their regional electric grid versus those covered by burning gasoline or diesel fuel. Read the story.

SmartPlanet: Illinois' Burgeoning Smart Grid Hub

March 13, 2012 -- The Midwestern U.S. state is working hard to convince the rest of the country of just that as it prepares for a massive smart meter rollout that it says will lead to "the most comprehensive smart grid deployment in the U.S.," according to the Illinois Institute of Technology's Mohammad Shahidehpour. Read the story.

Science Omega: Chemical competitiveness - an interview with Dr. Seth Snyder

March 9, 2012 -- Bolstered by a long and successful history, the US chemical research community is in fine health at present. However, with growing R&D investment from BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the US cannot afford complacency in any of its research sectors. Read the story.

WorldNuclear: Fukushima and Chernobyl Radiation--Myth vs. Reality

March 7, 2012 -- Leading experts from the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the Chernobyl Tissue Bank discuss the effects of radiation from a nuclear accident. Watch the video.

Renewable Energy Focus: Argonne receives award for biomass resin wafer technology

March 5, 2012 -- Argonne National Laboratory has received a Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Award for a technology improving the processing of biomass feedstocks into biofuels and chemicals. Read the story.

PennEnergy: Argonne awarded $1.9 million for hydropower study

March 1, 2012 -- A $1.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will allow Argonne National Laboratory to further its study of advanced pumped-storage hydropower systems. Read the story.

Scientific American: New Energy-Dense Battery Could Enable Long-Distance Electric Cars

February 27, 2012 -- Envia System's new lithium-ion battery packs roughly twice as much energy per gram as present batteries. With a $4 million grant from ARPA-e, the Envia technology builds on work done at Argonne National Laboratory. Read the story.

The New York Times: In Energy Department Competition, Students Wield Textbooks and Welding Torches

February 9, 2012 -- Student teams and industry sponsors gathered in Austin, Tex., last week for the winter workshop of EcoCar2: Plugging in to the Future, a competition sponsored by the Energy Department. Read the story.

Atomic Insights: Pursuing the unlimited energy dream – history of the Integral Fast Reactor

February 8, 2012 -- Len Koch, whose participation in nuclear energy research started in the 1940s, wrote this open letter to colleagues who are striving to restore interest in the progress that they made in research and development of the Integral Fast Reactor during the period from 1954-1994. Read the story.

PhysOrg.com: A 'natural' solution for transportation

February 3, 2012 -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have begun to investigate adding one more contender to the list of possible energy sources for light-duty cars and trucks: Compressed natural gas (CNG). Read the story.

R&D Mag: A 'natural' solution for transportation

February 3, 2012 -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have begun to investigate adding one more contender to the list of possible energy sources for light-duty cars and trucks: Compressed natural gas (CNG). Read the story.

Medill Reports: 'Historic transition' to sustainability at a crossroads

February 1, 2012 -- Molecular advances in solar energy technology and a revamp of the U.S. grid are essential steps for sustainable energy. Argonne's George Crabtree gave a lecture on sustainability at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Read the story.

Pantagraph.com: Text of Quinn's State of the State speech

February 1, 2012 -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn delivered his State of the State address on Wednesday at the Illinois Capitol. Argonne's battery work was noted in the speech. Read the transcript.

Wake Forest Magazine: Out to Replace Petroleum

January 27, 2012 -- A former Wake Forest Reynolds Scholar, Jeff Chamberlain is the catalyst behind an electric battery blitz aimed at reducing our automobile-loving nation’s dependency on petroleum. Read the story.

SAE Powertrain & Engineering: Alternative fuels heat up

January 25, 2012 -- This is a rich time for combustion researchers. The need for better fuel efficiency and improved emissions has never been greater. Computer simulations with improved test procedures are accelerating advances. Argonne's Sibendu Som is interviewed. Read the story.

Txchnologist: What do we need from the battery of the future?

January 25, 2012 -- Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and elsewhere are working on devices that could self-heal. The idea is to include microcapsules of liquid metal smaller than a cell of along the surface of the anode or cathode. When that surface becomes damaged the capsules burst and the liquid metal fills in the blemishes cutting off current. Read the story.

ANS Nuclear Cafe: Why I chose a nuclear career - interviews with Argonne engineers

January 24, 2012 -- To kick off Nuclear Careers Day, several Chicago ANS Local Section members, including Argonne engineers, participated in video interviews to share what fascinates and excites them about their nuclear careers. Watch the video.

WBEZ: A lot at stake for BP in Whiting expansion

January 20, 2012 -- BP's Refinery in Whiting is 100 years old now and is getting a multi-billion dollar makeover. There’s a lot at stake for BP’s finances and it’s environmental cred. Read the story.

Medill Reports: Can seaweed keep your car running?

January 19, 2012 -- The issue with ethanol compared to gasoline is one of volumetric efficiency as well as energy efficiency, said Michael Wang, a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont. Read the story

Energy.gov: Transformative Battery Technology at the National Labs

January 17, 2011 -- Eric Isaacs, director of Argonne National Lab and materials physicist, told Google engineers during a talk at the company’s Mountain View headquarters about the challenges associated with storing as much energy as is necessary to run a vehicle at extended ranges. Read the story.

Design News: Superbattery: The Next Great Triumph of Engineering

January 13, 2012 -- Fuller and his videographer brother Kirk, driving coast-to-coast in an electric car with internal-combustion backup, was something of a leap of faith. They faced swathes of America in which there exist no power stations to plug in their Volt and recharge the juice in the vehicle’s 288-cell, 16-kilowatt hour battery pack. Read the story.

PhysOrg.com: One-third of car fuel consumption is due to friction loss

January 12, 2012 -- No less than one third of a car's fuel consumption is spent in overcoming friction, and this friction loss has a direct impact on both fuel consumption and emissions. Read the story.

Energy.gov: Secretary Chu's Remarks at Detroit Economic Club

January 11, 2012 -- It’s an exciting time to be in Detroit, the heart of America’s auto industry.  Yesterday, I toured the auto show and saw the amazing products that will hit the roads soon. Read the entire speech.

Southsider Magazine: Kentucky puts its best automotive foot forward at Detroit show

January 10, 2012 -- Kentucky's auto industry had a hard-to-miss presence today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Read the story.

Boing Boing: Hey, electric cars don't totally suck

January 5, 2012 -- A blogger provides "a realistic sort-of rebuttal" on electric cars. Argonne's GREET model is discussed. Read the story.