U.S. Department of Energy Invests $61 Million to Fund 31 Applied Research, Development and Demonstration Projects to Advance Clean Manufacturing

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) selected 31 projects led by national laboratories, industry, and academia to accelerate research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in domestic manufacturing. With over $61 million in federal funding, the selectees will drive innovation to advance the next-generation materials and manufacturing and related energy technologies required to strengthen America's economic competitiveness and move the U.S. towards a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. 

Projects were selected within the following topic areas: 

Next Generation Materials and Manufacturing — 20 projects were selected in this topic area (supported in part by EERE's Wind Energy and Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technologies Offices), which focuses on RD&D for cost-effective manufacturing processes and novel materials with improved properties. Specific subtopics include increased conductivity metal-based material systems ($6.8 million), harsh environment materials ($15.8 million), and AI/machine learning for aerostructures ($5 million).  

Secure and Sustainable Materials — Four projects were selected in this topic area ($10.8 million). The selected projects specifically address regional pilot-scale demonstrations of circular supply chains that include advancements in technologies such as innovative material recovery, end-of-life processing, and recycling. 

Energy Technology Manufacturing — Seven projects were selected in this topic area, which is co-funded by the Buildings Technologies Office and focuses on clean energy technology manufacturing innovation to improve performance and address technical barriers. Specific subtopics are the development, scale-up, and demonstration of processing technologies to manufacture state-of-the-art cathode active materials (CAM) for domestic electric vehicle battery manufacturing ($17.6 million) and building dehumidification scale-up ($5 million).  

In addition to the federal government's funding of $61.07 million, there is a cost share of $17.53 million, for a total of $78.6 million available to the selectees.

Learn more about the selected projects.

The Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) is leading this FOA in collaboration with the Buildings Technologies Office (BTO) and Office of Electricity (OE). The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Office (HFTO) and the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) are each co-funding one project in the next generation materials and manufacturing topic.

Read more from source:

https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/us-department-energy-invests-61-million-fund-31-applied-research-development-and

Chinese people are living two years longer thanks to ‘war on pollution,’ report says

Hong Kong CNN  — Ten years ago, China's capital was often covered in dense yellow and gray smog, so thick it shrouded nearly everything from view.

People locked their windows, donned face masks and cranked air purifiers on high to escape what became known as Beijing's "air-pocalypse."

The air quality was so bad, and became so globally infamous, that Chinese leaders launched a multibillion-dollar "war against pollution."

A decade on, those efforts are paying dividends. China's pollution levels in 2021 had fallen 42% from 2013, according to a new report released Tuesday, making it a rare success story in the region, where pollution is getting worse in some parts, including South Asia.

Source:

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/30/asia/air-pollution-report-china-south-asia-intl-hnk-scn

77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs and more to join military, Pentagon study finds

A Pentagon study revealed that 77 percent of young Americans do not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, drug use, or mental or physical problems.

"There are many factors that we are navigating through, such as the fact that youth are more disconnected and disinterested compared to previous generations," Dietz said, according to Military.com. "The declining veteran population and shrinking military footprint has contributed to a market that is unfamiliar with military service resulting in an overreliance of military stereotypes."

In September, Pentagon leaders sounded the alarm on its recruiting challenges.

"The Department anticipates we will collectively miss our recruiting mission despite accessing more than 170,000 remarkable young men and women" in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, Stephanie Miller, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military personnel policy, told the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee. "This constitutes an unprecedented mission gap and is reason for concern."

Source:

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/03/77-of-young-americans-too-fat-mentally-ill-on-drugs-and-more-to-join-military-pentagon-study-finds/

Microplastics infiltrate all systems of body, cause behavioral changes, potential for serious health consequences, including Alzheimer’s

Neuroscience, Pharmacy Professor Jaime Ross' study finds 'widespread' infiltration, potential for serious health consequences, including Alzheimer's

To understand the physiological systems that may be contributing to these changes in behavior, Ross' team investigated how widespread the microplastic exposure was in the body, dissecting several major tissues including the brain, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, heart, spleen and lungs. The researchers found that the particles had begun to bioaccumulate in every organ, including the brain, as well as in bodily waste.

"Given that in this study the microplastics were delivered orally via drinking water, detection in tissues such as the gastrointestinal tract, which is a major part of the digestive system, or in the liver and kidneys was always probable," Ross said. "The detection of microplastics in tissues such as the heart and lungs, however, suggests that the microplastics are going beyond the digestive system and likely undergoing systemic circulation. The brain blood barrier is supposed to be very difficult to permeate. It is a protective mechanism against viruses and bacteria, yet these particles were able to get in there. It was actually deep in the brain tissue."

That brain infiltration also may cause a decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein (called "GFAP"), a protein that supports many cell processes in the brain, results have shown. "A decrease in GFAP has been associated with early stages of some neurodegenerative diseases, including mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, as well as depression," Ross said. "We were very surprised to see that the microplastics could induce altered GFAP signaling."

She intends to investigate this finding further in future work. "We want to understand how plastics may change the ability for the brain to maintain its homeostasis or how exposure may lead to neurological disorders and diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease," she said.

The study was published in the International Journal of Molecular Science. It was supported by the Rhode Island Medical Research Foundation, Roddy Foundation, Plastics Initiative, URI College of Pharmacy, George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, and the Rhode Island Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network of Biomedical Research Excellence from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.

Source:

https://www.uri.edu/news/2023/08/microplastics-infiltrate-all-systems-of-body-cause-behavioral-changes/