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(Bloomberg Business Week) The Tennessee Solar Institute has issued its first round of grants. The awards announced Friday total $4.5 million and officials said they will result in 2.8 megawatts of new solar energy production in the state. The institute - a partnership of the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory - is aimed at speeding construction of renewable energy resources. It falls under Gov. Phil Bredesen's Volunteer State Solar Initiative and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...8/13
(Knoxville News Sentinel) A new ruling could jeopardize a $50 million contract awarded earlier this year to Knoxville-based Safety and Ecology Corp., and potentially disrupt Recovery Act-funded cleanup work in Oak Ridge that the Department of Energy has described as urgent...The project involves the demolition and cleanup of old nuclear facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and work has been stop-and-go for months because of the ongoing protests...8/12
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(Maryville Daily Times) Maryville College student Katherine Nadler is spending the summer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducting research that could aid the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in detecting vaporized explosives...8/15
(Scientific Computing) Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are using funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—also known as ARPA-E—to pursue two different, but related, approaches for removing carbon dioxide from the flue gases of coal-burning power plants...In one project, awarded directly to Georgia Tech, researchers are developing hollow-fiber composite membranes that will use nanoporous metal-organic framework materials to separate carbon dioxide from the flue gases. In the other project, Georgia Tech researchers are assisting colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in developing hollow-fiber sorbents that will soak up carbon dioxide like a sponge—then release it when heated...8/13
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DOE
(Oak Ridger) A critical improvement to the operations of the Y-12 National Security Complex has come online with this summer's start-up of a new potable water system that includes two prominent, 220-foot-tall water towers and more than 1.5 miles of newly installed water lines...8/12
State & Regional
(Knoxville News Sentinel) A new study has found that infection rates among the tiniest infants in Tennessee's neonatal intensive care units are 70 percent higher than the national average...8/16
(Knoxville News Sentinel) Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday that it's uncertain whether Tennessee will qualify for any of the federal money approved by Congress to save the jobs of schoolteachers.
"The teacher money, the way it's structured since we haven't laid off any teachers, we're sitting here trying to struggle over whether we qualify for it," the governor said in a conference call with reporters...8/12
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National
(New York Times) Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces, began a campaign on Sunday to convince an increasingly skeptical public that the American-led coalition can still succeed here despite months of setbacks, saying he had not come to Afghanistan to preside over a "graceful exit."...8/15
(New York Times) As 2010 began, there was nearly unanimous agreement in financial circles on at least one thing: Interest rates were sure to rise during the year.
Quite to the contrary. As Labor Day approaches, interest rates have collapsed, plunging along with economic optimism...8/15
(Wall Street Journal) America's baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—face a problem that could weigh on the economy for years to come: The longer it takes for the economy to recover, the less money they'll have to spend in retirement...8/15
East Tennessee
(WBIR) For the seventh consecutive month, Tennessee Valley Authority customers will pay an increased fuel cost in September. The utility said in a Thursday posting on its website that compared to August, residential bills will increase between $1 and $3, depending on usage levels...8/13
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MC student conducts ORNL research that could aid Homeland Security
ARPA-E funding supports research on carbon dioxide removal from flue gases
Rates Fall as Market Fears Economic Weakness
Fuel cost for TVA customers up again in September
