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In pure water, lignin adopts a globular conformation (left) that aggregates on cellulose and blocks enzymes. In a THF-water cosolvent, lignin adopts coil conformations (right) that are easier to remove during pretreatment.
When the Ford Motor Company’s first automobile, the Model T, debuted in 1908, it ran on a corn-derived biofuel called ethanol, a substance Henry Ford dubbed “the fuel of the future.”
Using high-performance computing, ORNL researchers are modelling the atomic structure of new alloys to select the best candidates for physical experimentation.

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, FCA US LLC, and the foundry giant, Nemak of Mexico, are combining their strengths to create lightweight powertrain materials that will help the auto industry speed past the technological

James White, Rod Stucker and James Rowland, winners of DOE's inaugural Buildings Crowdsourcing Community Campaign, joined GE Appliance’s Venkat Venkatakrishnan and DOE Assistant Secretary David Danielson for a panel discussion at EERE Industry Day at ORNL

Winners of the inaugural Buildings Crowdsourcing Community Campaign were announced today at the Department of Energy’s Industry Day event at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. ORNL launched the crowdsourcing platform in March 2015 to give innovators an opportunity to present idea...

A new study published in Nature reassesses China’s carbon emissions from fossil fuels and cement production. Image credit - iStockphoto

fuel carbon emissions, a distinction it still maintains. But exactly how much carbon China releases has been a topic of debate, with recent estimates varying by as much as 15 percent. “There’s great scruti...

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Viruses are tiny—merely millionths of a millimeter in diameter—but what they lack in size, they make up in quantity.
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Climate researcher Benjamin Preston of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named to receive the American Geophysical Union's 2015 Charles S. Falkenberg Award.
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Nancy J. Dudney, Lonnie J. Love and David C. Radford have been named Corporate Fellows at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Corporate Fellow designation recognizes the researchers' significant accomplishments and continuing leadership in their scientific, engineering a...

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Six researchers with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory received awards at this week's Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE) World Congress. Scott Sluder received SAE's Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker Award, which ...

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When Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Yan Xu talks about “islanding,” or isolating, from the grid, she’s discussing a fundamental benefit of microgrids—small systems powered by renewables and energy storage devices. The benefit is that microgrids can disconnect from larger utility grids and continue to provide power locally.
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Throw a rock through a window made of silica glass, and the brittle, insulating oxide pane shatters. But whack a golf ball with a club made of metallic glass—a resilient conductor that looks like metal—and the glass not only stays intact but also may drive the ball farther than conventional clubs. In light of this contrast, the nature of glass seems anything but clear.