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WUSTL researchers demonstrate solar-panel-powered microbial electrosynthesis to produce n-butanol from light, CO2 and power

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Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new way to train microbes to make n -butanol. Microorganisms have evolved a bewildering array of techniques to obtain nutrients from their surrounding environments. —Arpita Bose, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, and leader of the study.

Solar 319
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$12+M awarded to 4 projects seeking to design crops with ability to fix their own nitrogen; no artificial fertilizers

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it needs to be converted into a form that plants can use. However, there is only one recorded sighting of this bacterium, which grows in toxic environments. However, the lost bacterium has a unique nitrogenase that could fix nitrogen in oxygen-rich environments, eliminating the requirement for oxygen limitation.

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DOE announces $139M in funding for 55 projects to advance innovative vehicle technologies

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Slashing Platinum Group Metals Content in Catalytic Converters: An Atoms-to-Autos Approach. Developing an Energy-Conscious Traffic Signal Control System for Optimized Fuel Consumption in Connect Vehicle Environments. Louis Vehicle Electrification Rides for Seniors (SiLVERS). General Motors LLC. Washington State University.

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EPA awards $8M in FY2014 clean diesel grants in 21 states, Puerto Rico

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Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is retrofitting 36 school buses with technologies to cut soot and reduce idling. Franklin Soil & Water Conservation District is replacing three school buses and four agriculture engines and converting three irrigation pumps to clean burning electric. New Jersey and New York.

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USDOT awarding $55M to support purchase of Low-No buses; electric buses and infrastructure

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Project partners are Oahu Transit Services, Gillig, Hawaiian Electric Company and the Center for Transportation and the Environment. St Louis Metro Transit will receive funds to replace older model diesel buses with battery electric city transit buses in the St Louis region. Bi-State Development Agency (Metro).

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USDA and DOE award $12.2M to 10 research projects to accelerate bioenergy crop production and spur economic impact

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Overall, the USDA and DOE projects are designed to improve special crops to be grown for biofuels—including selected trees and grasses—by increasing their yield, quality and ability to adapt to extreme environments. Mockler, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St.

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PNNL-led team designs highly active cobalt-based PGM-free catalyst for fuel cells

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Scientists are studying transition metals such as iron as a promising alternative to platinum, but they have found that they quickly degrade in the acidic PEM fuel cell environment. They then used high-temperature pyrolysis to convert the atoms to catalytically active sites within the framework. —Yuyan Shao.

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