Posters presented at the October 16, 2006 Deans’ Forum on Energy Security and Sustainability
Fossil Fuels | Nuclear Energy | Other
Fossil Fuels
14: Energy Research at VCCER -The Carbon Sequestration Initiative
The Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research (VCCER) was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1977 as an interdisciplinary study, research, information and resource facility for the Commonwealth. Research and educational themes include energy security, resource development, carbon storage, sustainable development and international outreach. This poster will focus on work performed on carbon sequestration as part of SECARB (the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership), one of seven partnerships created by the US Department of Energy to determine optimum approaches for capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2). Phase I of SECARB addressed point source CO2 emissions in the southeast and potential sequestration sinks. Options for CO2 storage included depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs, deep saline aquifers, terrestrial ecosystems and unmineable coal seams. The VCCER-lead team completed regional characterization of coalbeds, located favorable areas to sequester CO2 and quantified CO2 storage capacity and associated enhanced coalbed methane (CBM) recovery in Virginia. Under SECARB Phase II (2005-2009), VCCER will demonstrate carbon sequestration potential in unmineable coal seams in the Black Warrior and Central Appalachian Basins. The primary objectives are to verify the sequestration capacity and performance of mature CBM reservoirs through pilot well injection of CO2. Testing in vertical and horizontal CMB wells will help determine the optimum design of future large-scale operations. The VCCER Phase II Coal Seam Team includes: • Research Team: Marshall Miller & Associates, Geological Survey of Alabama, Advanced Resources International, Kentucky Geological Survey and Eastern Coal Council. • Industrial Cost Share Partners: McJunkin Appalachian, CDX Gas, Southern Company, RMB Earth Science, AMVEST Oil and Gas, CONSOL Energy, Dart Oil & Gas, Natural Resource Partners, Pocahontas Land, Alpha Natural Resources, Equitable, GeoMet and Penn Virginia. • Corporate Partners: Alpha Natural Resources, F.D. Robertson Enterprises, Norfolk Southern, Dominion Resources, Natural Resource Partners and International Coal Group.
Michael Karmis, mkarmis@vt.edu, 231-5273, Mail code: 0411, Affiliation: faculty
Nino Ripepi, 231-5458, Affiliation: graduate student
42: Retroactive Conversion of a Commercial Vehicle to Drive-by-Wire
In the automobile industry, rapid technological advances are constantly improving the sustainability of our transportation network. However, the vast majority of vehicles use outdated technology. It is important to recognize which new technologies can be retrofit to older cars and have a significant impact on sustainability. Our research specifically focuses on providing older cars with the proper equipment to use active cruise control (ACC). ACC is any speed and/or direction control system on a vehicle that automatically reacts to the environment. The benefits of such a system include engine performance matching to road conditions and smoother traffic flow. Predictive cruise control (PCC) is a particular form of ACC estimated to decrease CO2 emissions by 10% on highways1 by adapting driving to road grades. Studies on traffic jam behavior suggest that if anywhere from 10-20% of vehicles on the road are equipped with ACC, it would eliminate traffic jams caused by high volume traveling at high speeds2. The first step of retrofitting an older car with ACC is converting the vehicle to drive-by-wire. Drive-by-wire allows a processing unit to control the vehicle. The researchers set out to retrofit a 2004 Cadillac SRX with a robust drive-by-wire system. The conversion was successfully completed and the drive-by-wire components preformed excellently, with some systems performing better than the stock driving systems. The system was tested with a primitive ACC program. This research proves that the concept of retrofitting vehicles with robust drive-by-wire technology is possible. The practicality of the overall system will no doubt improve as future design revisions are completed. If this technology was readily available to the public coupled with a sensor and software package for ACC , it would reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The opportunity to make a significant improvement to the sustainability of our vehicles is close at hand.
Shawn Kimmel, 703-509-0537, Affiliation: graduate student
69: Exergy Analysis and Large-Scale Optimization for the Development and Operation of High-performance Aircraft
This work entails the development and application of exergy analyses and various decomposition strategies for the integrated large-scale synthesis/design and operational analysis and optimization of high performance aircraft. Work to date has focused not only on the energy-based subsystems and components of such aircraft but on the inclusion of such non-energy based subsystems as the airframe. Applications include both supersonic and hypersonic vehicles as well as morphing aircraft. Optimal syntheses/designs are arrived at by flying the vehicles through complex missions which test the overall vehicles ability to optimally meet all the mission requirements. Exergy analyses are carried out with varying degrees of fidelity from that required for the high-fidelity application of CFD to the airframe aerodynamics to that required in the high- to medium-fidelity semi-empirical and first principle models of both the energy and non-energy based subsystems of the vehicles.
Michael von Spakovsky, 231-6684, Dept: Mechanical Engineering, Mail code: 0238, Affiliation: faculty
77: Center for Advanced Separation Technologies (CAST)
The Center for Advanced Separation Technologies (CAST) is a consortium of seven universities which include Virginia Tech (lead institution), West Virginia University, New Mexico Tech, University of Utah, Montana Tech, University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Kentucky. The CAST consortium was formed in 2001 to develop crosscutting separation technologies to produce clean coal and to upgrade other energy and mineral resources in an environmentally acceptable manner. The objective is consistent with the President’s energy policy and with the new energy bill authorizing federal funding for Advanced Separation Technologies research. CAST receives $3-4 million annual funding from the Department of Energy (DOE).
Roe-Hoan Yoon, 231 7056, Dept: Mining and Minerals Engineering, Mail code: 0258, Affiliation: faculty
Gerald Luttrell, 231 6314, Dept: Mining and Minerals Engineerinig, Mail code: 0239, Affiliation: faculty
Hull Christopher, 231 4179, Dept: Mining and Minerals Engineering, Mail code: 0258, Affiliation: faculty
81: Water Quality Controls in Coal-mining Watersheds and the Total Maximum Daily Load Process
The US EPA, in cooperation with individual States, is in the process of characterizing mining watersheds in terms of water quality and quantity. Impacts are often identified by comparing biological conditions in one watershed to those in a “similar” reference watershed. Water quality and quantity data from a reference watershed(s) are often used to set water quality standards and thus waste load allocations for the “impacted” watershed. Constituents of concern identified by the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process in coal-mining watersheds generally include pH, metals, total suspended solids (TSS), and/or total dissolved solids (TDS). For mine operators in mineralized watersheds, this regulatory approach is unfortunate as naturally-occurring mineral reactions can produce pH values below and metals and TDS concentrations above applicable federal or state standards in the watershed. For example, constituents that are not presently regulated (i.e, TDS) are compared to the chosen reference watershed concentrations and “impairments” identified using statistical methods. Water quality in any watershed is mainly controlled by the local soil, geologic, mineralogic, and/or hydrologic characteristics/conditions making such comparisons of questionable value. An example of a biologically-impacted watershed from a coal-mining area in SW Virginia will be discussed. Water quality impairments identified by the TMDL process include fecal bacteria, TSS and TDS. Data from both watersheds will be presented regarding the proposed TDS limits of 334 mg/L as well as the geochemical and hydrologic controls on the observed TDS concentrations. The water quality in the coal-mining watershed consists of primarily sodium, and to a lesser extent calcium and magnesium, and primarily bicarbonate and sulfate. The relationship between biologic impairment and the proposed TDS “standards” has also been evaluated and will be presented.
John Chermak, 231-1785, Mail code: 0420, Affiliation: faculty
Don Cherry, 231- 6766, Mail code: 0406, Affiliation: faculty
90: Stratigraphic Architecture of Early Pennsylvanian, Coal-Bearing Strata of the Cumberland Block: A Case Study from Dickenson County, Virginia
Fundamental to the goals of energy security and stability is mapping and characterization of the rocks that host fossil energy resources within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Ongoing research in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech is the basis of a case study of Virginia’s southwestern coalfields that reveals key insights into the natural processes that formed the coal resources and provides a framework for coal and coal bed methane exploration. Lower Pennsylvanian, coal-bearing, siliciclastic strata of the central Appalachian Basin were deposited in continental to marginal marine environments influenced by high-amplitude relative sea level fluctuations. Sediment was derived from both the low-grade metamorphic terrain of the emergent Alleghanian orogen towards the southeast, and the cratonic Archean Superior Province in the north. Immature sediments derived proximally from the Alleghanian orogen, including sublithic sandstone bodies, were deposited as a southeasterly-thickening clastic wedge within a southeast-northwest oriented transverse drainage system. Texturally and mineralogically mature quartzarenites were deposited in strike-parallel elongate belts along the western periphery of the basin. These mature quartzarenites are braided fluvial in origin and were deposited within northeast-southwest oriented axial drainage head-watered in a northerly cratonic source area. The contemporaneity of transverse and axial fluvial systems defines a trunk–tributary drainage system operating in the central Appalachian foreland basin during the early Pennsylvanian. Based on analysis of a continuous core, and gamma ray and density well logs, four cross sections were constructed for lower Pennsylvanian strata in Dickinson County, Virginia. Cross sections reveal major erosional surfaces that separate architectural elements consisting of upward-fining, transgressive incised valley fill (alluvial to estuarine) deposits, and upward-coarsening, progradational deltaic deposits separated by thin intervals of fine-grained strata (condensed sections). Regionally extensive coal beds are developed in close association with condensed sections and also occur within progradational deltaic deposits. Formation of coal beds in the central Appalachian basin of southwest Virginia is attributed to extrabasinal, glacio-eustatic controls and intrabasinal deltaic processes related to channel avulsion and delta lobe switching.
Robert J. Bodek Jr., Dept: Geological Sciences, Mail code: 0420, Affiliation: graduate student
Kenneth J. Eriksson, Dept: Geological Sciences, Mail code: 0420, Affiliation: faculty
Ryan P. Grimm, Dept: Geological Sciences, Mail code: 0420, Affiliation: graduate student
Samuel Denning, Dept: Geological Sciences, Mail code: 0420, Affiliation: graduate student
92: Ultrahigh Vacuum Surface Science Studies of Model Heterogeneous Catalysis
Ninety percent of the new processes commercialized in the chemical industry in the last 50 years have been based on catalysis. Catalytic chemistry finds applications in the production of commodity chemicals, fuels, polymers, and pharmaceuticals, as well as in environmental applications for pollution abatement. Model UHV surface science studies over geometrically-ideal model catalysts (single crystal surfaces) are being used to probe fundamental structure/function relationships in the catalytic surface chemistry for dehydrogenation of cheap, light alkanes (ex. methane, ethane) to other more useful petrochemical feed stocks. The work focuses on understanding the relationship between the atomic structure and electronic properties of the catalyst surface and its chemical function — that is, what products are made from particular reactants. The long-range goal is to facilitate the design of catalysts at the atomic level that are highly selective and make specified product molecules with little or no waste byproducts.
David Cox, 231-6829, Mail code: 0211, Affiliation: faculty
111. Clathrate Hydrates: Unexplored Source of Natural Gas, Energy Storage, and Environmental Impact
Clathrate hydrates are unique compounds formed by the ydrogen bonding of water molecules, which assemble into crystalline, non-stoichiometric structures. These structures enclose a large number of different types of molecules, such as, light hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, fluorinated compounds, hydrogen, and many others. There many practical applications for clathrate hydrates, the most prevalent being in the energy, environment, and storage areas. In the energy area, natural hydrate deposits are estimated to contain 20,000 trillion cubic meters of gas (mostly methane) or about two orders of magnitude greater than found in all other conventional sources of carbon. While methane hydrate deposits are potential energy resources, they are also of great environmental concern, since methane is a potent greenhouse gas (several times more harmful than carbon dioxide), and the stability of hydrate deposits is of grave concern to the environment. In the energy storage area, hydrates provide a medium to store gases as the density of guests in a hydrate volume is about 180 times that of a fluid at the same conditions. More recently, hydrates have been investigated as a potential medium for storage of hydrogen. Our research is studying several fundamental aspects of hydrates to better understand and predict their thermophysical and kinetic properties. By applying a multidisciplinary approach to this problem, our goal is to build a broad knowledge base on hydrates to more effectively address their application in the above mentioned areas.
Amadeu K. Sum, 231-7869, Dept: Chemical Engineering, Mail code: 0211, Affiliation: faculty
Nuclear Energy
20: Region 2000 Lynchburg Nuclear Cluster Industries and Virginia Tech
This poster will highlight a new partnership between the mechanical engineering department at Virginia Tech and the Lynchburg Region 2000 nuclear cluster industries. The goal of this initiative, working in conjunction with the Lynchburg Center for Advanced Engineering and Research (CAER), is to provide research and technical assistance on specific product development and/or process enhancement priorities to ensure the long term economic health of the nuclear energy companies involved in this project and as well as the Lynchburg region in general. This effort led by Eugene F. Brown, assisted by Mark Pierson, is entirely consistent with the intent of the forum to focus on the synergy of outreach, teaching and research. For example, seed money will be provided to match up faculty, researchers, graduate and post-doctoral students at Virginia Tech with particular problems in the nuclear industry. Information will be shared through technical seminars and industry/university days. Courses will be taught which could lead to a future undergraduate certificate in nuclear engineering. Linkages will be established with national labs such as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other universities. We will also be working with the Lynchburg nuclear companies to identify research problems for which faculty and graduate student support can be found from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. This program is clearly aligned with the university’s strategic plan in the area of Energy and the Environment. We hope that this poster will help us bring this program to the attention of faculty who will be interested in working with us to realize the exciting potential for new opportunities for research support which this program offers.
Eugene Brown, 231-7199, Dept: Mechanical Engineering, Mail code: 0238, Affiliation: faculty
Mark Pierson, 231-9112, Dept: Mechanical Engineering, Mail code: 0238, Affiliation: faculty
Kenneth Ball, 231-6661, Dept: Mechanical Engineering, Mail code: 0238, Affiliation: faculty
55: Microwave Processing: Opportunities in Energy Products and Conservation
Over the past 20 years, microwave processing has emerged as an alternative method for manufacturing a wide variety of materials. Some of the characteristics associated with microwave energy include rapid and uniform processing, selective heating based on intrinsic materials properties, precise and controlled heating, cost savings due to short process times and more focused energy, and equipment portability. Specific to energy research, in our laboratory at Virginia Tech we are using microwave energy for producing materials ranging from the nano (aerogels, sol-gels) to the macro scale (glasses, glass ceramics). Funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), microwave processing is being used for recycling precious metals from candidate fuel cell components as well as to treat the emissions resulting from the combustion/smelting process. We anticipate that precious metals will be a major limiting factor in the production of new catalyst materials and that recycling will become a requirement for continued manufacturing in addition to being more cost effective than mining materials from ores. The DOE also is funding the use of microwave energy as a more efficient method for densifying next-generation nuclear fuel pellets from what was once considered as spent fuel. In addition to generating energy from what is now viewed as a problematic waste material, new nuclear fuel technologies will aid in limiting nuclear material proliferation leading to a more secure global nuclear energy policy. In studies performed on materials processing, we and many of our colleagues world-wide are realizing that similar conventional processes may consume significantly more energy than the microwave techniques. Microwave energy can revolutionize the way we, as materials engineers and production managers, approach product manufacturing. While microwave energy alone will not be the answer to every technical barrier in materials processing, it can give us an alternative to the high energy consumption resistance heating techniques that are commonplace in industry.
Diane Folz, 231-2897, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
Sean McGinnis, 231-1446, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
David Clark, 231-6640, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
Carlos Folgar, 231-2356, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: graduate student
Morsi Mahmoud, 231-2356, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: graduate student
Patricia Mellodge, 231-2356, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: graduate student
Michael Hunt, 231-2356, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: graduate student
Raghu Thridandapani, 231-2356, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: graduate student
Carlos Suchicital, Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
119: Fission Energy With Waste Burn-up and Without Enrichment or Reprocessing
If more neutrons were emitted in fission, there would be no need for enrichment or reprocessing, and much more of the mined uranium could be burned without proliferation-prone and expensive technologies. The purpose of enrichment and reprocessing is to make up for the limited neutrons from fission. The ADNA Corporation in collaboration with the physics staff of Duke University and Virginia Tech have embarked on an alternative approach to nuclear energy to reduce the non-beneficial loss of neutrons and to add external neutrons to sub-critical reactors from accelerators and ultimately fusion neutron sources. These external sources in combination with molten salt fuel enable the fuel to be recycled many times without separations that generate a waste stream. Because waste is not removed, waste is concurrently burned so that the ultimate waste storage requirements are reduced by about a factor of ten and delayed for generations. This approach, which works best with graphite-based reactors, will be cheaper than the combination of enrichment, reprocessing, and fast reactors and would not be burdened with proliferation concerns. Graphite systems were the original path for nuclear energy and we believe graphite systems should be brought back owing to many advantages that were not realized in early development.
Our first step towards this concept was to study neutron diffusion in bulk quantities (an 8’x8’x8’cube) of modern graphite. Neutron losses in moving through certain modern graphites were found to be 40 % less than in older graphite. Neutron scattering studies on small samples of graphite at the Los Alamos National Laboratory revealed the physics basis. The consequences of reduced neutron loss are enhanced performance of graphite-based critical reactors and better performance with external neutron sources than previously thought.
C.D. Bowman, ADNA Corporation, Los Alamos, NM
Mark Pitt, Virginia Tech physics department, 231-3015
R. Bruce Vogelaar, physics department, 231-8735
E.G. Bilpuch, Duke University
Other Energy-Related Areas
37: High-Efficiency, High-Brightness Solid-State White Light Source for General-Purpose Lighting Applications
The goal of this research program is to build solid-state lamps with electrical-to-optical energy conversion or "wall plug" efficiencies that meet or exceed those specified in the Solid State Lighting Roadmap and that operate at significantly higher electrical power densities and junction temperatures than present day lamps. Our technical approach involves the coupling of a novel light emitting active region with an advanced device architecture and packaging configuration to achieve uniform current flow, enhanced light extraction efficiency, and optimum thermal management. Special fabrication processes and packaging techniques are being developed to enable these technical improvements without increasing the overall complexity or cost of the manufacturing process. Such optimization of performance metrics plus manufacturability is absolutely essential to the overall DOE goal of energy conservation. Highly efficient solid-state lamps with unacceptably high lumen cost ($/klm) will not significantly impact energy consumption for general purpose lighting applications owing to low market penetration. If successful, this research would contribute to the U.S. Department of Energy mission of enhanced energy conservation in the lighting sector of the overall energy consumption market by providing highly efficient solid-state lamps with the attributes necessary for significant market penetration.
Guo-Quan Lu, 231-8686, Dept: Materials Science and Engineering , Mail code: 0237, Affiliation: faculty
Louis Guido, 231-3551, Dept: Material Science and Engineering, Mail code: 0111, Affiliation: faculty
James Isom, Affiliation: undergrad
79: Branched Polysulfone Ionomers as Potential Membranes for Ionic Polymer Transducers as Low Energy Devices
Electromechanical transduction is the phenomenon which couples an electrical potential applied across a conducting material with a resulting mechanical response. Ionic polymer transducers (IPT), flexible devices based on this coupling of physical domains, are composed of ion-conducting polymer membranes saturated with an ion-conducting diluent, an interpenetrating electrode layer, and an electrically conductive surface layer. IPTs attract attention in the area of alternative energy sources due to their ability to produce electrical current (i.e. μAmps) under repeated mechanical deformation. The magnitude of the current that IPTs generate lends itself to employment in long-term power harvesting and for powering low-energy devices. The variable size, very low weight, and flexibility of IPTs could allow for configurations incorporating them into vehicle tires, clothing, biomedical devices, and even wind power harvesting. Additional benefits of IPTs in such applications are the ability to provide sensing data through the generated current and/or to act as low-force actuators under an applied electrical potential. The majority of existing IPT technology and applications are based on the ion-conducting membrane NafionTM. The goal of my research is to synthetically develop a branched ionomer that is more compatible with existing ionic liquid[1] and electrode[2] technology, displays higher saturated modulus, shows longer lifetime under actuation, and attains higher ionic conductivity (i.e. resulting in greater energy density) than is presently achieved using NafionTM. The ionomer under investigation is synthesized from an oligomeric sulfonated polysulfone[3] (A2) and tris(4-fluorophenyl) phosphine oxide (B3). Incorporation of oligomeric A2 units in A2 + B3 reactions of other systems[4,5] demonstrated a method to increase mechanical properties while also providing a highly-branched system with a high concentration of end-groups subject to further functionalization. Selection of the proper end-group chemistry may aid in tuning the surface and bulk properties for better compatibility with other IPT components. Overall this system presents an opportunity to observe how the introduction of controlled degrees of branching into an engineering grade ionomer affects the morphology, physical properties, and ability to perform as a transducer membrane in various low-energy and/or power harvesting applications. 1 Bennett, M.D., Leo, D.J. “Ionic liquids as stable solvents for ionic polymer transducers.” Sensors and Actuators A 2004, 115, 79-90. 2 Akle, B.J., Bennett, M.D., Leo, D.J. “High-strain ionomeric – ionic liquid composites via electrode tailoring.” J. ASME. 2004, 1-9. 3 Harrison, W., Hickner, M.A., Kim, Y.S., McGrath, J.E. “Poly(Arylene Ether Sulfone) Copolymers and Related Systems from Disulfonated Monomer Building Blocks: Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance – A Topical Review.” Fuel Cells 2005, 5, 201-212. 4 Lin, Q., Unal, S., Fornof, A.R., Yilgor, I., Long, T.E. “Highly Branched Poly(arylene ether)s via Oligomeric A2 + B3 Strategies.” Macr. Chem. Phys. 2006, 207, 576-586. 5 Unal, S., Yilgor, I., Yilgor, E., Sheth, J.P., Wilkes, G.L., Long, T.E. “A New Generation of Highly Branched Polymers: Hyperbranched, Segmented Poly(urethane urea) Elastomers.” Macromolecules 2004, 37, 7081-7084.
Andrew Duncan, Mail code: 0212, Affiliation: graduate student
Barbar Akle, Affiliation: faculty
Matthew Bennett, Affiliation: postdoc
Qin Lin, Affiliation: postdoc
Rachael Hopp, Affiliation: graduate student
Donald Leo, Affiliation: faculty
Timothy Long, Affiliation: faculty
James McGrath, Affiliation: faculty
95: Green Computing for a Clean Tomorrow
The raw performance of our astrophysics code has improved by 2000-fold over the past decade due largely to improvements in supercomputing hardware technology. However, the performance per watt has only improved 300-fold and the performance per square foot only 65-fold. Clearly, we are building less and less efficient supercomputers, thus resulting in the construction of massive machine rooms, and even, entirely new buildings. Furthermore, as these supercomputers continue to follow " Moore's Law for Power Consumption," the reliability of these systems continues to plummet, as per Arrenhius' equation as applied to microelectronics. To address these problems, we constructed a super-efficient supercomputer dubbed Green Destiny, a 240-processor supercomputer that fit in a telephone booth (i.e., a footprint of five square feet) and sipped only 3.2 kilowatts of power (i.e., two hairdryers). Green Destiny provided reliable supercomputing cycles (i.e., no unscheduled downtime in its two-year lifetime) while sitting in an 85-degree Fahrenheit dusty warehouse, and it did so without any special facilities, i.e., no air conditioning, no humidification control, no air filtration, and no ventilation. However, Green Destiny was an architecture-specific solution that lacked generality, i.e., the ability to run on any type of processor architecture. Consequently, we evolved the Green Destiny idea into a more general software-based approach, specifically a power-aware approach that runs on commodity processors to save as much as 70% in energy consumption with minimal impact on performance.
Wu Feng, 540-231-1192, Dept: Computer Science, Mail code: 0106, Affiliation: faculty
97: Using documents to turn energy knowledge into energy policy
When issues, such as energy policy, are complex, and when acting on knowledge requires significant change in values or policy, knowledge rarely leads directly to action. Information must be shared in multiple forums, and arguments must be made over time, and with various decision makers. These decision makers must be convinced. Rhetoric joins with science. The poster traces the uses of a 1993 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Powering the Midwest, which provides technical and economic analysis to investigate the feasibility of renewable energy sources (wind, sun, and biomass). The report supports advocacy in the field (with legislators, utility companies, and citizen groups); its information is used in multiple genres and media (website, PowerPoint presentation for downloading, related reports, press releases); ultimately a Midwestern organization, Environmental Law & Policy Center, publishes Repowering the Midwest, as UCS expands its efforts to other areas. The process of turning energy knowledge into energy policy is long term, involves direct action as well as research and writing, engages multiple people and organizations, and uses multiple genres and media. The report is one component in a web of strategic actions. It may be the beginning of a series of actions aimed to change policies or behavior. ["Energy: Other" topic is the uses of discourse to influence policy and action.]