Chevron sells more liquefied natural gas to TEPCO

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Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time

Audis ETron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time

Audi's R-18 e-Tron diesel-electric hybrid has become the first car of its kind to win the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. Audi and Toyota both submitted environmentally friendly racers, but the latter's LMP1 crashed, which left the German automaker to a 1-2 finish (while a pair of non-hybrid racers placed third and fifth, respectively). Unlike battery-based hybrids, the R-18 uses a hefty turbo-diesel V6 pushing power to the back wheels, along with a flywheel to recover braking energy and drive a motor attached to the front wheels. The company has revealed that it's actually testing this far cheaper, battery-free system in a production vehicle, so perhaps it's only a matter of time before you'll be able to go a full day on a tank -- give or take the odd rest stop.

Continue reading Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time

Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jun 2012 05:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ionic liquid improves speed and efficiency of hydrogen-producing catalyst

ScienceDaily (June 16, 2012) ? The design of a nature-inspired material that can make energy-storing hydrogen gas has gone holistic. Usually, tweaking the design of this particular catalyst -- a work in progress for cheaper, better fuel cells -- results in either faster or more energy efficient production but not both. Now, researchers have found a condition that creates hydrogen faster without a loss in efficiency.

And, holistically, it requires the entire system -- the hydrogen-producing catalyst and the liquid environment in which it works -- to overcome the speed-efficiency tradeoff. The results, published online June 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide insights into making better materials for energy production.

"Our work shows that the liquid medium can improve the catalyst's performance," said chemist John Roberts of the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "It's an important step in the transformation of laboratory results into useable technology."

The results also provide molecular details into how the catalytic material converts electrical energy into the chemical bonds between hydrogen atoms. This information will help the researchers build better catalysts, ones that are both fast and efficient, and made with the common metal nickel instead of expensive platinum.

A Solution Solution

The work explores a type of dissolvable nickel-based catalyst, which is a material that eggs on chemical reactions. Catalysts that dissolve are easier to study than fixed catalysts, but fixed catalysts are needed for most real-world applications, such as a car's pollution-busting catalytic converter. Studying the catalyst comes first, affixing to a surface comes later.

In their search for a better catalyst to produce hydrogen to feed into fuel cells, the team of PNNL chemists modeled this dissolvable catalyst after a protein called a hydrogenase. Such a protein helps tie two hydrogen atoms together with electrons, storing energy in their chemical bond in the process. They modeled the catalytic center after the protein's important parts and built a chemical scaffold around it.

In previous versions, the catalyst was either efficient but slow, making about a thousand hydrogen molecules per second; or inefficient yet fast -- clocking in at 100,000 molecules per second. (Efficiency is based on how much electricity the catalyst requires.) The previous work didn't get around this pesky relation between speed and efficiency in the catalysts -- it seemed they could have one but not the other.

Hoping to uncouple the two, Roberts and colleagues put the slow catalyst in a medium called an acidic ionic liquid. Ionic liquids are liquid salts and contain molecules or atoms with negative or positive charges mixed together. They are sometimes used in batteries to allow for electrical current between the positive and negative electrodes.

The researchers mixed the catalyst, the ionic liquid, and a drop of water. The catalyst, with the help of the ionic liquid and an electrical current, produced hydrogen molecules, stuffing some of the electrons coming in from the current into the hydrogen's chemical bonds, as expected.

As they continued to add more water, they expected the catalyst to speed up briefly then slow down, as the slow catalyst in their previous solvent did. But that's not what they saw.

"The catalyst lights up like a rocket when you start adding water," said Roberts.

The rate continued to increase as they added more and more water. With the largest amount of water they tested, the catalyst produced up to 53,000 hydrogen molecules per second, almost as fast as their fast and inefficient version.

Importantly, the speedy catalyst stayed just as efficient when it was cranking out hydrogen as when it produced the gas more slowly. Being able to separate the speed from the efficiency means the team might be able to improve both aspects of the catalyst.

Liquid Protein

The team also wanted to understand how the catalyst worked in its liquid salt environment. The speed of hydrogen production suggested that the catalyst moved electrons around fast. But something also had to be moving protons around fast, because protons are the positively charged hydrogen ions that electrons follow around. Just like on an assembly line, protons move through the catalyst or a protein such as hydrogenase, pick up electrons, form bonds between pairs to make hydrogen, then fall off the catalyst.

Additional tests hinted how this catalyst-ionic liquid set-up works. Roberts suspects the water and the ionic liquid collaborated to mimic parts of the natural hydrogenase protein that shuffled protons through. In these proteins, the chemical scaffold holding the catalytic center also contributes to fast proton movement. The ionic liquid-water mixture may be doing the same thing.

Next, the team will explore the hints they gathered about why the catalyst works so fast in this mixture. They will also need to attach it to a surface. Lastly, this catalyst produces hydrogen gas. To create a fuel technology that converts electrical energy to chemical bonds and back again, they also plan to examine ionic liquids that will help a catalyst take the hydrogen molecule apart.

The Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis at PNNL is one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science at national laboratories, universities, and other institutions across the country to accelerate basic research related to energy.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. D. H. Pool, M. P. Stewart, M. O'Hagan, W. J. Shaw, J. A. S. Roberts, R. M. Bullock, D. L. DuBois. Acidic ionic liquid/water solution as both medium and proton source for electrocatalytic H2 evolution by [Ni(P2N2)2]2 complexes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1120208109

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Nigeria Red Cross: at least 2 killed, 48 wounded in church bombings in country's north

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Safety fears restrict relief work after Myanmar riots

SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Armed troops patrolled Myanmar's northwest city of Sittwe on Friday as a fragile peace held in the wake of days of sectarian violence that has stoked nationalist fervor and displaced 30,000 people, with many feared dead.

Heavy rain kept many residents indoors in the Rakhine state capital and police and aid groups struggled to get food to thousands of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas displaced by rioting and arson that have presented a big test to Myanmar's 15-month-old quasi-civilian government.

United Nations officials told Reuters three of their staff, two from the UNHCR refugee agency and one from the World Food Programme (WFP), all Myanmar nationals, had been detained by police in the Rohingya-dominated town of Buthidaung for unknown reasons.

The WFP had provided hundreds of sacks of rice to some areas, said Aye Win, spokesman for its operations in Myanmar.

"We will try to get to other camps as soon as we can, when it is safe and secure. We are doing as much as we can. We will go in but security is paramount," he added.

More than 20 houses were burned down late on Thursday in a village near Sittwe, residents said, adding to the 2,500 torched in the past week. But there were no reports of further deaths.

An unknown number of people fleeing the turmoil were currently adrift in boats on the Naf River that marks the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, the UNHCR said. Bangladesh, like Myanmar, does not recognize Rohingyas as citizens, and has turned back several boats this week.

The violence, which the government said had killed 29 people and displaced 30,000 as of Thursday, is a major setback for a rapidly reforming Myanmar that has seen a year of dramatic political change after 49 years of oppressive military rule.

The new government has made peace and unity among Myanmar's many ethnic groups its mantra and has struck ceasefire deals with minority Karen, Shan, Mon and Chin rebels, among others, after decades of hostilities.

FERVENT ANGER

The Muslim community's Friday prayers were canceled in Sittwe and surrounding villages to avoid a repeat of riots that erupted in the town of Maungdaw a week ago and spread to other parts of Rakhine state.

"Officials do not want large gatherings and want to avoid more violence. They (Muslims) will be able to pray at home," Shwe Maung, a Muslim member of parliament for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, told Reuters.

What triggered the rampage of rock-hurling, arson and machete attacks is unclear and the subject of heated debate, with protests taking place in other regions and Facebook pages and other websites inundated with inflammatory comments.

There is entrenched, long-standing animosity in the state bordering Bangladesh between Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas, of whom there are an estimated 800,000, most living in abject conditions.

The crisis has put President Thein Sein in a tight spot. His government is under pressure from rights groups and Western countries to show compassion towards the Rohingyas but if there is any change in policy towards them, it could face the wrath of the public, many of whom regard them as illegal immigrants.

U.N. special envoy to Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, who visited Rakhine state on Thursday, praised the government for a "prompt, firm and sensitive" response to the crisis and in a statement called for a "full, impartial and credible" investigation into the incident urgently.

A dawn-to-dusk curfew remained in place in Sittwe and many Rohingyas had been moved out by security forces, said Hla Maung, who is in charge of a camp looking after Rakhine Buddhists, close to a near-empty Rohingya neighborhood.

On a visit to the Philippines, Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Wunna Maung Lwin told Reuters everything was being done to ensure the situation remained stable.

"We have taken care of everything, we give priority to the stability of the state. Sittwe is back to normal," Wunna Maung Lwin said.

Nobel laureate and opposition parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi expressed concern over the violence on Thursday.

Speaking in Switzerland on the first leg of a five-country European tour, she sidestepped a question about whether she supported granting citizenship to Rohingyas and said resolving the Rakhine conflict required "delicacy and sensitivity".

Relations between the two communities have always been uneasy and tension flared last month after the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist Rakhine woman that was blamed on Muslims.

That led to the killing of 10 Muslims in reprisal on June 3, when a Buddhist mob stopped a bus they were travelling on. The passengers had no connection to the murdered woman. State media said three Muslims are on trial for the woman's death.

(Reporting by Reuters staff reporters; Additional reporting by Manny Mogato in Manila; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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Syria observer chief says violence hinders mission

BEIRUT (AP) ? The head of the U.N. observers in Syria said Friday that a recent spike in bloodshed is derailing the mission to monitor and defuse more than a year of violence and could prompt the unarmed force to pull out.

The observer mission is the only functioning part of an international peace plan that Kofi Annan brokered two months ago. Western powers have pinned their hopes on the plan, in part because there are no other options on the table. There is little support for military intervention, and several rounds of sanctions have done little to stop the bloodshed.

"Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus. "The escalating violence is now limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects."

Mood also said there was a concern among the states providing observers that the risk is approaching an unacceptable level for continuing the mission. He did not provide further details.

Mood's comments were a clear sign that Annan's peace plan is disintegrating. The regime and the opposition have ignored a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect April 12.

The presence of the observers is considered critical to understanding the conflict in a country where the government prevents reporters from operating independently.

On Friday, the Syrian regime kept up a ferocious offensive on rebel areas across the country this week to reclaim territory held by rebels.

An activist in the northern city of Aleppo said troops backed by helicopters and tanks were engaged in "raging battles" in the rebel-held town of Anadan and several other locations in the province.

The violence did not stop thousands of Syrians in Aleppo city, and other areas throughout the country from demonstrating against President Bashar Assad on Friday. They marched from mosques, gathered in town squares, chanted, sang and danced against the regime.

"Even if I die, I will still be a rebel," sang the leader of a demonstration in the northern city of Idlib, according to amateur video. "Oh Bashar, you will flee."

Eight protesters were killed in the southern town of Busra al-Sham after Syrian forces fired a shell near the Khaled Bin Walid mosque, according to activists and amateur videos that appeared to show bloodied men sprawled lifeless on a street.

The video could not be independently verified.

More than 20 people were reported killed when security forces opened fire on protests across the country, but the toll could not be independently verified.

One area that Syrian forces have recently reclaimed is Haffa, which they overran on Wednesday. They pushed out hundreds of rebels from the town in the coastal Latakia province, after intense battles that lasted eight days.

U.N. observers entered the nearly deserted town Thursday and found smoldering buildings, looted shops, smashed cars and a strong stench of death, according to U.N. spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh.

The siege of Haffa, a Sunni-populated village, had become a focus of international concern because of fears the uprising against the Assad regime is evolving into a sectarian civil war pitting the president's minority Alawite sect against the majority Sunnis and other groups. Recent mass killings in other Sunni-populated areas have fueled those concerns.

U.N. observers have reported a steep rise in violence in Syria in recent weeks.

On Friday, Mood said there appears to be a lack of willingness to seek a peaceful transition.

"Instead there is a push toward advancing military positions," he said.

"What we have seen on the ground is that the attacks by the armed opposition on official buildings and government checkpoints are becoming more effective and the government is taking great losses," he said.

Activists say some 14,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.

An international rights watchdog, meanwhile, accused Syrian government forces of using sexual violence to torture men, women and boys detained during the uprising. In a report released Friday, The New York-based Human Rights Watch also quoted witnesses and victims as saying that soldiers and pro-government armed militias sexually abused women and girls as young as 12 during home raids and military sweeps of residential areas.

"Sexual violence in detention is one of many horrific weapons in the Syrian government's torture arsenal and Syrian security forces regularly use it to humiliate and degrade detainees with complete impunity," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

HRW said it does not have evidence that high-ranking officers commanded their troops to commit sexual violence but said it had information indicating that no action has been taken to investigate or punish government forces who did.

Also Friday, Syrian opposition members began a two-day meeting in Turkey to discuss a vision for a post-Assad Syria and steps need to be taken to ensure a transition to democracy. The meeting was headed by the main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Council.

"The international community must take initiative and they must do whatever is necessary to save the civilian population ? whether it's a security zone or a security corridor ? whatever it is, it must be done in order to help civilians," said Mahmoud Osman, an SNC member.

___

Ayse Wieting in Istanbul contributed to this report.

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Lockheed wins network deal worth up to $1.91 billion

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RealTime Fantasy Sports - Fantasy Football Draft Guide

Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen said he is convinced RB Darren McFadden (foot) is nothing short of 100 percent and ready to pick up where he left off [ More ]

Oakland Raiders head coach Dennis Allen said WR Denarius Moore (hamstring) will be fine and ready to roll by the start of training camp.

Oakland Raiders FS Michael Huff's role in the team's new defensive scheme figures to be wide-reaching, with more blitzing, playing more cornerback and taking on a role similar to [ More ]

Oakland Raiders FS Michael Huff said he is looking forward to playing in a 'real defense' under new head coach Dennis Allen in 2012. Huff said the old [ More ]

The New York Jets have signed seventh-round draft pick WR Jordan White to a four-year, $2.145 million contract that includes a $45,896 signing bonus, according to a league source.

The Chicago Bears have released OG Mansfield Wrotto.

Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III has grasped the offensive scheme quicker than the team expected. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said Griffin has been getting better every day [ More ]

Detroit Lions RB Jahvid Best (concussion) has looked strong throughout the team's offseason program, including minicamp. General manager Martin Mayhew said the rehab progress of Best gave him the [ More ]

Jacksonville Jaguars WR Laurent Robinson pulled WR Justin Blackmon aside during the team's minicamp to offer some advice following Blackmon's DUI arrest. 'Just tell him, 'You gotta grow up,'' [ More ]

Dallas Cowboys CB Mike Jenkins (shoulder) plans to return home to South Florida after Thursday, June 14, to continue his rehab there instead of remaining in the Dallas area, [ More ]

Former NFL LB Tedy Bruschi said New York Jets QB Tim Tebow should just disappear and not talk so much to the media. In response, Tebow said he [ More ]

New York Giants LB Keith Rivers thinks that if he plays at the level he did when he was drafted, he'll prove to be a steal for the team [ More ]

Cincinnati Bengals WR A.J. Green was a clutch receiver last season, with 44 of his 65 catches (68 percent) coming when the score was within seven points. That ranked [ More ]

Cincinnati Bengals WR A.J. Green's 11 catches of 35 yards or more last season were the most in the league and the most by an NFL rookie since WR [ More ]

New York Jets FS LaRon Landry (Achilles') said he is stunned by how quickly he is healing from Achilles' and heel injuries that have sidelined him for large portions [ More ]

Tennessee Titans FS Markelle Martin (hamstring) is dealing with another setback, this time because of a hamstring injury. He tweaked his hamstring during organized team activities (OTAs) last week [ More ]

The Houston Texans agreed to terms with first-round draft pick LB Whitney Mercilus Wednesday, June 13. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Washington Redskins OG Josh LeRibeus worked at the center position and one area he'll need to improve is on shotgun snaps. He struggled with a couple of snaps over [ More ]

Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said Wednesday, June 13, that he expects WR Leonard Hankerson t(knee) to be ready for training camp. Shanahan said Hankerson could have practice [ More ]

San Francisco 49ers LB Joe Holland (undisclosed) and TE Delanie Walker (undisclosed) each missed practice Wednesday, June 13, due to undisclosed injuries.

St. Louis Rams WR Danario Alexander (hamstring) has had a good week of practice since returning from a hamstring ailment, and he made impressive plays Wednesday, June 13, in workouts.

Free-agent LB Rocky McIntosh (Redskins) is at the St. Louis Rams facility Wednesday, June 13, on a tryout basis. He worked out for head coach Jeff Fisher in the [ More ]

Detroit Lions QB Kellen Moore has shown a lack of arm strength, which has been noticeable this offseason. However, fellow QB Matthew Stafford came to his aid. 'I've seen [ More ]

St. Louis Rams OG Bryan Mattison is embroiled in a competition for the left guard job with rookie OT Rokevious Watkins and others.

St. Louis Rams CB Bradley Fletcher (knee) has participated in all of the team's workouts with little to no restrictions, and he is considered ahead of schedule in his [ More ]

St. Louis Rams DL Robert Quinn is poised for a big second season, according to one of his teammates. 'Who I'm looking forward to watching this year is Robert [ More ]

St. Louis Rams QB Sam Bradford said Wednesday, June 13, that he isn't all the way there learning the team's new offense, but likes that this season he has [ More ]

St. Louis Rams TE Lance Kendricks (ankle) tweaked his ankle in practice earlier this week, but he said Wednesday, June 13, that the injury is nothing to worry about. [ More ]

St. Louis Rams C Scott Wells (personal) has been absent from the majority of the team's organized team activities (OTAs) and is again not present for this week's final [ More ]

Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was raving about WR Santana Moss Wednesday, June 13. He called Moss one of the 'premier' slot receivers in the league.

Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan informed WR Brandon Banks Wednesday, June 13, that he must contribute at the wide receiver position if he wants to make the roster. [ More ]

Washington Redskins TE Chris Cooley (groin, hamstring, knee) was sidelined from the final practice of minicamp due to a 'slight hamstring' injury, according to head coach Mike Shanahan. Cooley [ More ]

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