Breaking News: National Infrastructure

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By: Bill Wellock | Published: August 25, 2021 | 3:27 pm | SHARE: The federal government is debating billions of dollars of investment in infrastructure that would develop roads, bridges, public transit, high-speed internet and more.Eren Ozguven, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, researches how infrastructure contributes to communities’ abilities to respond to emergencies in his role as the director of the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center.

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Switzerland's building stock is quite impressive. There are around 1.8 million buildings in the country, but only one percent of this building stock is renovated each year. In other words, it will take 100 years for the entire building stock in the country to be renovated – which would be too slow to achieve the energy transition. But before politicians decide on stimulating subsidies, this daunting task must first be structured: Which measures make sense for which buildings? And where to start?

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Expert Q&A: Do breakthrough cases mean we will soon need COVID boosters? The extremely contagious Delta variant continues to spread, prompting mask mandates, proof of vaccination, and other measures. Media invited to ask the experts about these and related topics.

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“West Virginia’s Energy Future: Built Back Better,” an update to a report released last year, illustrates how a dramatic increase in renewable energy production over the next decade could be feasible, notwithstanding electric utilities’ current dependence on coal.

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The electric power infrastructure in Puerto Rico suffered substantial damage as Hurricane Maria crossed the island on September 20, 2017.

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As part of a larger goal to model the energy use of every building in the nation, researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory have analyzed 178,000 buildings using the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility.

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Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Assistant Professor Luis Quintero, an economist who examines urban growth, housing markets, and infrastructure development, offers his insights into the infrastructure bill in the following Q&A.

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Arizona State University Professor Samuel Ariatratnam, an expert in trenchless technologies, answers questions about the significance of PG&E's plan to take utilities underground in wildfire vulnerable areas.

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Achieving Net Zero energy, where the total amount of energy used is equal to the amount of renewable energy created, is closer than ever before, and hydrogen technologies will play an important role in achieving that goal, but needs and gaps need to be addressed before a true hydrogen-powered future can take form. There are many opportunities in the global public and private sectors for research, development, and deployment collaboration.

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PNNL researcher's proposed overhaul of outdated electricity measurements could mean fewer blackouts, better automation, and more clean energy resources.

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A new study by UD researcher Julie Maresca and her students found that even in a harsh concrete habitat, bacterial communities can survive, thrive and do what all living things do—change. Bacterial communities within concrete could provide early warning of alkali-silica reactions that degrade concrete but are difficult to detect. Typically, these reactions are only recognized when cracks are forming in the concrete. Bacteria may also have the potential to provide “biorepair” of concrete.

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The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Center for Resilient Design announces the launch of microgrids.io, a web-based resource focused on planning and developing sustainable, resilient local government microgrids locally and nationally.

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The Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid’s community partners today announced construction activities on what will be the first 100% renewable, multi-customer microgrid in California.

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A study, published in Nature and is co-authored by Northern Arizona University professors Benjamin Ruddell and Richard Rushforth, looks at the importance of diversity within the supply chain, which helps to reduce damaging disruptions from supply chain shocks.

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ORNL story tips: Powered by nature, get on the bus, accelerating methane, helping JET soar, charged up planning and building a better thermostat

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Roads, bridges, pipelines and other types of infrastructure in Alaska and elsewhere in the Arctic will deteriorate faster than expected due to a failure by planners to account for the structures' impact on adjacent permafrost, according to research by a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute permafrost expert and others.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $22 million in funding for nine projects covering a range of energy research topics from grid integration, solar energy, wind energy, and advanced manufacturing.

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While the Biden administration negotiates an infrastructure package, ASU experts offer insight about the protective role cybersecurity must play

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Scientists have created a cybersecurity technology called Shadow Figment that is designed to lure hackers into an artificial world, then stop them from doing damage by feeding them illusory tidbits of success. The technology is aimed at protecting physical targets—infrastructure such as buildings, the electric grid, and water and sewage systems.

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A simple sensor system developed at PNNL can prevent dangerous battery fires.

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Ransomware and security: ASU Expert answers questions about securing the private side of the nation's infrastructure.

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Argonne scientists led four other laboratories in developing definitive guidance on how to value pumped storage hydropower projects. Their efforts resulted in DOE publication of the Pumped Storage Hydropower Valuation Guidebook: A Cost-Benefit and Decision Analysis Valuation Framework. The guide provides an objective, transparent valuation methodology and helps measure both monetary and non-monetary value streams.

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PNNL has released the first stable version of ExaGO, an open-source grid modeling software that can help grid operators perform analyses at unprecedented scale to plan ahead for extreme events.

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Solar-power developers need to explore using lower-quality agricultural land for solar energy, incentivize dual-use (combined agriculture and solar) options, avoid concentrated solar development and engage communities early to achieve New York’s green energy goals, according to forthcoming Cornell University research.

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Eight Arizona State University civil engineering professors offer infrastructure insight: Roads and bridges; reservoirs, dams and waterways; underground construction, housing; sustainability and more.

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As President Biden’s $2 trillion American Jobs Plan places the nation’s infrastructure in the spotlight, new research from the University of Georgia suggests states can save money and extend the life of their bridges by taking a fresh approach to how they prioritize maintenance.

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Commuters could save an average of 90 hours (or two-and-a-half working weeks) each year if work from home continues at current rates, according to preliminary findings of a University of Sydney survey.

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New study projects electricity demand tied to cooling U.S. buildings will grow as peak temperatures rise, alongside the need for an expanded power sector.

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Funds will support team of multidisciplinary researchers to develop a climate risk modeling framework to improve resilience of power systems.

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PNNL researchers investigate innovative transportation system’s impact on the electric grid

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Americans used approximately 7 percent less energy in 2020, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to energy flow charts released by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

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President Joe Biden is proposing a sweeping $2 trillion infrastructure bill that would fund improvements to transportation, manufacturing, and digital infrastructure, among other projects. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the country’s first technological research university, are leaders in improving the sustainability, safety, and performance of transportation systems, energy systems, and wireless networks, among other areas. Experts in civil and environmental engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering are available to discuss what impact large-scale infrastructure projects could have on a multitude of systems that impact people across the country.

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Empa researcher Cristina Dominguez is developing a computer model, which can be used to plan electricity grids in developing countries. To collect data, she travelled to Kenya to get an idea of how people live without electricity and what developments access to the power grid can trigger.