News Release
Media Contact: Fred Strohl
Communications and External Relations
865.574.4165


Audio Spot: ORNL, UT working on biomass research initiative

 
 Audio Clip  
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 4, 2005 — Developing more energy efficient resources is the goal of a $12.6 million joint initiative of the Departments of Energy and Agriculture that involves the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.

Oak Ridge's Ted Fox says the laboratory's participation will be centered on greater energy efficient transportation.

"We can make great strides in making carbon fibers viable for use in automobiles," says Ted Fox, director of Oak Ridge's Engineering Science and Technology Division. "The advantage of doing that would be able to make automobiles lighter weight with much lower fuel consumption."

Fox says Oak Ridge researchers are well positioned to work on this project.

"It will involve mostly from our chemistry division who've had quite a bit of experience with these kinds of technologies to see if there are ways to make carbon fiber," Fox says.

More information is available by on the National Resources Conservation Services web site at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/ or the Tennessee Natural Resources Conservation Services web site at: http://www.tn.nrcs.usda.gov/

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy.