Bøger af National Research Council

Producer gas is generated from solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, peat, and agricultural residues. Although it has been used to power internal combustion engines since their invention, it has been largely overlooked for the past 50 years. During the early 1940s, when petroleum supplies for civilian use ran out in Europe, Asia, and Australia, producer gas was responsible for putting trucks, buses, taxis, tractors and other vehicles back on the roads, and boats back on the rivers. In 1939 Europe operated about 9,000 gas producer buses and trucks, and there were almost none on any other continent. By 1941, however, about 450,000 vehicles were in operation in all parts of the world, and by 1942 the number had grown to approximately 920,000. Gas producers were then in use not only in land vehicles, but also in boats, barges, and stationary engines. By 1946 more than a million motorized devices around the world operated on producer gas. In Europe and Asia alone, the use of producer gas in the 1940s contributed to saving millions of people from starvation. Basically, producer gas is made when a thin stream of air passes through a bed of glowing coals. The coals may come from the burning of wood, charcoal, coke, coal, peat, or from wastes such as corn cobs, peanut shells, sawdust, bagasse, and paper. (In some cases these materials must be pressed into bricks or pellets before they will produce adequate coals, and special generators may also be needed.)

Offers research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. This book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. The knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our education system.

In 1988, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began an investigation of the benefits and costs of extending several locks on the lower portion of the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) in order to relieve increasing waterway congestion, particularly for grain moving to New Orleans for export. With passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, Congress required that the Corps conduct a benefit-cost analysis as part of its water resources project planning; Congress will fund water resources projects only if a project's benefits exceed its costs. As economic analysis generally, and benefit-cost analysis in particular, has become more sophisticated, and as environmental and social considerations and analysis have become more important, Corps planning studies have grown in size and complexity. The difficulty in commensurating market and nonmarket costs and benefits also presents the Corps with a significant challenge. The Corps' analysis of the UMR-IWW has extended over a decade, has cost roughly $50 million, and has involved consultations with other federal agencies, state conservation agencies, and local citizens. The analysis has included many consultants and has produced dozens of reports.In February 2000, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requested that the National Academies review the Corps' final feasibility report. After discussions and negotiations with DOD, in April 2000 the National Academies launched this review and appointed an expert committee to carry it out.

"This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. W911NF-13-D-0002-0001 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Army."--Title page verso.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is one of the largest examples of U.S. public-private partnerships. Founded in 1982, SBIR was designed to encourage small business to develop new processes and products and to provide quality research in support of the many missions of the U.S. government, including health, energy, the environment, and national defense. In response to a request from the U.S. Congress, the National Research Council assessed SBIR as administered by the five federal agencies that together make up 96 percent of program expenditures. This book, one of six in the series, reports on the SBIR program at the National Science Foundation. The study finds that the SBIR program is sound in concept and effective in practice, but that it can also be improved. Currently, the program is delivering results that meet most of the congressional objectives, including stimulating technological innovation, increasing private-sector commercialization of innovations, using small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, and fostering participation by minority and disadvantaged persons. The book suggests ways in which the program can improve operations, continue to increase private-sector commercialization, and improve participation by women and minorities.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.