One of the key projects at the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research is developing an integrated ship power system capable of supplying power both to propulsion systems and to advanced electric weapons, launchers, and high-power sensors. It would be the ultimate naval power T&D system. The "all-electric warship," which some predict will have as much of an impact on navies as the nuclear submarine, is still a decade or two away. But the first generation of electric systems is already being installed on U.S. warships currently under construction.

Most people think of fuel cells within a single, "not ready for prime time" context: powering tomorrow's automobiles. But stationary fuel cell power plants are beginning to power some industrial facilities today. The need for heat as well as ultraclean power, and the availability of a renewable fuel, recently came together in a Seattle suburb, site of the world's first commercial megawatt-scale fuel cell power plant—powered entirely by gas produced by anaerobic digestion of municipal wastewater.

New rulemaking by the EPA has highlighted the importance of fish protection technologies and/or operational changes to improve fish survival at circulating water intake structures. In this first of three reports from Alden Laboratories, the focus is on step one of the design process: analyzing the intake system to inform development of cost-effective solutions for meeting Section 316(b) performance standards. The other two reports, to be published later this year, will explore fish protection technologies through laboratory and field evaluations, and alternative cooling water intake technologies.