Every employee's Job Hazards Analysis (JHA) must be reviewed and reauthorized at least annually, or whenever their job changes significantly. Staff cannot work unless they have an active JHA. All JHAs must include a "Description of Work" being done. These descriptions must be added to Work Group JHA Profiles by June 30, and to Individual JHA Profiles by Sept. 30. Go here to read about the Description of Work and to view step-by-step instructions. The JHA FAQs are found here. For additional information e-mail [email protected].
In The News: Can the Grid Handle Renewables?[Scientific American] The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission launched a six-month study today to determine how much renewable energy the electric grid can accommodate. FERC will work with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on the $500,000 study to validate the preliminary frequency-response tool developed by the commission to gauge the grid's reliability if large quantities of renewable energy are sent to the system. The frequency response tool could serve as a reliable test of how much renewable energy generation the grid could handle. More>
Arun Majumdar, director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, will present a keynote address at the Santa Barbara Summit on Energy Efficiency next Wednesday and Thursday. The summit — sponsored by the Institute for Energy Efficiency — will explore the pipeline of new efficiency technologies, as well as the current business, economic, and policy landscape and the obstacles and opportunities it presents. Majumdar will also participate on a panel discussion on policy and technology. Raymond Orbach, former DOE Under Secretary for Science, will also present a keynote speech. More>
James Floyd, formerly the Advanced Light Source's Environment Health and Safety Program Manager, has been appointed the chair of the Lab's Safety Advisory Committee (SAC), effective today. The SAC makes recommendations to the Associate Lab Director for Operations on the development and implementation of EH&S policy, guidelines, codes, and regulatory interpretation, among other duties. The chair will also play a key role in ensuring the successful implementation of the ISM at the Lab.
[Technology Review] A study published today in Science concludes that, on average, using biomass to produce electricity is 80 percent more efficient than transforming the biomass into biofuel. In addition, the electricity option would be twice as effective at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. The researchers based their findings on scenarios developed under the Biofuel Analysis Meta-Model (EBAMM) created at UC Berkeley. The analysis covered a range of harvested crops, including corn and switchgrass, and a number of different energy-conversion technologies. More>
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