Lcra

Arguably, no other institution has transformed the heart of Texas like the Lower Colorado River Authority. Born in the Great Depression of the 1930s, LCRA built a chain of dams and brought predictability to the cycles of extreme droughts and floods that had long plagued Austin and other communities. It also brought hydroelectric power—and with that, modern-day civilization—to the hard-scrabble regions of Central and South Texas. With those achievements, and the support of powerful political leaders like Lyndon Johnson, LCRA for years was touted as one of the state’s major success stories. But LCRA has never been a stranger to controversy, and while it continues to provide much of the energy and water that fuels the economic engine of Austin and beyond, most people know very little about LCRA. In this book, readers will learn about the forces of nature and politics that combined to create LCRA; the colorful personalities who operated, supported, or fought with the agency; its spectacular successes, periodic blunders, and occasional failures; and its evolution into one of the largest public power organizations in Texas. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.

An up-to-date and comprehensive overview summarizing recent achievements, the state of the art, and trends in research into nanocellulose and cellulose nanocomposites. Following an introduction, this ready references discusses the characterization as well surface modification of cellulose nanocomposites before going into details of the manufacturing and the self-assembly of such compounds. After a description of various alternatives, including thermoplastic, thermosetting, rubber, and fully green cellulose nanocomposites, the book continues with their mechanic and thermal properties, as well as crystallization and rheology behavior. A summary of spectroscopic and water sorption properties precedes a look at environmental health and safety of these nanocomposites. With its coverage of a wide variety of materials, important characterization tools and resulting applications, this is an essential reference for beginners as well as experienced researchers.