Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced more than $92 million in funds will be given to 43 clean energy research projects nationwide—a promising development in the country’s efforts to compete in the rapidly expanding global green technology sector.
In a press release included on the DOE’s Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) website, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu confirmed that funding will go to “cutting-edge” projects that “accelerate innovation in clean energy technologies, increase America’s competitiveness and create jobs.”
Led by renewable energy initiatives based in public and private organizations in New York, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Virginia, and 13 other states, the multi-million dollar funds were awarded by the ARPA-E using money made available through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Secretary Chu said the funding is part of a crucial investment in the advancement and development of the country’s grid scale energy storage, building efficiency and power electronics.
“These innovative ideas will play a critical role in our energy security and economic growth. It is now more important than ever to invest in a new, clean energy economy,” stated Secretary Chu.
The ARPA-E awards are divided into distinct project categories: Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS); Agile Delivery of Electrical Power Technology (ADEPT); and Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEET-IT).
Projects in the GRIDS division focus on the creation of large-scale, affordable energy storage solutions for solar and wind-generated power—described by the DOE as the “two key renewable energy sources.” One of the GRIDS funding recipients is the partner project between the University of San Diego and SD-based General Atomics. Their initiative, set to receive $2 million in ARPA-E funds, aims to “develop a novel flow battery technology that pumps chemicals through the battery cell when electricity is needed.”
In the ADEPT category, research funding was awarded to initiatives looking to improve electrical power efficiency and costs related to power switching and conversion. Cree Inc., a Durham, North Carolina-based company, received $3.7 million for their project which seeks to replace large electrical distribution transformers with more efficient silicon carbide-based transistors.
Awards given in the BEET-IT segment were for research into reducing the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of buildings—particularly as they relate to the current methods used to cool buildings. Columbus, Ohio’s Battelle Memorial Institute received $400,000 for its efficient air-conditioning project that uses water as a refrigerant instead of greenhouse gas chemicals.
For additional information on ARPA-E and some of the funding recipients, please visit:
http://arpa-e.energy.gov
http://www.ga.com/index.php
http://www.cree.com/
http://www.battelle.org/
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