San Francisco, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced major funding for 37 research projects including some that could allow intermittent energy sources like wind and solar to provide a steady flow of power, or use bacteria to produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
The 37 selected projects, which are receiving an average of approximately $4 million each, span the energy sector, including energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture, renewable power, building efficiency, vehicles, and other energy technology areas.
Among the award winners include Delphi Automotive Systems, General Motors, EaglePicher Technologies, Envia Systems, FastCAP Systems and Phononic Devices in the areas of vehicle technologies, energy storage and waste heat capture. Click here for a complete list of award winners.
The $151 million in funding is being awarded through the DOE’s recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). ARPA-E’s mission is to develop creative and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing America’s technology leadership. This is the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving a total of $400 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The grants will go to projects with lead researchers in 17 states. Of the lead recipients, 43 percent are small businesses, 35 percent are educational institutions, and 19 percent are large corporations.
Some of the projects selected for awards include research in the areas of liquid metal grid-scale batteries, low-cost crystals for LED lighting, new power electronics based on gallium nitride on silicon, low-cost planar liquid sodium beta batteries for grid-scale electrical power storage, high-energy density lithium-ion batteries, a nanotube-enhanced ultracapacitor, and a new class of high-efficiency thermoelectric devices and materials
A second set of ARPA-E funding opportunities will be announced later this fall.