Clean Energy is Focus of Grants Awarded by Department of Energy

The U.S Department of Energy has awarded $127 million in grant funds for small business and research and development. These grants have been awarded for 110 projects in 26 states across the United States.

The goal is to pursue technological solutions to current climate-change-related problems. This is part of the clean energy goals set by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. As a result, these projects exist in areas such as fusion energy, grid reliability, carbon management, renewable energy and cybersecurity.

“Small businesses are the backbone of American communities, representing some of our best opportunities to make the clean energy innovations our country needs to meet President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said. “These funding awards will help small businesses take their work to the next level, expand their operations and create new jobs, and be part of the fight against the existential crisis of our time – climate change.”

Why These Energy Grants Are So Critical

As the world looks to move beyond coal and toward renewable or “clean” energy, spending in that sector has increased exponentially. In 2004, the United States had invested a mere $6 billion in renewables. By 2019, that number had increased to $59 billion. Those increases and expanding technological capabilities show a world trying to move toward more environmentally friendly energy sources.

Projects Receiving DOE Funding

• Princeton NuEnergy Incorporation, Bordentown, NJ ($1.15 million): Developing a novel process to recycle, regenerate, and upgrade aged lithium ion batteries.
• RiKarbon, Inc., Newark, DE ($1.15 million): Commercializing technology to produce low-cost waste plastic feedstock and mitigate health risks of plastics to humans and ocean life.
• Arctura, Inc., South Kingstown, RI ($1.15 million): Developing an innovative wind turbine blade coating to reduce damage caused by lightning.
• Phase3 Photovoltaics, Portland, OR ($1.05 million): Designing manufactured homes with factory integrated solar panels.
• nexTC Corporation, Corvallis, OR ($1.1 million): Developing new technologies to improve solar module performance and lower materials cost.
• Fastwatt LLC, Clifton Park, NY ($1.57 million): Scaling up offshore wind turbines to larger sizes that can reduce the cost of electricity.
• Bettergy Corp., Peekskill, NY ($1.15 million): Developing practical and cost-effective technology for the reuse of brine wastewater from oilfields or geothermal sites.
• Vista Clara Inc., Mukilteo, WA ($1.15 million): Developing specialized sensors to monitor subsurface changes and improve cleanup management at environmentally contaminated sites.
• Creative Power Solutions, (USA), Inc, Fountain Hills, AZ ($1.6 million): Developing and commercializing ammonia gas turbine combustor technology to be used as clean carbon-free fuel and energy storage.
• Susteon Inc., Cary, NC ($1.6 million): Using dual functional materials that enable capture of CO2 from air to substantially lower the cost of direct air capture.
• Emissol LLC, Mill Creek, WA ($1.65 million): Pursuing a low-cost pathway to reducing the overall CO2 capture cost. Accelerating direct air capture’s path to market and commercialization.
• Epir, Inc., Bolingbrook, IL ($1.1 million): Developing a measurement system on semiconductor substrates.

GrantNews Notes

GrantWatch features a grant category specifically for energy-related grants.