The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $32 million in funding for small business-led projects to further develop clean energy technologies that have a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. These 32 awards will help small businesses advance their promising concepts that improve manufacturing processes, boost the efficiency of buildings, increase transportation sustainability, and generate electricity from renewable sources.
Funded through DOE's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, most of the projects that have advanced into Phase II were previously selected for Phase I funding in 2016. These 32 projects were selected based on scientific and technical merit, as well as the commercial potential of the project proposed to continue their research and development. Companies competing for these follow-on grants were encouraged to propose innovations to meet ambitious cost and performance targets.
The 32 small businesses receiving the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) SBIR/STTR awards are located in 18 states: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
Emissol, a CleanTech Alliance member and Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator participant, is among the 2017 SBIR Phase II awardees. The company is developing a novel emission reduction technology potentially capable of providing substantial cost savings while reducing emissions, fuel consumption and vehicle weight. Computer simulations will be performed in this research project to seek proof of concept for this novel technology and to develop its value proposition.