DOE announces SBIR, TCF grant recipients
June 28, 2016
BY Erin Voegele
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $16 million for 54 projects to help commercialize promising technologies and $23 million for small businesses focused on clean energy innovations. Bioenergy and biomass projects were among those to receive funding.
The $23 million will support 23 new projects led by small businesses to further develop clean energy technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. According to the DOE, these Small Business Innovation and Research awards for $1 million each over the next two years will help small businesses advancing their promising concepts that improve manufacturing processes, boost the efficiency of buildings, increase transportation sustainability, and generate electricity from renewable sources. The four bioenergy projects that were awarded funding include:
Faraday Technology Inc: Englewood, Ohio-based Faraday Technology was awarded for a project titled “Low-cost alloy coatings by pulsed electrodeposition for combustors.”
Manta Biofuel LLC: Reisterstown, Maryland-based Manta Biofuel was awarded for a project titled “Development of a high throughput algal dewatering system using magnetic particles.”
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MicroBio Engineering: San Luis Obispo, California-based MicroBio Engineering was awarded for a project titled “Algal bioflocculation for solid-liquid separation.”
Techverse Inc.: Cary, North Carolina-based Techverse was awarded for a project titled “Advanced, low-cost, system for algae dewatering.”
The $16 million was the first DOE-wide round of funding through the Technology Commercialization Fund. It will support 54 projects and 12 national labs involving 52 private-sector partners. The TCF is administered by DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions, which works to expand the commercial impact of DOE’s portfolio of research, development, demonstration and deployment activities. Bioenergy-related awards include:
Argonne National Laboratory: $600,000 –Application of resin-wafer electrode ionization technology in biorefineries
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National Renewable Energy Laboratory: $740,000—Scaled production of high-octane biofuel from biomass-derived dimethyl ether
Additional information on the SBIR awards is available on the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website. Additional information on the TCF awards can be found on the DOE Office of Technology Transitions website.
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