GRIDS Highlights

October is National Energy Action Month, a time for us to focus on energy’s critical importance to our national security, economic prosperity, and environmental well-being. And while this month is special, at ARPA-E, we’re working year-round to accelerate innovations that will create a secure, affordable and sustainable American energy future.

ARPA-E sat down with Eric McFarland, CEO of Urban Electric Power (UEP), to discuss the challenges of leading a start-up company, the company’s partnership with ARPA-E, and its participation in New York Energy Week.

In 2010, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) awarded Fluidic $3 million to develop a low-cost, high-power module for rechargeable Zinc-air batteries. If successful, Fluidic’s technology would allow for versatile, dependable grid-scale storage of renewable energy.

Five ARPA-E project teams were selected to participate in the upcoming I-Corps program that kicks off this week. ARPA-E awardees Michigan State University (OPEN 2009), University of Southern California (GRIDS), Virginia Commonwealth University (REACT), University of Houston (REACT), and Georgia Institute of Technology (IMPACCT) are participating.

At the inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit today, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase America’s competitiveness and create new jobs.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced 43 cutting-edge research projects that aim to dramatically improve how the U.S. uses and produces energy.

This workshop served as an opportunity for ARPA-E leadership to engage with leading experts to obtain insight on grid scale energy storage technology areas ripe for, and in strong need of, transformational technology development.

Urban Electric Power, a startup formed by researchers from the City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute, is taking breakthroughs in battery technology from the lab to the market.

Learn how Fluidic, with the help of ARPA-E funding, has developed and deployed the world's first proven high cycle life metal air battery.

With the help of ARPA-E funding, General Compression has created an advanced air compression process that can store and release more than a week's worth of the energy generated by wind turbines.