Status: ALUMNI
State: UT
Project Term: 02/01/2013 - 02/15/2015
Program: OPEN 2012
Award: $1,557,753

Ceramatec

Ceramatec is developing a small-scale reactor to convert natural gas into benzene—a feedstock for industrial chemicals or liquid fuels. Natural gas as a byproduct is highly abundant, readily available, and inexpensive. Ceramatec’s reactor will use a one-step chemical conversion process to convert natural gas into benzene. This one-step process is highly efficient and prevents the build-up of solid residue that can occur when gas is processed. The benzene that is produced can be used as a starting material for nylons, polycarbonates, polystyrene, epoxy resins, and as a component of gasoline.

Status: ALUMNI
State: UT
Project Term: 01/01/2014 - 01/14/2017
Program: RANGE
Award: $2,966,690

Ceramatec

Ceramatec is developing new batteries that make use of a non-porous, high ion conductivity ceramic membrane employing a lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery chemistry. Porous separators found in today’s batteries contain liquids that negatively impact cycle life. To address this, Ceramatec’s battery includes a ceramic membrane to help to hold charge while not in use. This new design would also provide load bearing capability, improved mechanical integrity, and extend battery life. Ceramatec will build and demonstrate its innovative, low-cost, non-porous membrane in a prototype Li-S battery with a…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 01/01/2010 - 12/31/2013
Program: OPEN 2009
Award: $5,071,690

Ceres

Ceres is developing bigger and better grasses for use in biofuels. The bigger the grass yield, the more biomass, and more biomass means more biofuel per acre. Using biotechnology, Ceres is developing grasses that will grow bigger with less fertilizer than current grass varieties. Hardier, higher-yielding grass also requires less land to grow and can be planted in areas where other crops can't grow instead of in prime agricultural land. Ceres is conducting multi-year trials in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia which have already resulted in grass yields with as much as 50% more…

Status: ACTIVE
State: UT
Project Term: 04/01/2020 - 04/01/2024
Program: REFUEL
Award: $2,450,000

Chemtronergy

Chemtronergy will develop an advanced solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system to electrochemically convert ammonia into electricity. Conventional SOFC systems are manufactured using ceramic fabrication techniques that are time-consuming, energy-intensive, and have high material costs. SOFCs also typically operate at 700-900°C to chemically activate the fuel feedstock and ensure that it is sufficiently cracked or reformed for electrochemical use. This high temperature, however, imposes harsh operating conditions and stresses on the materials, which further increases costs. To address these…

Status: ALUMNI
State: UT
Project Term: 11/15/2017 - 05/29/2020
Program: REFUEL
Award: $1,099,999

Chemtronergy

Chemtronergy will develop an advanced solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system to electrochemically convert ammonia into electricity. Conventional SOFC systems are manufactured using ceramic fabrication techniques that are time-consuming, energy-intensive, and have high material costs. SOFCs also typically operate at 700-900°C to chemically activate the fuel feedstock and ensure that it is sufficiently cracked or reformed for electrochemical use. This high temperature, however, imposes harsh operating conditions and stresses on the materials, which further increases costs. To address these…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 04/25/2022 - 10/24/2023
Program: OPEN 2021
Award: $773,990

Chilldyne

Chilldyne proposes improving data center energy efficiency by developing a high-performance cold plate with a helical turbulator that increases the heat transfer rate by a factor of 3. The cold plate uses flowing water and nucleate boiling, where the surface temperature is higher than the saturated fluid temperature, under sub-atmospheric pressure for maximum heat transfer. This technology will improve data center efficiency, enable data centers to operate in hotter climates and supply hotter water for heat reuse, and enable processors to operate more efficiently at lower temperatures.…

Status: CANCELLED
State: IL
Project Term: 01/01/2012 - 12/31/2015
Program: PETRO
Award: $7,006,299

Chromatin

Chromatin will engineer sweet sorghum—a plant that naturally produces large quantities of sugar and requires little water—to accumulate the fuel precursor farnesene, a molecule that can be blended into diesel fuel. Chromatin's proprietary technology enables the introduction of a completely novel biosynthetic process into the plant to produce farnesene, enabling sorghum to accumulate up to 20% of its weight as fuel. Chromatin will also introduce a trait to improve biomass yields in sorghum. The farnesene will accumulate in the sorghum plants—similar to the way in which it currently stores…

Status: ACTIVE
State: TX
Project Term: 04/21/2022 - 12/31/2023
Program: REMEDY
Award: $1,000,000

Cimarron Energy

Cimarron Energy aims to develop a cost-competitive flare and control system to achieve over 99.5% methane destruction and removal efficiency (DRE) from the current 98% DRE. The proposed system will include a novel flare apparatus to overcome all observed difficulties in achieving high DRE for flares, a microprocessor based electronic controller, an image-based closed-loop feedback system, and flow meters for high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) flare gas streams sent to the flare. The HP gas is associated with oil extraction and contains a large fraction of methane. The LP gas is tank…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MA
Project Term: 09/29/2022 - 09/28/2024
Program: ECOSynBio
Award: $2,500,000

Circe Bioscience

Circe Bioscience is building a carbon-efficient precision fermentation platform to produce energy-rich long-chain carbon chemicals with applications in several industrial sectors including fuels, materials, and food. The Circe system has a high degree of feedstock flexibility allowing it to take advantage of the legacy bioeconomy for cheap sugar supply and of a growing green energy infrastructure for external reducing equivalents to achieve high carbon efficiency. Circe uses proprietary technology to engineer fatty acid metabolism for production of reduced carbon compounds that can be used as…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 12/22/2015 - 03/21/2017
Program: IDEAS
Award: $499,023

Citrine Informatics

The Citrine Informatics team is demonstrating a proof-of-concept for a system that would use experimental work to intelligently guide the investigation of new solid ionic conductor materials. If successful, the project will create a new approach to material discovery generally and new direction for developing promising ionic conductors specifically. The project will aggregate data (both quantitative and meta-data related to experimental conditions) relevant to ionic conductors from the published literature and build advanced, machine learning models for prediction based upon the resulting…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CA
Project Term: 05/02/2022 - 05/01/2025
Program: ONWARDS
Award: $3,103,770

Citrine Informatics

Citrine Informatics will use a combination of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, physics-based simulations, and experimental results to design novel phosphate waste forms (including glasses, ceramics, and their composites) to enable dehalogenation (removal of halides) and more secure immobilization of salt waste from molten salt reactors (MSRs). Current disposition pathways for salt wastes from MSRs, or used nuclear fuel reprocessing, produce waste forms with relatively low halide loading potential, large volumes, poor thermal stability, and poor mechanical durability. Citrine’s…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 09/02/2010 - 02/28/2014
Program: ADEPT
Award: $1,568,278

City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute

City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute is developing less expensive, more efficient, smaller, and longer-lasting power converters for energy-efficient LED lights. LEDs produce light more efficiently than incandescent lights and last significantly longer than compact fluorescent bulbs, but they require more sophisticated power converter technology, which increases their cost. LEDs need more sophisticated converters because they require a different type of power (low-voltage direct current, or DC) than what’s generally supplied by power outlets. CUNY Energy Institute is developing…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 09/15/2010 - 03/31/2015
Program: GRIDS
Award: $3,494,708

City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute

City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute is working to tame dendrite formation and to enhance the lifetime of Manganese in order to create a long-lasting, fully rechargeable battery for grid-scale energy storage. Traditional consumer-grade disposable batteries are made of Zinc and Manganese, two inexpensive, abundant, and non-toxic metals, but these disposable batteries can only be used once. If they are recharged, the Zinc in the battery develops filaments called dendrites that grow haphazardly and disrupt battery performance, while the Manganese quickly loses its ability to store…

Status: ALUMNI
State: SC
Project Term: 09/30/2015 - 05/28/2019
Program: TERRA
Award: $6,149,998

Clemson University

Clemson University is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and Near Earth Autonomy to develop and operate an advanced plant phenotyping system, incorporating modeling and rapid prediction of plant performance to drive improved yield and compositional gains for energy sorghum. The team will plant and phenotype one of the largest sets of plant types in the TERRA program. Researchers will design and build two phenotyping platforms – an aerial sensor platform and a ground-based platform. The aerial platform, developed by Near Earth Autonomy…

Status: ACTIVE
State: SC
Project Term: 09/13/2022 - 09/12/2025
Program: HESTIA
Award: $1,042,933

Clemson University

Clemson University will develop a mass timber floor system alternative for greenhouse gas-intensive floor and ceiling materials, which account for up to 75% of embodied energy in traditional building designs. Mass timber products are comprised of thick, compressed layers of wood and used to create strong, structural load-bearing elements. The proposed system will address the entire building life cycle, from design and construction, through occupancy and operation, and contribute toward closing the gap between observed and theoretical service lifetimes. Carbon stored in the timber floor (and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 07/01/2010 - 06/30/2012
Program: IMPACCT
Award: $4,657,045

Codexis

Codexis is developing new and efficient forms of enzymes known as carbonic anhydrases to absorb CO2 more rapidly and under challenging conditions found in the gas exhaust of coal-fired power plants. Carbonic anhydrases are common and are among the fastest enzymes, but they are not robust enough to withstand the harsh environment found in the power plant exhaust steams. In this project, Codexis will be using proprietary technology to improve the enzymes' ability to withstand high temperatures and large swings in chemical composition. The project aims to develop a carbon-capture process that…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CA
Project Term: 07/10/2014 - 07/09/2016
Program: FOCUS
Award: $1,003,329

Cogenra Solar

Cogenra Solar is developing a hybrid solar converter with a specialized light-filtering mirror that splits sunlight by wavelength, allowing part of the sunlight spectrum to be converted directly to electricity with photovoltaics (PV), while the rest is captured and stored as heat. By integrating a light-filtering mirror that passes the visible part of the spectrum to a PV cell, the system captures and converts as much as possible of the photons into high-value electricity and concentrates the remaining light onto a thermal fluid, which can be stored and be used as needed. Cogenra’s hybrid…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 03/13/2017 - 09/12/2018
Program: IDEAS
Award: $500,000

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines will develop a new method for the high-throughput discovery and screening of thermoelectric materials. The objective is to develop a new class of thermoelectric materials that can enable heat-to-electricity efficiencies greater than 20%. Aerosol spray deposition will be used to collect particles on the solid surfaces, allowing high throughput synthesis with finely tuned composition control. To achieve the thermoelectric performance desired, a tight feedback loop between synthesis, characterization, and theory will be employed to actively guide the design of…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 09/27/2016 - 07/31/2018
Program: IDEAS
Award: $500,000

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines will develop a membrane reactor concept to synthesize ammonia at ambient pressure. In traditional ammonia production processes, nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2) compete for identical catalyst sites, and the presence of each inhibits the other, with the overall rate reflecting a compromise. The team proposes decoupling and independently controlling the N2 and H2 dissociation by dedicating one side of the composite membrane to each. In this way, the catalysts may be individually optimized. Highly effective catalysts have been previously demonstrated for H2…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 09/07/2018 - 03/26/2024
Program: INTEGRATE
Award: $11,361,864

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) will develop a hybrid power generation system that leverages a pressurized, intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and an advanced low-energy-content fuel internal combustion engine. In Phase II, the team will develop and test three SOFC sub-module building blocks (CERES Power and Mines) and then integrate them into a 100 kW-capable pressure vessel package, and develop efficiency-enhanced 2nd generation Kohler engine and balance-of-plant hardware, including novel, positive displacement rotating machinery from Air Squared; build a full-…

Status: CANCELLED
State: CO
Project Term: 01/01/2017 - 11/30/2018
Program: IONICS
Award: $1,420,645

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines will develop a new membrane for redox flow battery systems based on novel, low-cost materials. The membrane is a hybrid polymer that includes heteropoly acid molecules and a special purpose fluorocarbon-based synthetic rubber called a fluoroelastomer. The team will enhance the membrane's selectivity by refining the polymer structure, employing crosslinking techniques, and also through doping the polymer with cesium. The fluoroelastmer is commercially available, thereby contributing to a superior performance-to-cost ratio for the membrane. Flow battery experts…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 07/12/2019 - 10/11/2023
Program: OPEN 2018
Award: $2,047,676

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines will develop a more efficient method for both the conversion of hydrogen and nitrogen to ammonia and the generation of high purity hydrogen from ammonia for fuel cell fueling stations. Composed of 17.6% hydrogen by mass, ammonia also has potential as a hydrogen carrier and carbon-free fuel. The team will develop a new technology to generate fuel cell-quality hydrogen from ammonia using a membrane based reactor. In addition, similar catalytic membrane reactor technology will be developed for synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen at reduced pressure and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 10/01/2014 - 06/21/2021
Program: REBELS
Award: $3,997,457

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines is developing a mixed proton and oxygen ion conducting electrolyte that will allow a fuel cell to operate at temperatures less than 500°C. By using a proton and oxygen ion electrolyte, the fuel cell stack is able to reduce coking – which clogs anodes with carbon deposits – and enhance the process of turning hydrocarbon fuels into hydrogen. Today’s ceramic fuel cells are based on oxygen-ion conducting electrolytes and operate at high temperatures. Mines’ advanced mixed proton and oxygen-ion conducting fuel cells will operate on lower temperatures, and have the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 01/01/2021 - 12/31/2023
Program: GAMOW
Award: $1,397,973

Colorado School of Mines

One of the biggest challenges facing the practical deployment of fusion energy-based power is the effective management of tritium resources. Tritium, an isotope of hydrogen with a short half-life, is a fusion fuel and must be continuously generated, recovered, and recycled in any tritium-fueled fusion power plant. Currently, scalable tritium extraction and pumping technologies do not exist. Colorado School of Mines will develop and demonstrate engineered composite membranes for efficient tritium extraction from breeder media and the vessel exhaust. These membranes will be engineered for high…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 02/14/2023 - 02/13/2026
Program: MINER
Award: $1,159,337

Colorado School of Mines

The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) will develop a novel technological solution and workflow to enable mining companies to quantitatively model the carbonation potential of entire ore deposits using cutting-edge X-ray fluorescence core scanning technology and advanced machine learning techniques. The project will demonstrate how the carbonation potential of a copper-nickel-platinum group element (Cu-Ni-PGE) deposit can be determined involving block modeling of the amount of CO2 that can be sequestered in situ in an ore body and its surrounding host rocks. Mines will perform a cost-benefit…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 11/10/2015 - 05/09/2019
Program: ARID
Award: $2,087,586

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) and its partners, Modine and Barber-Nichols, will develop a thermally powered supplemental cooling system for thermoelectric power plants that will enable dry cooling. The technology features a transformational turbo-compressor and low-cost, high-performance heat exchangers that are currently mass produced for the HVAC industry. To operate, low-grade waste heat from the power plant combustion exhaust gases, or flue gas, is captured and used to power a highly efficient turbo-compressor system. The compressor pressurizes vapor in a refrigeration cycle to remove…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 10/01/2016 - 09/30/2019
Program: MONITOR
Award: $4,441,314

Colorado State University (CSU)

The team, led by Colorado State University (CSU), will develop a test site facility near Fort Collins, CO where ARPA-E can evaluate the methane sensing technologies of the MONITOR project teams, as required by the MONITOR FOA. The CSU team will design, construct, and operate a natural gas testing facility that can determine whether MONITOR technologies have met or exceeded the technical performance targets set forth by the MONITOR program. The test facility will be designed to realistically mimic the layout of a broad range of natural gas facilities and equipment. The test facility will…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 04/04/2013 - 10/03/2015
Program: OPEN 2012
Award: $1,576,999

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) is developing technology to rapidly introduce novel traits into crops that currently cannot be readily engineered. Presently, a limited number of crops can be engineered, and the processes are not standardized – restricting the agricultural sources for engineered biofuel production. More—and more diverse—biofuel crops could substantially improve the efficiency, time scale, and geographic range of biofuel production. CSU’s approach would enable simple and efficient engineering of a broad range of bioenergy crops using synthetic biology tools to standardize their…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 05/22/2020 - 05/21/2022
Program: OPEN 2015
Award: $499,999

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) will work with BASF and Cypris Materials to accelerate the technology first developed under a 2015 ARPA‐E OPEN award. They will transition the developed coating into an industrially scalable, sprayable process to retrofit energy inefficient windows with a heat-reflective, visibly transparent film. Under the original award, nanostructured coatings were shown to greatly improve the efficiency of single‐pane windows by lowering solar heat gain. The current team aims to further improve the coating technology and decrease installation costs to 1/10 of current high‐…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 05/05/2016 - 11/20/2019
Program: OPEN 2015
Award: $5,205,217

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) and its partners are developing an inexpensive, polymer-based, energy-saving material that can be applied to windows as a retrofit. The team will develop a coating consisting of polymers that can rapidly self-assemble into orderly layers that will reflect infrared wavelengths but pass visible light. As such, the coating will help reduce building cooling requirements and energy use without darkening the room. The polymers can be applied as a paint, meaning that deployment could be faster, less expensive, and more widespread because homeowners can apply the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 07/03/2017 - 01/02/2025
Program: ROOTS
Award: $8,192,319

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) will develop a high-throughput ground-based robotic platform that will characterize a plant’s root system and the surrounding soil chemistry to better understand how plants cycle carbon and nitrogen in soil. CSU’s robotic platform will use a suite of sensor technologies to investigate crop genetic-environment interaction and generate data to improve models of chemical cycling of soil carbon and nitrogen in agricultural environments. The platform will collect information on root structure and depth, and deploy a novel spectroscopic technology to quantify levels…

Status: ALUMNI
State: CO
Project Term: 03/01/2021 - 08/31/2022
Program: FLECCS
Award: $1,100,000

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University and its partners—ION Clean Energy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Bright Generation Holdings—will develop a thermal energy storage system with flexible advanced solvent carbon capture technology. The system aims to decrease the levelized cost of electricity for natural gas-fired combined cycle (NGCC) power plants to <75 $/MWh while simultaneously capturing >95% of CO2 emissions when operating in highly VRE penetration markets. The team's approach uses a novel and low-cost heat-pump thermal storage system. This system enables load shifting and NGCC…

Status: ACTIVE
State: CO
Project Term: 07/01/2022 - 06/30/2025
Program: REMEDY
Award: $1,500,000

Colorado State University (CSU)

Colorado State University (CSU) and Caterpillar will develop technology to reduce methane emissions from lean-burn natural gas engines by reducing methane ventilation through the crankcase, the engine base that contains the crankshaft and integrates other engine components. Methane that leaks past the ring and valve seals during compression and combustion enters the crankcase and is usually vented to the atmosphere. The team proposes a system that would capture the crankcase methane, treat it, and reroute it back to the engine intake where it would be re-ingested and combusted. This would…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 07/01/2010 - 06/30/2014
Program: Electrofuels
Award: $1,505,985

Columbia University

Columbia University is using carbon dioxide (CO2) from ambient air, ammonia—an abundant and affordable chemical—and a bacteria called N. europaea to produce liquid fuel. The Columbia University team is feeding the ammonia and CO2 into an engineered tank where the bacteria live. The bacteria capture the energy from ammonia and then use that energy to convert CO2 into a liquid fuel. When the bacteria use up all the ammonia, renewable electricity can regenerate it and pump it back into the system—creating a continuous fuel-creation cycle. In addition, Columbia University is also working with the…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 09/25/2017 - 09/24/2023
Program: ENLITENED
Award: $10,399,999

Columbia University

Columbia University will develop a new datacenter architecture co-designed with state-of-the-art silicon photonic technologies to reduce system-wide energy consumption. The team’s approach will improve data movement between processor/memory and will optimize resource allocation throughout the network to minimize idle times and wasted energy. Data transfer in datacenters occurs over a series of interconnects that link different server racks of the datacenter together. Networks in modern mega-scale datacenters are becoming increasingly complicated. One by-product of this complexity is that on…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 06/10/2016 - 09/09/2017
Program: IDEAS
Award: $500,000

Columbia University

The Columbia University team is developing a proof-of-concept solid-state solution to generate electricity from high-temperature waste heat (~900 K) using thermal radiation between a hot object placed in extreme proximity (<100 nm) to a cooler photovoltaic (PV) cell. In this geometry, thermal radiation can be engineered such that its spectrum is quasi-monochromatic and aligned with the PV cell’s bandgap frequency. In this case, it is estimated that electricity can be generated with a conversion efficiency beyond 25% and with a power density that could greatly outperform currently available…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 03/04/2016 - 03/03/2017
Program: IDEAS
Award: $500,000

Columbia University

Columbia University will develop a new platform for generating multiple simultaneous optical channels (wavelengths) with low power dissipation, thereby enabling optical interconnects for low power computing. Optical interconnect links communicate using optical fibers that carry light. Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology that combines a number of optical carrier signals on a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths. This technique enables bidirectional communications over strands of fiber, dramatically increasing capacity. Low-power lasers generate the wavelengths…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 03/01/2015 - 05/30/2016
Program: IDEAS
Award: $475,221

Columbia University

The innovation lies in the exploitation of novel natural energy source: reduced metal deposits. The energy released during oxidation of these metals could be used to reduce CO2 into fuels and chemicals reducing petroleum usage.This proposed project fits within the Chemical-Chemical Area of Interest, as it involves the coupling of the oxidation of reduced minerals in the Earth’s crust to the production of reduced carbon chemicals for fuel utilization. This addresses both of Mission Areas of ARPA-E as the co-generation of fuels during copper bioleaching will potentially reduce the import of…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 07/16/2010 - 01/15/2014
Program: IMPACCT
Award: $1,254,752

Columbia University

Columbia University is developing a process to pull CO2 out of the exhaust gas of coal-fired power plants and turn it into a solid that can be easily and safely transported, stored above ground, or integrated into value-added products (e.g. paper filler, plastic filler, construction materials, etc.). In nature, the reaction of CO2 with various minerals over long periods of time will yield a solid carbonate—this process is known as carbon mineralization. The use of carbon mineralization as a CO2 capture and storage method is limited by the speeds at which these minerals can be dissolved and…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 04/01/2014 - 10/31/2019
Program: SWITCHES
Award: $3,725,000

Columbia University

Columbia University will create high-performance, low-cost, vertical gallium nitride (GaN) devices using a technique called spalling, which involves exfoliating a working circuit and transferring it to another material. Columbia and its project partners will spall and bond entire transistors from high-performance GaN wafers to lower cost silicon substrates. Substrates are thin wafers of semiconducting material needed to power devices like transistors and integrated circuits. GaN substrates operate much more efficiently than silicon substrates, particularly at high voltages, but the high cost…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 09/24/2020 - 09/23/2023
Program: PERFORM
Award: $2,061,355

Columbia University

The power industry sees risk as statistically independent of today's operational practices and regulations. The challenge is convincing the industry to proactively and explicitly study, quantify, price, and incorporate risk into dispatch and response algorithms. Columbia University will develop a risk dashboard to address this challenge that will enable independent system operators (ISOs) of the electrical grid to compute and analyze engineering and financial risks occurring on operational time scales ranging from several minutes to days. This dashboard will facilitate efficient and…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 12/16/2020 - 12/15/2024
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $1,749,721

Columbia University

Columbia University will develop a novel hydrometallurgical platform that will exploit the electrochemical reduction of copper ores followed by biological leaching of sulfide minerals to recover copper metal. The team’s new platform technology will enable the processing of domestic low-grade copper concentrates with high pyrite concentrations. This will reduce the outsourcing of copper processing to overseas smelters and enable new domestic sources of low-grade copper concentrate to be processed economically. The bacteria involved in the bioleaching process will be genetically modified for…

Status: ALUMNI
State: NY
Project Term: 03/22/2021 - 07/31/2022
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $400,000

Columbia University

Critical minerals—used in important defense and energy applications–are scarce. Municipal wastes are excellent candidates for domestic sources of high-grade ores due to their high metal concentration. Because the metals in wastes and waste ashes contain a wide range of impurities, however, conventional extraction processes are not effective. Columbia University will develop an innovative MIDAS process based on the integrated CO2-facilitated hydrometallurgical and electrochemical technology. The team will (1) develop supercritical CO2-based solvent systems for hydrometallurgical extraction of…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 06/01/2021 - 12/31/2023
Program: DAYS
Award: $3,379,111

Columbia University

Columbia University's Electrochemical Energy Center will develop a long-duration grid energy storage solution that leverages a new approach to the zinc bromine battery, a popular chemistry for flow batteries. Taking advantage of the way zinc and bromine behave in the cell, the battery will eliminate the need for a separator to keep the reactants apart when charged, as well as allow all the electrolyte to be stored in a single tank, instead of multiple cells. This reduction in “balance of plant” hardware will reduce system cost.

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 06/01/2022 - 05/31/2025
Program: OPEN 2021
Award: $1,498,533

Columbia University

Columbia University aims to modulate the cycling behavior of conventional Li-ion battery materials in a bobbin cell format. The team will optimize electrode compositions, properties, and dimensions with corresponding cell configurations using standard commodity Li-ion materials and established bobbin cell manufacturing techniques. These cells will be suitable for 4-hour charge, and cost profiles amenable to 8-to-16-hour discharge. The team will produce Li-ion cells capable of cycling for more than 10 years at a discharge duration of 8 to 16 hours and a levelized cost of storage under $0.05/…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 07/01/2022 - 06/30/2025
Program: OPEN 2021
Award: $3,375,712

Columbia University

Columbia University proposes a low-temperature water electrolyzer for hydrogen production based on ultrathin oxide membranes that can increase electrolysis efficiency by 20% compared with conventional polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers. The enhanced performance of Columbia’s proton-conducting oxide membrane (POM) electrolyzers is enabled by the lower ionic resistance of dense oxide-based membranes that are 2 orders of magnitude thinner than conventional catalyst-coated membranes. If successful, the capital cost of POM electrolyzer stacks will be significantly lower than today’s…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 02/24/2023 - 02/23/2026
Program: MINER
Award: $2,949,397

Columbia University

Columbia University (Columbia) will use innovative processes to enable increased domestic production of energy-relevant metals from CO2-reactive minerals at potentially lower costs than the state of the art. The work will focus on feedstocks from the Tamarack Project, leading to domestic production of nickel, copper, and cobalt and smaller amounts of platinum, palladium, and gold. Activities will leverage Columbia’s hydrometallurgical leach technologies for these minerals. The technology has significantly lower environmental impacts and may enable economic recovery of off-specification…

Status: ACTIVE
State: NY
Project Term: 02/09/2023 - 02/08/2026
Program: MINER
Award: $2,500,000

Columbia University

Columbia University will develop an integrated hydrometallurgical-electrochemical mining technology to increase energy-relevant mineral yields from CO2-reactive minerals. The technology incorporates an innovative stirred media mill reactor that minimizes comminution energy and improves leaching efficiencies and a new electrochemical refining processes using functionalized interfaces for selective separation of metals. If successful, the technology will enable high recovery of target metals (> 80%) and efficient carbon mineralization (> 90%), while reducing energy input; reduce emissions…

Status: ACTIVE
State: MA
Project Term: 10/01/2020 - 08/30/2023
Program: BETHE
Award: $1,374,368

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS)

The tokamak is the most scientifically mature fusion energy concept, which confines hot plasma in the shape of a torus (similar to a donut). This plasma is controlled in part by a central solenoid electromagnet. Using high-temperature superconductors (HTS) and an innovative design, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and its partners aim to build a central solenoid capable of quickly changing (“fast ramping”) its current and magnetic field, while also being robust enough to survive many thousands of cycles. This new HTS magnet will enable a new mode of tokamak operation, in which power output…

Status: ALUMNI
State: PA
Project Term: 04/03/2020 - 04/02/2023
Program: Exploratory Topics
Award: $499,999

Community Energy

Carbon mineralization, a promising carbon management technology, reacts CO2 gas with minerals containing magnesium and/or calcium. The reaction forms a stable, solid carbonate, which can be used in building materials. Community Energy will use minerals from the waste produced at mining facilities to enhance the rate of carbon mineralization, increase the amount of available minerals used to capture CO2, and produce building materials, such as aggregate for making cement, which can offset some of the carbon footprint associated with the cement industry.