US DOE Award $12.3m for Energy Efficient Projects

The US Department of Energy has awarded $12.3 million to 21 research projects aimed at advancing energy efficiency and clean energy technologies.

Key technology areas that will be addresses include:

• Solid state lighting
• Membranes that produce hydrogen
• Advanced fuel cells and chemicals
• Solid oxide fuel cells
• Sensors and controls

The projects will be managed by universities and companies and will target developments in:

• Materials, including developing higher-performance and less-expensive materials for energy-efficient lighting such as electro-optical and luminous substances, membranes for hydrogen production, and cathode materials used in fuel cell production;
• Fuels and Chemicals, including computational chemistry and synthesis gas science needed to make better, cleaner fuels from synthetic gas;
• Sensors and Controls, including process optimization, emissions reduction and sequestration, extreme environments (FE applications) to building systems integration (EERE applications) and embedded sensors could benefit from projects in this area; and
• Energy Conversion, including converting heat into electricity by advancing research in motor-control and power-conversion technologies as well as direct thermal-to-electric energy converters.

For more information on materials used in fuel cells, click here.