The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has selected 40 small businesses to receive first-of-its-kind technology-to-market Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards that total about $6.3 million.
The award moves existing inventions developed at the DOE’s national laboratories to the marketplace and accelerates the pace of commercialization.
Among the award winners, Newton, Mass.-based Giner will use technology patented by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) along with the company’s dimensionally stabilized membrane technology. Giner will apply LANL’s technology and catalyst materials to develop advanced, high-performance, and durable polymer electrolyte membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cell and electrolysis applications. These achievements will ultimately lower the cost of hydrogen production technologies and fuel cell electric vehicles to enable significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, the DOE says.
In addition to this technology-to-market award, two fuel cell projects were included in the SBIR awards.
US Hybrid of Torrance, Calif., will develop a proof-of-concept design approach for a fuel cell-battery electric hybrid truck for waste transportation in Phase 1 of this project. If this project is selected to proceed to Phase 2 and develops a fuel scale prototype that is ultimately commercialized, this fuel cell refuse truck will have no harmful emissions, potentially save 17,000 barrels of oil, and yield approximately $4.2 million in fuel savings over its operational life.
Vision Industries of Long Beach, Calif., will develop a proof-of-concept design approach for a fuel cell electric truck for waste transportation in Phase 1 of this project as well. If this project is selected to proceed to Phase 2, the design will be prototyped as a Class 8 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Refuse Truck that will be demonstrated with the Santa Monica Public Works Division in the city of Santa Monica, Calif. The demonstration will measure operational cost-effectiveness, emission reduction, and commercial viability of a heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicle in the refuse service.
In an effort to advance hydrogen transportation, California has joined H2USA, a public-private partnership led by the US Department of Energy. H2USA aims to accelerate the commercialization of clean transportation solutions, primarily fuel cell electric vehicles and a fueling infrastructure that will make these vehicles more accessible and affordable.
