Oak Ridge National Laboratory is expected to receive about $1 million for battery research as part of a national project to improve the storage of energy.
The grants were announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Energy, which announced a total of $43 million for 19 projects across the country.
A DOE press release said ORNL is developing an innovative battery design that will improve the regulation of destructive “hot-spots†that develop when lithium-ion cells are used.
“This improvement is transporting heat away from active materials in the battery is expected to increase the battery’s life and reduce the system cost associated with thermal management,†the release said.
Funding for the projects, which include research at a range of organizations from Ford Motor Company to Battelle Memorial Institute, comes from the department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E.
The release said the projects are supported through two new ARPA-E programs—Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices, or AMPED, and Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR.
“This latest round of ARPA-E projects seek to address the remaining challenges in energy storage technologies, which could revolutionize the way Americans store and use energy in electric vehicles, the grid and beyond, while also potentially improving the access to energy for the U.S. military at forward operating bases in remote areas,†Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. “These cutting-edge projects could transform our energy infrastructure, dramatically reduce our reliance on imported oil, and increase American energy security.â€
Twelve research projects are receiving $30 million in funding under the AMPED program, which aims to develop advanced sensing and control technologies. AMPED is focused on maximizing the potential of existing battery chemistries, the release said.
The remaining $13 million was designated to seven projects at enterprising small businesses to “pursue cutting-edge energy storage developments for stationary power and electric vehicles.” Those projects will develop new innovative battery chemistries and battery designs, the release said.
ARPA-E was launched in 2009. Before Thursday’s announcement, ARPA-E had attracted more than 5,000 applications from research teams, which have resulted in about 180 groundbreaking projects worth nearly $500 million.
More information on the program is available at www.arpa-e.energy.gov.
Tj says
No doubt to Obama supporters, like Solyandra.
We need to have a breakthrough in battery technology to achieve all these lofty goals in alternative energy.
Been there , done that.
MW224 says
I normally agree with you TJ, but energy sources do need exploration and energy storage does need a upgrade. I am a supporter of our natural resources such as coal, natural gas, and domestic oil, but if that energy can be stored in a reusable product that keeps its effectiveness and does not decay or pollute like current battery solutions, then it would be a positive. New battery technology would make wind and solar more effective, but demand is too high for battery technology paired with renewable energy to drive up prices based on a liberal agenda. Personally, I would like to have a decent DC storage solution combined with my AC options that are fossil fuel powered to cut down my utility bill. After all, we all got it stuck to us with the recent rise in sewer bills to pay for our antiquated system.
Tj says
Back in November 2008, presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed: “We’ll invest $15 billion a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new green jobs that pay well.â€
Going on four years later, “Obama seems incapable of keeping this promise,†nationally syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock writes in an analysis published by National Review Online.
The Department of Energy’s website boasts that three “clean energy†initiatives loaned $34.7 billion and created “nearly 60,000†jobs.
It does not point out that each of these jobs therefore cost taxpayers $578,333.
Murdock cites figures showing that private employers pay workers on average $62,757 a year in wages and benefits. So Obama is “creating jobs†at 922 percent of the private sector’s cost of employing workers for a year, says Murdock, a media fellow with the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University.
He also notes that the Obama administration has subsidized at least 10 “green†companies that went bust.
The most publicized of these failures was Solyndra, a solar-panel maker that received $535 million in loan guarantees before filing for bankruptcy in August 2011.
Murdock pointed to 10 failures, including:
Panel maker Abound Solar ate up $70 million of its $400 million Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on July 2.
Solar Trust planned on building the world’s largest solar-power plant, and the DOE offered a $2.1 billion loan guarantee provided the firm raised private capital. Solar Trust filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 2.
Enerl, an electric car battery company, got a $118.5 million DOE stimulus grant in August 2009 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 26.
Energy Conversion Devices, a solar-laminate supplier, received a $13.3 million stimulus tax credit to update its Michigan factory and hire some 600 people. It filed for bankruptcy in February.
Raser Technologies received a $33 million stimulus grant to develop a geothermal plant in Utah. Raser declared bankruptcy in April 2011.
The 10 failed projects alone cost $3.4 billion in taxpayer funds and commitments, according to Murdock, who concludes: “Rather than slam Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital — which deployed private capital behind Staples, Sports Authority, and other still-thriving corporations — President Obama should beg taxpayers’ forgiveness for pouring their hard-earned cash down at least 10
MW224 says
TJ, I do not disagree with the colossal failure that Obama’s teams did with funding, but just because bad loans were made for pork projects does not mean that continuation of research for power storage should not be pursued. It is the responsibility of local leaders here at ORNL to appropriately use funds for research and have transparency for its use when it is directed for public research.
Tj says
I am all for serious battery research. Realiable batteries are the weak link. I am cursing a gel-cell on an electric lawn mower now. I have lost two in the last year. They cannot go longer than 30 days off the charger without going totally dead. $115 a shot.
We all know how Criminally wasteful DOE is.
CK says
TYPO madate = MANDATEOr why the mandate which has been determined to be a tax by the Supreme Court is still called a mandate by the left?