U.S. Department of Energy Announces $68 Million For Small Businesses Developing Technologies to Cut Emissions and Study Climate

Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling more than $68 million that will go to 53 small businesses that are solving scientific problems. Projects include developing tools for climate research and advanced materials and technologies for clean energy conversion. Understanding the climate and the ability to convert and store energy are instrumental to meeting President Biden’s goal of a completely clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.  

“From the Industrial Revolution to Silicon Valley, small businesses have always propelled innovation in America, and they will play a critical role in the transition to clean energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The companies working on the incredible projects announced today are creating a bridge between the laboratory and the marketplace, where the rubber will meet the road.” 

The businesses are spread across 23 states and are focused on dozens of research areas, including rare earth elements and nuclear physics. The projects—54 in total, as one company is working on two of them—are being funded by four different programs in DOE’s Office of Science: 

• Advanced Scientific Computing Research (7) 
• Basic Energy Sciences (28) 
• Biological and Environmental Research (12) 
• Nuclear Physics (7) 

For example, one project aims to make geothermal energy systems, which are powered by heat from beneath the Earth’s surface, cost-competitive, while another is developing a tool that can help site infrastructure to capture and store carbon-dioxide emission. 

A significant barrier to large-scale deployment of hybrid energy systems with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to combat climate change is the lack of access to decision-making software for stakeholders. This project will develop advanced hybrid energy CCS decision-making software to help quantify the costs and risks associated with the technology. 

These awards were funded through DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards, which strive to transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services. The awards also support the development of specialized technologies and instruments that aid in scientific discovery. Today’s selections are for SBIR and STTR Phase II research and development, meaning the businesses have demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during Phase I of their grants. The median Phase II award is $1,100,000 for a period of two years. 

The companies receiving the funding, listed with the amounts they are receiving, are: 

• Adamas Nanotechnologies Inc. (Raleigh, N.C.): $1,650,000 
• Adelphi Technology Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.): $1,150,000 

• Aerosol Dynamics Inc. (Berkeley, Calif.): $1,624,343 
• Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc. (Lancaster, Pa.): $1,149,999 
• Altex Technologies Corp. (San Jose, Calif): $1,149,916 
• Aqwest LLC (Larkspur, Colo.): $1,149,980  
• Birch Biosciences LLC (Portland, Ore.): $1,649,992 

• CapeSym Inc. (Natick, Mass.): $1,149,079 
• Carbon Solutions LLC (Saint Paul, Minn.): $1,150,000 
• Coreform LLC (Orem, Utah): $1,650,000  
• DayLyte Inc. (Knoxville, Tenn.): $1,149,987 
• Electron Optica (Palo Alto, Calif.): $1,149,336 

• Epir Inc. (Bolingbrook, Ill.): $1,149,953 
• Error Corp. (Bethesda, Md.): $1,645,510 
• Faraday Technology Inc. (Englewood, Ohio): $1,150,000 
• GlycoSurf LLC (Salt Lake City, Utah): $1,049,072 
• Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (East Lansing, Mich.): $1,099,511 

• HighRI Optics Inc. (Oakland, Calif.): $1,149,799 
• Hirsch Scientific (Pacifica, Calif.): $1,517,044 
• Hyperboloid LLC (Yorktown, Va.): $775,958 
• InnoSense LLC (Torrance, Calif.): $1,649,964 
• Integrated Sensors LLC (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.): $566,980 

• Kitware Inc. (Clifton Park, N.Y.): $1,600,000 
• Leiden Measurement Technology LLC (Sunnyvale, Calif.): $1,650,000 
• Lifeboat LLC (Champaign, Ill.): $1,650,000 
• Mesa Photonics LLC (Santa Fe, N.M.): $1,150,000 
• Metrolaser Inc. (Laguna Hills, Calif.): $1,099,904 

• Mizar Imaging LLC (Chapel Hill, N.C.): $1,649,668 
• NanoSonic Inc. (Pembroke, Va.): $1,149,950 
• Nion Company (Kirkland, Wash.): $1,099,242 
• OLI Systems Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.): $1,100,000 
• Optimax Systems Inc. (Ontario, N.Y.): $1,135,055 

• Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc. (Fayetteville, Ark.): $1,149,939 
• Pacific Microchip Corp. (Culver City, Calif.): $1,150,000 
• ParaTools Inc. (Eugene, Ore.): $1,600,000 
• Particle Flux Analytics Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah): $1,641,506 
• Petrolern LLC (Brookhaven, Ga.): $1,149,826 

• Physical Sciences Inc. (Andover, Mass.): $1,649,982 
• Polykala Technologies LLC (San Antonio, Texas): $1,150,000 
• Precision Combustion Inc. (North Haven, Conn.): $1,148,566 
• Quantitative BioSciences Inc. (San Diego, Calif.): $1,650,000 
• Radiabeam Technologies LLC (Santa Monica, Calif.): $1,149,870 

• RadiaSoft LLC (Boulder, Colo.): $1,637,399 
• Radiation Monitoring Devices Inc. (Watertown, Mass.): $2,199,952* 
• Rayonix LLC (Evanston, Ill.): $1,100,000 
• Reaction Engineering Intl. (Midvale, Utah): $1,149,386 
• Scintilex LLC (Alexandria, Va.): $1,099,977 

• Sivananthan Laboratories Inc. (Bolingbrook, Ill.): $1,099,952 
• Structured Materials Industries Inc. (Piscataway, N.J.): $1,150,000 
• VISIMO (Carnegie, Pa.): $1,146,472 
• Visolis Inc. (Hayward, Calif.): $1,650,000 
• Vista Clara Inc. (Mukilteo, Wash.): $575,000 

*Funding is for two projects. 

For more information about the 54 projects, click here. For more information about DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, click here.