The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently announced the selection of 40 small businesses for new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards that total nearly $6.3 million. Among the selections is a first-of-its-kind award under a new EERE SBIR technology-to-market topic that moves existing inventions developed at DOE’s national laboratories to the marketplace and accelerates the pace of commercialization.

Newton, Massachusetts-based Giner Inc. will use technology patented by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) along with the company’s well-established dimensionally-stabilized membrane technology. Giner will apply LANL’s technology and state-of-the-art 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.

In addition to this technology-to-market award, two fuel cell projects were included in the SBIR awards.

US Hybrid Corporation of Torrance, California, 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 full 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 Corporation, of Long Beach, California, 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, California. The demonstration will measure operational cost-effectiveness, emission reduction, and commercial viability of a heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicle in the refuse service.

Read Small Business Innovation Research: Bringing Clean Energy Technologies to the Marketplace for more information.