They are among 60 projects in 25 states to receive $156 million from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The projects also aim to increase America's competitiveness in developing rare earth materials — natural materials with unique magnetic properties — and breakthroughs in biofuels, thermal storage, grid controls and solar power electronics.
UCLA researchers will head a $2.2 million project to streamline the process by which green plants convert carbon dioxide into sugar or biofuels. The technology then could be used broadly, for example, to crop plants and improve yields of biomass.
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will receive $4.8 million to develop tobacco plants with leaves that contain fuel molecules. The tobacco will be grown using advanced cultivation techniques to maximize biomass production.
The following are projects in which UC researchers will partner with other institutions:
- UC San Diego researchers will collaborate in a University of Alabama-led study to demonstrate rare-earth-free magnets for electrical vehicle motors and wind turbine generators. They also will be part of a Virginia Commonwealth University-led study to demonstrate a novel and inexpensive carbide-based composite magnet in a prototype electric motor.
- UCLA scientists will team with MIT to develop adsorption-based hot and cold batteries for effective climate control of electric vehicles. If successful, the technology could be used in residential and commercial buildings to control electricity consumption during peak demand periods.
- UC Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists will be part of an effort, led by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, to create a more robust and reliable electrical grid that could reduce blackouts and potentially save billions of dollars a year.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers will collaborate with AutoGrid, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., to design a system that will allow energy customers to reduce demand when the electrical grid is congested. Such a system could reduce the cost of operating demand response programs in the U.S. by 90 percent.
- Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be part of a Carnegie Mellon University-led project to develop a new nanoscale magnetic material to reduce the size, weight and materials cost associated with power conversion systems. The study also may lead to efficient and cost-effective grid integration of solar photovoltaics.
Link: ARPA-A press release
http://arpa-e.energy.gov/media/news/tabid/83/vw/1/itemid/39/department-of-energy-awards-%24156-million-for-groundbreaking-energy-research-projects.aspx