New research in clean energy storage

A collaboration among DuPont, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Bosch and 3M was just awarded a grant for $1.6 million by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop a longer lasting, less expensive way to store clean energy.

This technology is aimed at improving the operation of the electric grid through the temporary storage of electrical energy with a new battery system. “At DuPont, we continue to collaborate and investigate new ways to advance renewable energy,” said Steven Freilich, Director, DuPont Materials Science and Engineering. “This program is an exciting opportunity to further advance in materials science and build on our membrane technology experience in fuel cells. These new batteries will be able to store and provide energy on demand - eventually eliminating fluctuations in our power systems.”

The collaboration of the partners is a critical element of the program’s path to success. “This ARPA-E funding provides us an opportunity to combine our strengths in batteries and fuel cells and work on an important new area, which is grid-scale storage,” said Venkat Srinivasan, scientist, Berkeley Lab, lead investigator for the project. “We believe we have a very promising solution to the storage problems for grid applications, and this will provide the seed funding required to bring our research to fruition.”

The collective goal is the same as ARPA-E - the project hopes to contribute to innovations in technology that allow for better energy efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new battery system will improve the reliability of current electric power transmission, enhance energy efficiency and reduce future emissions of greenhouse gases.

“Bosch views stationary energy storage as one of the important enabling technologies for larger penetration of renewable energy sources into the national electricity grid,” said Dr Horst Muenzel, Regional President, Bosch Corporate Research North America. “Bosch is very appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to a technology that we hope will improve the national grid and allow for a larger share of electrical energy to be derived from green sources.”

In a world where energy consumption will increase by 60% in the next 25 years, the development of technology for clean energy that lessens our dependence on fossil fuels is a must. The collaborative science in this program will help accelerate the growth of these technologies, make them cost competitive and create green jobs along the way.

The work will be carried out at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif; Bosch in Palo Alto, Calif, and Cambridge, Mass; DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, Del; and facilities at 3M.

The ARPA-E grant is part of the $92 million in awards announced by the US Department of Energy. For more information on grantees and projects, visit the department's website.