The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards totaling $52 million for a broad range of small businesses in 39 states, thereby supporting President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
The projects will help solve cybersecurity for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, new ways to detect radiation threats and new ways to manufacture lithium metal for batteries.
The awards will attempt to transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs. The selections, funded through the DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, are primarily for Phase I research and development, with a limited number of Fast-Track (combined Phase I & II awards).
Small businesses demonstrating technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants will compete for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II. The median Phase I award is $200,000 for a period of six to twelve months.
A total of 229 projects will be funded by the following DOE Offices: Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response; Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation; Electricity; Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; and Nuclear Energy. Out of the new projects, 20 projects worth $8 million are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
As Justice40 covered programs, this program will also help the impacts reach disadvantaged communities.
Projects selected for award include:
· Advanced Grid Technologies, Lancaster, PA, Extending Distribution Transformer Lifetime and Reliability. The SBIR program will develop a cost-effective approach to extending the lifetime of currently deployed transformers improving the long- term reliability of the electric grid.
· Resonant Link, Shelburne, VT, Electric Transit Optimization through High-Power Wireless Charging. Resonant Link has developed high-performance wireless chargers that can be integrated into current and future transit systems. By optimizing the charging system as well as key vehicle modifications, Resonant Link will support the future of sustainable urban mobility.
· Atlantic Biomass Conversions, Frederick, MD, Low-Cost Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) from Perennial Feedstocks using Simultaneous Ball Milling and Enzyme Hydrolysis (STTR).
This system will provide a low-cost biomass conversion system to support the 2021 Government-Wide Sustainable Aviation Fuels Grand Challenge, which includes SAF production goals of 3 billion gallons by 2030 and 35 billion gallons by 2050, as well as provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Besides helping to meet these environmental targets, deployment of the system could reduce 2030 SAF costs by over $8 billion.
· RookStack, LLC, Indianapolis, IN, Development of an Artificial Intelligence Solution for Residential Heating and Cooling Equipment Sizing to Reduce Equipment Oversizing. This proposal will use machine learning to create an Artificial Intelligence solution to accurately size residential heating and cooling equipment using readily available public real estate data.
· RhinoCorps, Albuquerque, NM, Framework for Modeling and Simulation of Security Systems in Nuclear Facilities. The reduction of costs is a key element in making nuclear energy a viable source for the public. This SBIR will investigate new approaches and technologies to enhance physical protection and reduce the operational cost at advanced and small reactors.
· Nokomis, Charleroi, PA, In-Situ Cyber Threat and Tamper Monitoring for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. The proposal will develop the foundation of a hardware-based cyberthreat detection technology to secure this equipment from cyberthreats that target data, equipment functionality, or attempts to manipulate the stability of the power grid.
