This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

May 22, 2013

DOE Names Regional University Clean Energy Business Competition Winners

The Energy Department on May 13 announced the six regional winners of its National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. The initiative encourages university teams across the country to create new businesses and commercialize promising energy technologies developed at U.S. universities and the Energy Department's national laboratories. The regional finalists—Northwestern University, North Carolina A&T State University, Purdue University, Brigham Young University, the University of Arkansas and the University of California-Berkeley—will go on to compete in the first national competition in Washington, D.C., on June 11-12.

Projects include a lithium battery technology that can provide up to a ten-fold increase in energy capacity compared to the conventional graphite anode batteries, telemetry solutions that could help predict costly wind turbine gearbox failures, and a technology to boost the efficiency of solar cells by improving electrical connections. Six regional organizations have received a total of $2 million over three years to host the competitions, including $100,000 in annual prizes for each regional competition’s winning team. At the national competition, regional finalists will compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to receive unique technical, design, public relations, and legal assistance to help commercialize their technology. See the Energy Department press release and the National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition website.