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

July 31, 2013

DOE Awards $11 Million to Small Clean-Tech Businesses

The Energy Department on July 24 announced new awards totaling nearly $11 million to help small businesses in nine states develop innovative ideas that could cut carbon pollution, reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil, and boost energy efficiency. The 11 projects—located in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Virginia—will focus on developing clean energy technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation.

Technologies receiving awards include a project led by Applied Spectra, Inc. of Freemont, California, to develop an optical sensor for in-vehicle, real-time measurements of battery materials and chemistry to enable optimum performance and extend the life of lithium-ion batteries. Another project, led by Cool Energy, Inc., of Boulder, Colorado, will test a high-efficiency, low-temperature geothermal power technology that could help develop geothermal energy resources across most of the United States. And Proton OnSite of Wallingford, Connecticut, will lead a project to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of systems that produce hydrogen fuel from renewable energy sources.

Funded by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through the Energy Department's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, these awards are for Phase II projects to further develop Phase I projects and produce a prototype or equivalent within two years. Ten awards are for SBIR projects, and one is for an STTR project. See the Energy Department Progress Alert and the complete list of awards.