Secretary of Energy Abraham Announces NREL, Los Alamos and Sandia Hydrogen Storage 'Centers of Excellence' 4/27/2004
From: Tom Welch of the U.S. Department of Energy, 202-586-5806 GOLDEN, Colo., April 27 -- Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that the Department of Energy (DOE) has selected over $150 million in hydrogen storage research projects to support President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The awards include the formation of three "Centers of Excellence," at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory, integrating the expertise of the DOE National Laboratories in partnership with industry and academia "In last year's State of the Union address, President Bush communicated his vision that the first car driven by a child born today could be fueled by hydrogen and pollution free," Secretary Abraham said. "The research projects announced today address the key technical and economic hurdle of hydrogen storage that must be overcome to make the President's vision a reality." Each "Center of Excellence" will include a DOE national laboratory lead and several university and industry partners. Responding to DOE's "Grand Challenge" solicitation, these centers will address the major technical barrier to on-board hydrogen storage - storing enough hydrogen to enable greater than 300 mile driving range without impacting cargo or passenger space. In addition, individual universities, research institutes, and small businesses will explore new materials for hydrogen storage. One of the key recommendations of the recent National Academies report "The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers and R&D Needs," is that DOE should partner with a broader range of academic and industrial organizations to greatly increase the probability of success in bringing the United States to a hydrogen economy. Earlier today, Secretary Abraham announced other awards in support of President Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. Combined, today's announcements total over $350 million in hydrogen research projects. When private cost share is included, the total amount of awards, which still need to be negotiated, may be over $575 million. --- HYDROGEN STORAGE GRAND CHALLENGE (for full chart, go to http://www.doe.gov and click on Press Room) Centers of Excellence LANL/PNNL Chemical Hydrogen Center -- Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, NM) -- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, WA) -- University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA -- UCLA (Los Angeles, CA) -- UC-Davis (Davis, CA) -- Penn State University (University Park, PA) -- University of Washington (Seattle, WA) -- University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL) -- Rohm and Haas (Philadelphia, PA) -- Millennium Cell (Eatontown, NJ) -- Intematix (Moraga, CA) -- US Borax (Boron, CA) SNL Metal Hydride Center -- Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, CA) -- Stanford University (Stanford, CA) -- General Electric (Niskayuna, NY) -- University of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI) -- California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) -- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) -- HRL Laboratories (Malibu, CA) -- University of Illinois (Champaign, IL) -- Univ. of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon Univ. (Pittsburgh, PA) -- NIST (Gaithersburg, MD) -- University of Nevada-Reno (Reno, NV) -- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) -- University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) -- Intematix Corporation (Moraga, CA) -- Brookhaven National Laboratory (Brookhaven, NY) NREL Carbon Center -- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) -- California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) -- Duke University (Durham, NC) -- Penn State University (University Park, PA) -- Rice University (Houston, TX) -- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) -- University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC) -- University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) -- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN) -- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA) -- NIST (Gaithersburg, MD) -- Air Products (Allentown, PA) --- Individual Projects -- Prime: TIAX LLC (Cambridge, MA); Partners: Gas Technology Institute (IL), Yale University (CT), University of Oklahoma (OK); Research Area: Lifecycle and cost analysis -- Prime: University of Missouri (St. Louis, MO); Partners: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA); Research Area: New materials -- Prime: University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT); Partners: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (WA); Research Area: New materials -- Prime: Michigan Technological University (Houghton, MI); Partners: None; Research Area: Chemical hydrides -- Prime: Gas Technology Institute (2 projects) (Chicago, IL); Partners: Superior Graphite Co. (IL), NEXGEN Fueling (MN); Research Area: Carbon, Off-board storage -- Prime: Alfred University (Alfred, NY); Partners: Savannah River Technology Center (SC), Mo-Sci Corporation (MO), CERALINK (NY); Research Area: New processes -- Prime: Carnegie Institute of Washington (Washington, DC); Partners: None; Research Area: New materials -- Prime: Research Triangle Institute (Research Triangle Park, NC); Partners: State Scientific Research Institute (Moscow, Russia), ATK/Thiokol Propulsion (UT); Research Area: Chemical hydrides -- Prime: State University of New York (Syracuse, NY); Partners: PoroGen, LLC (MA); Research Area: Carbon -- Prime: TOFTEC, Inc. (Gainesville, FL); Partners: University of Florida, Gainesville (FL); Research Area: New processes -- Prime: University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI); Partners: Northwestern University (IL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM); Research Area: New materials -- Prime: University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA); Partners: Drexel University (PA), NIST (MD); Research Area: Carbon -- Prime: University of California-Berkeley (Berkeley, CA); Partners: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (CA); Research Area: New materials -- Prime: University of California-Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA); Partners: Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM); Research Area: New materials |