FERNDALE, MICH – Acting Under Secretary of Energy David K. Garman today announced $4,297,458 in Department of Energy (DOE) grants to Michigan universities and companies. The grants support President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and research into cleaner fossil energy. This research promises to strengthen our nation’s energy security and reduce greenhouse emissions.
Michigan projects receiving funding are:
- Michigan Technological University (Houghton)
$903,452
(Fossil Energy)
- Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo)
$1,033,475
(Fossil Energy)
- REB Research & Consulting (Ferndale)
$2,360,531
(Hydrogen)
"Michigan, with its innovative industries working on cutting-edge technologies, stands to play a leading role in producing hydrogen vehicles and the system that will support them,” said Acting Under Secretary Garman. “President Bush believes in a hydrogen economy and wants to build it sooner rather than later. And he believes that the U.S. and Michigan should lead the way."
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 powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.” The research projects announced today address major technical and economic hurdles in renewable and distributed hydrogen production technologies that must be overcome to make the President’s vision a reality.
In announcing the fossil energy projects, Acting Under Secretary Garman said that the grants promise to strengthen our nation’s energy security by investing in our future, enhancing our domestic energy production and reducing greenhouse emissions.
Awards Announced Today
- Michigan Technological University (Houghton), will develop techniques to interpret crosswell seismic amplitude-versus-offset data, resulting in higher resolution images of rock and fluid distribution in carbonate reservoirs. Crosswell seismic profiling involves putting a seismic energy source in one well, and receiving equipment in the other to obtain a vertical image of the reservoir between the two wells. The resolution of the image is roughly 10 to 100 times higher than with surface seismic techniques. Information will be collected from two northern Michigan boreholes which straddle a Paleozoic reef at a depth of 4,500 feet.
(Project duration: three years; total award value: $903,452)
- Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Mich.) will undertake research with three objectives. Researchers will first generate a publicly available critical summary of all surface data relating to hydrocarbon reservoir occurrence and characterization of the Silurian Niagara group and Devonian Dundee limestone. They will then study the mechanisms and geological controls on dolomitization in these important intervals in the Michigan Basin. Their third objective will be to develop improved geologic models for distribution of hydrocarbon reservoirs. These models will improve hydrocarbon exploration in the Michigan Basin.
(Project duration: three years; total award value: $1,033,475)
- REB Research & Consulting (Ferndale) will be the lead organization on a project to develop cutting edge hydrogen production technology. It will work with several partners including Johnson Matthey, Iowa State University, Iowa; DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, W. Va.; and DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.; to develop metallic membrane technology for hydrogen separation at the level of hydrogen fuel purity required for PEM fuel cells. This research is expected to significantly reduce the cost of palladium membranes while increasing the durability required for the rugged, long-term extraction of hydrogen.
(Project duration: three years; total award value: $2,360,531)
For more information on the hydrogen awards, please see http://www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/.
For more information on the fossil energy awards, please see: http://fossil.energy.gov/.
Media contacts:
Chris Kielich, (DOE -Hydrogen) 202/586-5806
Drew Malcomb, (DOE – Fossil Energy) 202/586-5806
