Franklin
M. Orr Jr., director of the Stanford University Global
Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), announced that
five new research grants totaling more than $11 million
have been awarded to Stanford faculty and collaborating
researchers at other institutions in the United States
and overseas. The new programs will focus on solar
energy, advanced combustion, and carbon capture and
separation. Investigators will use the funding to
conduct fundamental research in energy technologies
aimed at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions
on a global scale.
(I-Newswire)
- "The granting of these awards broadens
the scope of GCEP research and provides us with additional
research in renewable energy technologies," said
Orr, the Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum
Engineering at Stanford. "It also expands the global
nature of GCEP to include institutions in Australia
and Japan in addition to the institutions working
with us from the U.S. and Europe."
Funded over a three-year period beginning in fall 2005, the grants will bring
the total number of research efforts supported by GCEP to 28, with total funding
of approximately $37.5 million.
Stanford faculty will lead three of the new studies, and investigators at the
University of New South Wales in Australia and the Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth in Japan will lead two. Discussions between Stanford
and the other institutions are under way to establish subcontracts that are required
before the funds can be used.
Three studies will investigate novel approaches to the design and fabrication
of solar cells, with the goal of developing efficient and low-cost options for
converting solar energy to electricity:
"Inorganic Nanocomposite Solar Cells by Atomic Layer Deposition," led by Stanford
researchers Stacey Bent, Department of Chemical Engineering; James Harris, Department
of Electrical Engineering; and Michael McGehee, Department of Materials Science
and Engineering.
"Nanostructured Metal-Organic Composite Solar Cells," led by Stanford researchers
Mark Brongersma, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; and Peter Peumans
and Shanhui Fan, Department of Electrical Engineering.
"Nanostructured Silicon-Based Tandem Solar Cells," led by University of New South
Wales researchers Martin Green, Centre of Excellence for Advanced Silicon Photovoltaics
and Photonics, and Gavin Conibeer, Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering.
"This award from GCEP offers my colleagues and me a unique opportunity to pursue
a bold approach for making inexpensive but efficient solar cells," said Bent,
an associate professor of chemical engineering at Stanford. "We look forward
to working together to address a problem of such global significance."
Added Green: "This award allows us to explore a very original approach to solar
energy conversion that uses abundant materials and little energy, but promises
high performance and low costs. Our work so far suggests we have a good chance
of making a breakthrough in this area."
Another research effort will seek to improve understanding of new fuel formulations
that may lead to acceptable transportation options with reduced carbon dioxide
emissions:
"Optimization of the Molecular Structure of Low-Greenhouse-Gas Emission Synthetic
Oxygenated Fuels for Improved Combustion and Pollutant Emission Characteristics
of Diesel Fuels," led by Craig T. Bowman, David Golden, Ronald Hanson, and Heinz
Pitsch of Stanford's Department of Mechanical Engineering. SRI International
in Menlo Park, Calif., also will participate.
One program seeks to use unique materials and design techniques to develop novel
membranes for use in the key processes of carbon dioxide capture and separation:
"Sub-Nano Structure Controlled Materials—Development of Innovative Gas Separation
Membranes," led by Koichi Yamada, Shingo Kazama and Katsunori Yogo, Research
Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth.
"These new awards are definitely in line with GCEP's mandate of supporting step-out
research that will have a long-term global impact on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions," commented Philippe Lacour-Gayet of Schlumberger, chair of the GCEP
Management Committee. "The research is high risk, but there is also a high potential
for breakthroughs and the end results could be far-reaching."
Launched at Stanford in December 2002, GCEP is a collaborative effort of the
scientific and engineering communities at academic research institutions and
industry. Its purpose is to conduct fundamental, pre-commercial research that
will foster the development of a global energy system with significantly reduced
greenhouse gas emissions. The GCEP sponsors—ExxonMobil, GE, Schlumberger and
Toyota—intend to invest $225 million in GCEP to seek new solutions to the world's
energy future through a portfolio of technical areas.
The GCEP sponsors plan to fund additional programs at Stanford and other universities
and institutions around the world. GCEP is conducting assessments of advanced
coal and advanced transportation technologies to identify technical barriers
and opportunities for research that could lead to significant advances in those
areas.
The project also is conducting two workshops:
GCEP International Workshop, "Exploring the Opportunities for Research to Integrate
Advanced Coal Technologies with CO2 Capture and Storage in China," in Beijing,
China, on Aug. 22-23.
GCEP Advanced Transportation Workshop at the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center
at Stanford on Oct. 10-11.
For more details visit: http://gcep.stanford.edu
Maxine Lym is communications manager for the Global Climate and Energy Project.
Contact: Maxine Lym
maxlym@stanford.edu
650-725-3228
Stanford University
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