UA Research Gets $2 Million Pledge: FirstEnergy to Help Fund Fuel-Cell Technology Studies
By Betty Lin-Fisher, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio
Dec. 14–The University of Akron got a boost in its research of advanced energy technologies with a $2 million pledge from FirstEnergy Corp. on Thursday.
The money from the Akron-based parent of Ohio Edison will be used to create the FirstEnergy Advanced Energy Research Center at the university to support ongoing research into carbon capture and coal-based fuel cells.
Coal-burning power plants emit carbon dioxide, among other things, which many believe contributes to global climate change. University of Akron Chemical Engineering Professor Steven Chuang has been working to capture that carbon dioxide instead of having it go into the air. Other developing technologies could then take that captured carbon dioxide and inject it underground, called carbon sequestration.
While capturing carbon is a more immediate technology, Chuang also is a leader in research of coal-based fuel cells, which could power plants to generate electricity more efficiently while using less energy and physical space.
Chuang is considered the leading researcher in both unique technologies in the country.
FirstEnergy President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Alexander said he hopes FirstEnergy’s $2 million pledge will be “substantial and will help move the ball forward” on the important research. Alexander also said he hopes the research and new center would help enhance the university’s status.
“Our support will be a plus for the university and for the area,” said Alexander, a UA graduate. The pledge was announced at a news conference before Alexander addressed the Akron Roundtable on Thursday.
Expertise, funding
Chuang, who has been conducting research on coal for 22 years, and specifically on carbon capture and coal-based fuel cells more recently, said the commitment from FirstEnergy was a significant step forward for his research.
Chuang, a former chair of the UA chemical engineering department, said his research has figured out the scientific problems related to carbon capture and coal-based fuel cells, but now he needs practical expertise. As part of the pledge to UA, FirstEnergy will add its employees’ expertise to Chuang’s research and seek expert and financial support from others in the industry.
“FirstEnergy will come in to help us put the pieces together,” Chuang said. “We need to convert science to technology. FirstEnergy as an industry will tell us what their needs are.”
Also as part of Thursday’s announcement, Alexander saidFirstEnergy had secured a $250,000 contribution from Consol Energy, one of the nation’s leading coal producers and a major fuel supplier to the electric industry, for Chuang’s research.
The $2 million pledge will be paid over a four-year period and is expected to cover Chuang’s research for that time, while helping Chuang secure more funding. Much of his backing has been from federal grants. About two-thirds of the pledge will go toward the carbon capture research and the rest to coal-based fuel cells. But the financial support will still be significant. This year, for instance, Chuang said his budget for carbon capture is $760,000.
Fuel-cell future
Ken Alfred, executive director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, said FirstEnergy’s commitment is a strong message for the future of fuel-cell technology.
“We’re delighted to see that FirstEnergy is making this commitment,” said Alfred, whose coalition is dedicated to developing a fuel-cell industry in Ohio. “This is an investment that will ultimately provide a technology they can use.”
FirstEnergy’s pledge for coal-based fuel-cell research, which Alfred said is unique among the more commonly known hydrogen-based fuel cells, “validates what we believe to be the competitive advantages that the state of Ohio has in working in and developing clean energy technologies.”
FirstEnergy’s commitment shows the company recognizes that UA faculty members have developed technology that “hopefully has significant potential, particularly in Ohio with our coal resources,” said UA President Luis Proenza.
Proenza also said it was a strong commitment to have a local company invest in UA research.
Chuang said it’s hard to say how close the research is to actual implementation, but he said researchers are getting close to being able to build a prototype unit for the carbon capture that can be tested at FirstEnergy facilities.
Alexander said everything he’s heard shows full-scale carbon capture and sequestration would not come until 2020 or 2025.
Chuang said the financial commitment also will help add faculty members and researchers to the lab. The university plans to expand the center’s work over time to include other research, including development of new electric grid technologies, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and energy storage and advanced generation technologies such as renewables, clean-coal and other low- or zero-emission technologies.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@ thebeaconjournal.com.
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