As part of the Obama Administration’s strategy to increase energy productivity, reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil and cut harmful emissions the Energy Department last week announced the award of almost $55 million for 24 projects to develop and deploy cutting-edge vehicle technologies that will strengthen the U.S. clean energy economy. These technologies will play a key role in increasing fuel efficiency and reducing petroleum consumption, while also supporting the Energy Department’s EV Everywhere Grand Challenge to make plug-in electric vehicles as affordable to own and operate as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022.
Of those 24 projects, two are located in Pennsylvania and totals nearly $3.7 million.
PPG Industries, Inc., located in Allison Park, is receiving just shy of $3 million for a project that will develop novel binders and active materials to enable a low-cost, water-based, electrodeposited lithium ion battery (LIB) electrode coating system and manufacturing process.
Also selected for funding, is Penn State University, which will develop improved computer models for simulating heat losses related to engine combustion at a cost of nearly $700,000.