press releases
University Research Corridor announces energy grant awardees
May 29, 2008
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich.
URC's first seed money grants were awarded to two energy research projects. One project will develop low cost, nanostructured thermoelectric materials, focusing on efficiency and ease of manufacture. The second project will develop nano-barriers to efficiently produce low-cost ethanol from switchgrass.
DOE to fund advanced nuclear materials consortium led by U-M
October 15, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
A U-M led cooperative research project in advanced nuclear energy systems has been selected to receive part of $30.7 million in grants from the Department of Energy.
The research, “Cladding and Structural Materials for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems”, is the only project focused on materials that was selected for funding. Gary S. Was and Lumin Wang, professors of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences and materials sciences and engineering, are primary investigators on the project.
U-M, PNNL study: Are plug-ins the next wave of hybrid vehicles?
September 25, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Is America ready for rechargeable cars? Teams of researchers at the University of Michigan and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will explore this question and others with $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy's offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.
U-M's Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute will coordinate efforts among several university departments, industry partners such as General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DTE Energy, and PNNL. The study will explore facets of the future of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The research will be conducted over two years, but a preliminary report will be available in January during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Watch the PHEV kickoff announcement
DTE Energy Foundation advances U-M energy leadership with $1.5 million professorship
August 28, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
DTE Energy Foundation has pledged $1.5 million to the College of Engineering and the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute (MMPEI) to create the DTE Energy Professorship of Advanced Energy Research.
The contribution reflects DTE Energy's commitment to advanced energy research and belief in MMPEI's ability to provide solutions to energy-related challenges worldwide. The gift comes as part of The Michigan Difference, the U-M's $2.5 billion fund-raising campaign.
"This grant, one of the largest our foundation has ever made, underscores DTE Energy's commitment to leading our state and industry in creating an energy future that is sustainable and that offers reliable, affordable energy," said Fred Shell, DTE Energy vice president of corporate and government affairs and president of the DTE Energy Foundation. "We're looking forward to collaborating with the University on this exciting and critically important work."
What You’ll be Driving in 10 Years
July 16, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
By Zoran Filipi
In his 2007 State of the Union Address, President Bush set a national goal of replacing more than 75% of US oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. To achieve this formidable target, the research community and automakers need to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources and to change the way we power our automobiles.
Sensing the urgency, private foundations are stimulating creative minds with competitions such as the Automotive X Prize. A multimillion-dollar purse will be awarded to teams that win a series of races in a production-ready vehicle capable of exceeding 100 mpg. Is this possible? Well, there is a prototype vehicle capable of demonstrating 140 miles per gallon of fuel in urban driving today1! It’s called a plug-in hybrid.
Voluntary greenhouse gas abatement is not a long term solution to climate change
May 14, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Gloria Helfand is an Associate Professor of Environmental Economics at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment. Her research focuses on pollution policy and the comparison of market-based and regulatory methods.
With a steadily increasing number of organizations embracing voluntary actions to reduce global warming, do we need federal government regulations?
Yes, and many of these organizations will agree that federal regulations are desirable.
Every time each of us emits greenhouse gases, we are changing our climate and the climate of everyone else in the world. Each one of us individually has a small effect, but together we have a large and growing effect. Collective problems require collective solutions. Collective solutions arise from collective action, which is something government regulation is particularly effective at coordinating.
University establishes Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 19,2006—The University of Michigan will significantly expand efforts in energy research with the creation of The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute.
“Finding renewable sources of energy is one of our most urgent global problems, and the University of Michigan is in a unique position to make an immense contribution to finding solutions,” U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said today.
“Our exceptional programs in nuclear engineering, automotive engineering, as well as our long-standing industry partnerships, will provide the scope and scale of expertise to make a real difference in areas such as advanced nuclear power systems, solar power, hydrogen technology, fuel cells, battery research and low power electronics.”
The institute will coordinate activities, serve as an international authority and resource in energy-related issues, assist in developing funding sources and attracting faculty, manage the facilities, engage industry and provide a unified voice and focal point on energy research, policy, and education.
MMPEI Announces 2007 Energy Science, Technology and Policy project award
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 18, 2007—The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute announced today the selection of the project titled "Integrating Resource Assessment, Economics and Public Policy to Optimize Renewable Electricity Generation" as the first recipient of funding under the Energy Science, Technology and Policy Award program. The Project Director is Duncan Callaway (School of Natural Resources and Environment and College of Engineering) and collaborating investigators are Meredith Fowlie (Ford School of Public Policy), Greg Keoleian (School of Natural Resources and Environment), Tom Lyon (Ross School of Business), Michael Moore (School of Natural Resources and Environment) and Steven Skerlos (College of Engineering).
The purpose of this two-year project is to understand the relationship between renewable energy technologies, electricity consumption patterns, and environmental policy. One of the key challenges to integrating renewable generators into the grid is that resource availability and electricity demand are variable in space, and often uncorrelated in time. This program will create a framework that models this intermittency. The framework will inform market-driven models of consumer and producer investment in clean energy technologies. These models will be used to evaluate a range of policy and economic options, which themselves may vary spatially.
