The United States Department of Energy has awarded several non-profit institutions, private businesses, universities and research organizations with a total of $377 million to spur emerging energy technologies research that will ultimately reduce America’s over-dependence on imported oil.  Read more about India and China Energy Market Potential

The recipients are labeled as “Energy Frontier Research Centers” or EFRCs and will employ scientists and engineers, as well as students to advance energy technologies nationwide. The goal is the identification and development of renewable, clean energy technologies.

The division of the tasks of the EFRCs is as follows. Twenty EFRCs are to focus on carbon-neutral and renewable energy technologies. Fourteen centers will focus on basic research, and six will concentrate on energy efficiency. The remaining six will work on energy storage development. Of the 46 EFRCs, 16 are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the other 30 are funded under the Federal Budget. A total of $777 million will be committed over a five year period to development of emerging energy technologies.

But it isn’t just government sponsored research that is netting emerging energy technologies breakthroughs. A recent test of New Energy Technologies, Inc.’s “MotionPower” device that generates electricity from the travel of light trucks and automobiles is advancing rapidly, and the company looks forward to getting the technology “out there” as soon as possible.

A MotionPower device works as follows: Every time a car traveling at 5 mph or less passes over a MotionPower device it presses a mechanical actuator. The mechanical actuator receives 2,000 watts from the action. The power is captured instantly and changed into electricity. The latest test of the technology took place at a Burger King drive-through in Hillside, New Jersey over the Labor Day weekend.

The MotionPower device is made to be installed in locations where vehicles are not giving up the energy they use in accelerating. Such places include rest areas, drive-through facilities, and toll plazas.  The  MotionPower device converts the extra kinetic energy that isn’t used up by acceleration or braking to be captured and converted into electricity. The device looks like a somewhat awkward speed bump, but improvement of the shape and size of the device is one of New Energy’s top priorities.

A company called Ascent Solar recently signed with Energy Technologies, Inc. to work on developing PV (photovoltaic) products for military applications. Together, Ascent Solar and Energy Technologies will create solar power generation systems for soft-walled military shelters that are designed for rapid deployment. The materials Ascent Solar uses are more flexible than solar panels that use monocrystal technology.

Development of emerging energy technologies is too large a project for one government or private company to do alone. Fortunately, across the globe businesses and governments are seeing the wisdom of investing in renewable, clean emerging energy technologies sources in a world of declining fossil fuels and increased energy consumption in developing nations like India and China.