A pair of University of North Dakota (UND) researchers have both received federal grants from the US government to investigate the possibilities of clean energy from farm waste, UND announced on 27 September.
The grants total more than $2.5 million (€2.6m) in research funding, with the majority of the funds from the US Department of Energy.
Junior Nasah, major project manager with UND’s Institute for Energy Studies (IES), received $2.12m (€2.19m) to study the feasibility of using various forms of renewable biomass to generate carbon-neutral hydrogen for energy production. Hydrogen produced from biomass could also be used to create fertiliser for agricultural purposes.
Johannes Van der Watt, a research engineer also with IES, received $400,000 (€417,000) to investigate using renewable biogas to remediate large piles of coal waste. That would happen through the production of “carbon-negative” electricity, and would pave the way for future regional clean energy efforts when that remediation is complete.
“The Institute for Energy Studies has grown into a leader in the development of low-carbon energy technologies,” said Dan Laudal, director of UND’s Institute of Energy Studies.
“These two new Department of Energy awards are testament to our success, and I am very excited for Junior and Johannes and our team as we begin work on these projects."
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