MSU to lead scientists in $12.5 mil. DOE Energy Frontier Research Center

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has tapped Michigan State University to lead a new Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), one of 46 to be established nationwide. The five-year initiative, which the DOE plans to fund at the level of $12.5 million, will involve six MSU scientists as well as researchers from Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, UCLA, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The mission: To understand the fundamental scientific principles governing solid state thermal-to-electric energy conversion processes.

According to the principal investigator, Donald Morelli, MSU professor in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and adjunct professor in Physics and Astronomy, while energy strategy in the long term should focus on developing new, sustainable, and carbon-free energy sources, “in the short term we must continue to rely on traditional sources of energy, since no technologically and economically viable energy alternatives exist today. Even if new sources of energy are found and developed in the near future, we do not have the infrastructure necessary to utilize them on a global scale.”

Thermoelectric solid state energy conversion offers a means of increasing the efficiency of the utilization of these energy sources by converting some of the energy lost as heat to electricity. “In some sense, the energy we generate but lose as heat is our greatest untapped source of ‘new’ energy,” says Morelli.

“Our EFRC is a large, concerted effort to advance our fundamental scientific understanding of the thermoelectric energy conversion process, and thus can lead to more efficient utilization of our energy resources.

”The current DOE award, which is not based on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, will continue until 2014. In addition to the 15 researchers named in the proposal, the EFRC will provide support for the work of post doctoral students and graduate students at each of the institutions, the purchase of some new equipment, and outreach activities aimed at helping the public understand energy and climate issues.

About the Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion Center...