NEXTCAR projects will take advantage of the increasingly complex and connected systems in cars and trucks to improve their energy efficiency, with a goal of reducing individual vehicle energy usage by 20%. REFUEL projects will use water, molecules from the air, and electricity from renewable sources to produce high-energy liquid fuels for transportation and other uses.

NEXTCAR

• Southwest Research Institute: Model Predictive Control for Energy-Efficient Maneuvering Of Connected Autonomous Vehicles Equipped with 12V Micro-Hybrid Engine Technology – $2,900,000

REFUEL

• Gas Technology Institute: A Novel Catalytic Membrane Reactor for DME Synthesis from Renewable Resources – $2,300,000

• Giner, Inc.: High-Efficiency Ammonia Production from Water and Nitrogen – $1,500,000

• Sustainable Innovations, LLC: Electricity From an Energy-Dense Carbon-Neutral Energy Carrier – $1,200,000

• Wichita State University: Alkaline Membrane-Based Ammonia Electrosynthesis with High Efficiency for Renewable and Scalable Liquid-Fuel Production – $855,000

• University of Minnesota: Small Scale Ammonia Synthesis Using Stranded Wind Energy – $2,900,000

REFUEL SBIR/STTR

• Bettergy Corporation: Low Temperature Ammonia Cracking Membrane Reactor for Hydrogen Generation – $1,524,607

• Molecule Works, Inc.: Novel Electrochemical Membrane Reactor for Synthesis of NH₃ From Air and Water at Low Temperature and Low Pressure – $2,300,000

• Opus 12, Inc.: Renewable Electricity-Powered Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Ethanol for Storage and Transportation – $1,903,268

• Storagenergy Technologies, Inc.: High Rate Ammonia Synthesis by Intermediate Temperature Solid-State Alkaline Electrolyzer (ITSAE) – $2,523,958