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EPA awards $210,000 for technology development to Wheat Ridge, Boulder small businesses

Release Date: 04/05/2010
Contact Information: Rich Mylott, 303-312-6654

Grants will advance cutting-edge biodiesel and air quality technologies

(Denver, Colo. – April 5, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $210,000 to three Colorado small businesses to develop innovative, sustainable technologies to protect human health and the environment.

“Innovation is the lifeline of progress -- and scientific and technological innovation are essential to the progress we seek to make in protecting people and the planet,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development. “These small businesses are key to helping us reach that goal.”

Air Quality Design, Inc., of Wheat Ridge will develop and refine a method of monitoring air quality for fine particle pollution. TDA Research, also of Wheat Ridge, will advance a technology to turn wood products, grass, and some municipal solid waste into biodiesel. Eltron Research & Development, Inc., of Boulder will advance a method of removing nitrogen oxide, a primary component of ozone, from off-road vehicle diesel exhaust. More detailed descriptions of the projects funded by these grants are below.

Air Quality Design, Inc., Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Combined Gas and Particle Measurement System
Award Amount: $70,000
This project will advance the real-time measurement of air particle species to understand pollutant fluxes, dynamics, and to inform atmospheric models. The commercial application of the proposed technology is expected to be extensive with primary customers being local, state, and national air management agencies worldwide.

TDA Research, Inc., Wheat Ridge, Colorado
Thermochemical Biofuels Production from Biomass Waste Materials
Award Amount: $70,000
The project will develop, test and evaluate a new process for producing diesel from biomass pyrolysis oil. Pyrolysis oil can be produced from any biomass source including forest wood biomass, grassland biomass, organic non-recyclable components of municipal solid waste, and cellulosic waste material. The environmental benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions from on-road diesel vehicles, and converting waste materials into useful fuel products.

Eltron Research, Inc., Boulder, Colorado
Low-Cost Retrofit Emissions Control in Off-Road Sources
Award Amount: $70,000
The grant will apply Eltron’s new catalytic technology for the abatement of nitrogen oxides to off-road diesel engine exhaust. The key objective of the grant is development of an effective catalyst composition for the removal of nitrogen oxides from diesel exhaust.

Today’s announcement is part of $2.38 million that will be awarded to 34 small businesses across the nation to develop innovative, sustainable technologies to help improve air quality, protect our water, work to decrease the effects of climate change, and support green jobs.

These awards to businesses focus on ten key environmental research areas: increasing the efficiency of green building materials and systems; manufacturing innovation; prevention, monitoring, and control using nanotechnology; reducing greenhouse gases; new treatment technologies for drinking water; improving water infrastructure; reducing emissions from small air pollution sources and vehicles and biofuels production facilities; new approaches for cleaning up and monitoring hazardous waste sites; and new tools for homeland security systems.

EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program was established to ensure that new technologies are developed to solve priority environmental problems. EPA is one of 11 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development, create jobs, and promote technical innovation in the United States.

There are approximately 25 million small businesses in the U.S. today. As the leading source of employment growth, these firms have generated 60-80 percent of net new jobs over the past decade and are responsible for developing most of the country’s new technologies. To be eligible to participate in SBIR, a small business must have fewer than 500 employees, and at least 51 percent of the business must be owned by U.S. citizens.

EPA is also requesting applications for the development of new environmental technologies. The application deadline is May 11.

More information on SBIR and applying for funds: https://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir

More information on SBIR awards: https://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/10awards/.