EPA Providing $2 Million in Funding to Clean Energy Projects from Small Businesses

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the awarding of more than $2 million in contracts to seven small businesses to develop sustainable technologies that will help protect human health and the environment.

EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program funded 25 research proposals from small businesses for six months through last year’s Phase I contracts of $80,000. The agency’s Phase I funding allowed each of the companies to investigate its proposed project’s feasibility and potential applications. Following a competitive peer-review process, seven Phase I recipients are now being awarded Phase II contracts for up to $300,000, supporting further development and commercialization of their technology.

“EPA’s dedication to supporting small businesses is spurring green jobs and leading to sound, creative environmental solutions,” says Lek Kadeli, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The number of ever-increasing green products in today’s marketplace will help the nation meet its environmental and human health goals, while also encouraging green economic growth.”

The following companies received 2013 SBIR Phase II contracts:

•    Synanomet, Little Rock, AR
•    GVD Corporation, Cambridge, MA
•    Aerodyne Research, Billerica, MA 
•    Okeanos, Covington, KY
•    Fluidic MicroControls, Savanna, IL
•    NanoSonic, Pembroke, VA
•    Electron Energy Corp, Landisville, PA

This year marks 30 years for EPA’s SBIR program, which has made close to 1500 awards to small businesses to develop and market their innovative technologies. One such company, Defiant Technologies, won a Phase II contract in 2011 to develop a portable device to detect and analyze volatile organic compounds (VOC) in water, soil and air. VOCs include a range of chemicals that occur in the environment naturally, some of which have been associated with health issues following long-term exposure.

Defiant Technologies’ FROG-4000, which is now is available on the market, reduces costs and allows for onsite analysis of VOCs in 10 minutes. With the support of EPA’s SBIR program, Defiant has also helped to more accurately define the area of a contaminate plume, and promote more effective remediation and removal of VOCs at excavation sites.