Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University are in the running for millions in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to create an Energy Innovation Hub to study how to increase the efficiency of electric car batteries.
The two institutions submitted a joint application for a nationwide competition last month and stand to be awarded $120 million over the course of five years. The goal is to create a scientific research hub but would also provide a jolt to the local economy.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that if the hub receives the funding, Long Island will become the leader in research for electric car batteries. The hub would also create hundreds of jobs here and upstate, where batteries will be manufactured—if SBU and BNL win.
“Long Island has the expertise, research facilities, and the tools to revolutionize the electric vehicle and commercial battery market, and now we need to provide the resources to turn this expertise into a reality,” Schumer said Monday.
Dubbed the Center for Extended Lifetime Energy Storage Technologies, the hub would be located at SBU’s Advanced Energy Technology Center. Facilities at BNL will provide the tools researchers need to advance the science behind creating batteries.
“The goal of this hub is to focus on the complete spectrum of electrochemical energy storage, from basic research to commercialization,” said BNL Director Sam Aronson.
SBU President Dr. Samuel Stanley said he feels the proposal and the staff “are the right match” to answer the call.
Partners of the project would include Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, IBM, General Electric and NYSTAR.
The DOE will make its selection this summer. This is the fourth such hub it established since 2010.
