EERC leads the way in environmental technology

The Energy and Environment Research Center has been described as the “Mayo Clinic of energy and environmental research.” With more than 340 employees representing 123 disciplines speaking 12 languages, the EERC is unmatched in innovations and leads the world in the development of environmental technologies.

One well-known environmental innovation is in the growing field of alternative fuels. As our nation works to become less reliant on foreign oil and more environmentally friendly, the EERC is leading the charge.

The National Alternative Fuels Center at the EERC is the first program in the world to make 100 percent renewable jet fuel from crop oils, such as canola and soybeans. Thanks to the work done by the EERC, a crop grown in the Red River Valley has the ability to send a rocket 20,000 feet skyward at Mach 1 speed.

The EERC is also leading the way in hydrogen production and hydrogen utilization technologies through its National Center for Hydrogen Technology. The NCHT has helped develop fuel cells for hydrogen-powered vehicles and even assisted in the design of a hydrogen-powered ice refinisher called the eP Ice Bear.

Hydrogen innovations such as the Ice Bear are just one of the ways the EERC is working to improve and preserve our environment. The center leads one of the largest carbon dioxide sequestration programs in the world, developing a clean-air technology with the ability to capture 99.9 percent of all particulates from the emissions of coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources. The air released from any system with this technology comes out cleaner than the outside air.

The EERC is continually looking outside the box, connecting dots all over the world and bringing them together to make technological advancements, and it does this with virtually no help from state funding sources. “We take pride on being completely self-sustaining,” EERC Director Gerald Groenewold said. “Ninety-four percent of the EERC’s contracts are with nonfederal entities.”

Not only is the EERC financially self-sustaining, but it is growing. Hiring an average of one employee each week, the EERC is planning three building expansions and adding a new building to its complex. A Department of Energy report notes that 16 EERC projects in North Dakota have lead to the creation of more than 7,300 jobs in the region. The center also has 14 spinoff companies, and just last year, the EERC had a regional economic impact of more than $137 million.

“The cornerstone of the EERC’s success is its culture,” Groenewold said. “We give our employees the freedom to pursue their dreams, turn them into a real technology and use them to address the needs of our clients.”

The cutting-edge technologies the EERC commercializes on a continual basis are derived from multidisciplinary teams from within the EERC’s 26 buildings and 11 Centers of Excellence, all collaborating and working together.

“We develop teams and combine our employees’ strengths,” said Deb Haley, EERC Associate Director for Marketing, Outreach, and Administrative Resources. This teamwork has created innovations and solutions for more than 1,100 clients in 51 countries and all 50 states over the past 23 years.

The EERC’s environmental technologies are often paired with other technologies through partnerships with private industry and government entities worldwide. These partnerships allow for the EERC’s innovations to spread throughout the world. Chances are that many of the environmental innovations used in our everyday lives, have roots in Grand Forks from the EERC.

Michaela Schell is the marketing associate for the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp.

Tags: daily updates, energy and environment research center, university of north dakota, eerc