center for applied energy research

UK Researchers Use Sustainability Challenge Grant program to study biomass products

Researchers from the University of Kentucky departments of Chemistry, Food Science, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE), as well as the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) were recently awarded funding from the UK Sustainability Challenge Grant program in order to demonstrate an integrated approach to replace coal and petroleum-generated products with sustainable, biomass-based products. Ideally, the research will lead to jobs for rural Kentuckians suffering from the slowing coal industry as well as help the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

Jesse Thompson to Investigate Utilizing CO2 as a Chemical Feedstock

UK CAER's Jesse Thompson (left) and Ayo Omosebi (right) will be developing a system that may offer a viable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 4, 2019) — The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) has received an $800,000 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable products.

Seminar: Flow Batteries for Grid Energy Storage

"Flow Batteries for Grid Energy Storage"

Dr. Marc-Antoni Goulet

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University

Seminar: 12pm on Thursday, October 26th at CAER' in the Ben Bandy Conference Room

As the demand for electricity continues to increase around the world, so does the size and complexity of electrical grids.  Although new energy generation infrastructure is often necessary to address this additional demand, in many cases, constraints such as capital cost, resource scarcity and legislation make energy storage and arbitrage a more cost-effective option. Among the technologies available, batteries are a leading contender due their adaptability and suitability for a wide range of arbitrage timescales.  In a world looking to transition towards non-emitting renewable energy, one particularly important timescale is the daily disparity between peak demand and the supply of intermittent solar energy.  Flow batteries have recently gained considerable interest for such longer duration requirements due to their decoupled energy and power costs.  This presentation will introduce the concept of these flow batteries and provide a brief overview of the history and development of the technology.  Some of the current approaches to address remaining challenges will also be discussed to provide a realistic perspective on the state of the art and the probability of large scale deployment.

Biography: Marc-Antoni is currently a postdoctoral fellow working on aqueous organic flow batteries within the research group of Michael J. Aziz at Harvard University. He earned a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from McGill University followed by a M.Sc. in Physics from McMaster University.  His Ph.D. in Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University included work on hydrogen fuel cell membranes and optimization of vanadium based microfluidic batteries. Since then, his research interests have become focused on grid scale energy storage technology and range from fundamental electrochemistry and battery lifetime to cost modeling and commercialization pathways. 

Date:
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Location:
Center for Applied Energy Research, Ben Bandy Conference Room

Ryan Loe receives funding through the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for catalysis research at the University of Queensland

Ryan Loe, a chemistry graduate student in the Crocker group, submitted to the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI) has been funded to work on the project titled “EAPSI: Improving and Understanding the Catalysts Used to Convert Biological Oils to Diesel Fuel”. This funding will allow Ryan to visit the University of Queensland for a research stay this summer with joint support from National Science Foundation and the Australian Academy of Science.  The project’s abstract is copied below:

Three Chemistry Undergraduates Present their Research at Posters at the Capitol in Frankfort, KY

Three chemistry undergraduate researchers from the University of Kentucky, along with more than 200 other student representatives from across the state, presented their research Frankfort, KY, on February 25th to showcase their research to the state legislature at Posters at the Capitol.  

Article by UK Chemistry Professor Named One of Top 10 Articles of 2015

The editors of the journal Energy Technology named an article by University of Kentucky Chemistry Professor Susan Odom one of the top 10 articles of 2015.  Odom’s publication, "A Highly Soluble Organic Catholyte for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries," was selected based on the number of downloads and citations, and the feedback of the journal’s editorial office Energy Technology publishes articles covering all technical aspects of energy process engineering from different angles.

Professors Anthony and Risko publish in the ACS journal Chemistry of Materials.

The article titled "Dynamics, Miscibility, and Morphology in Polymer:Molecule Blends: The Impact of Chemical Functionality". The study presents a computational chemistry investigation of polymer:molecule blends of acceptors prepared in the Anthony lab with poly(3-hexylthiophene) and the effects slight modifications in chemical structure on blend morphology. Citation: Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 7643-7651. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater5b02983

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