Advanced Energy

West Virginia is endowed with vast natural resources that help power our nation, and the state’s energy industry continues to be major driver for the state’s economy.  Moreover, recent developments involving ethane production from shale formations provide major new economic and employment opportunities for the state.  Also, West Virginia has a strong base of energy R&D at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and West Virginia University (WVU), and private-sector R&D at the Mid-Atlantic Research Technology and Innovation Center (MATRIC), raising West Virginia’s profile in alternative fuels and fossil-fuel chemical coproducts.

For these reasons, TechConnectWV’s Advanced Energy and Energy-Related Technology Sector is focused on growing and enhancing opportunities in research and development (R&D) and technology development applications related to fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, etc.), renewable energy sources and clean energy technologies. Chief among the goals of this sector is to increase the value-added economic activity based on energy resources — develop high-value liquid fuels from carbon products, carbon-based chemicals, ethane — and the development and commercialization of advanced technologies for high-efficiency combustion, fuel conversion, pollution control, and energy transmission.

Opportunities

Opportunities in the Advanced Energy and Energy-Related Technology Sector include:

• Power Generation/Combustion Technology — Advanced combustion systems, generators, engines, and related technologies
• Ethane Production – Technology that produces and converts the region’s rich source of ethane.
• Energy-Use Efficiency Technology — Technology that increases the fuel-use efficiency of energy conversion and power generation equipment, engines, and related devices
• Carbon Materials and By-Product Materials — Technology for the conversion of fossil resources into value-added carbon products, chemicals, liquid fuels, and gases
• Energy Pollution Prevention and Mitigation — Advanced technologies for reducing or eliminating polluting emissions from energy production and consumption activities
• Alternative Energy and Fuels — Development of advanced and alternative fuel and energy generation technologies such as fuel cells
• Energy Recovery and Distribution Technology — Technology to enhance the recovery, distribution efficiency, reliability, and security of fossil resources