$2.7M Helps Small Businesses Bring Green Technology to Marketplace

The EPA announced nine awards totaling $2.7 million that will help small businesses in eight states bring innovative green technologies to the marketplace.

The following companies received 2014 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II funding:

• HJ Science & Technology in Berkeley, California, designed and built a field-deployable, portable instrument capable of performing onsite monitoring and detection of microcystin and other cyanotoxins to help combat potentially harmful algal blooms, including the algal bloom that prevented hundreds of thousands of Toledo residents from drinking local water from Lake Erie last summer.
• Instrumental Polymer Technologies in Westlake Village, California, used a unique process to produce low-cost, no emission polymers from sustainable materials into water-based wood coatings.
• Compact Membrane Systems in Wilmington, Delaware, developed a novel membrane to enhance the use of green solvents to create chemical processing tools that are less volatile and have fewer emissions than conventional solvents.
• ArunA Biomedical in Athens, Georgia, created a more faithful representation of human neural tissue to help identify chemicals that are hazardous to the brain.
• EP Purification in Champaign, Illinois, developed and commercialized a system for using ozone to treat water that will be considerably smaller, more efficient and more cost effective than existing technologies.
• Providence Photonics in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, developed the Flare Efficiency Monitoring System and a calibration device to minimize toxic emissions from industrial facilities.
• Ecovative Design in Green Island, N.Y., created a cost-effective green alternative to foam packaging made of 100 percent bio-based and home compostable material from vegetative tissue of a fungus.
• Imaging Systems Technology in Toledo, Ohio, will continue development of a low-cost, rugged, lightweight, highly efficient and versatile water purification system.
• National Recovery Technologies in Nashville, Tenn., developed an e-waste recycling technology that will lower cost, increase efficiency and provide a stream of rare earth elements for reuse in future applications.

The SBIR program provides funding in two phases. In the first phase, proposals are submitted by companies and, after undergoing a competitive selection process, they can receive up to $100,000 in funding for proof of concept. Successful Phase I companies that want to participate in Phase II must go through a second competitive process to receive up to $300,000 for two years.

In July, the EPA announced SBIR funding for 21 businesses to develop and commercialize innovative, sustainable technologies to address current environmental issues.

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