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A new coalition using academic research to help accelerate clean energy technology, including long duration energy storage and carbon capture, is being led by Princeton University and founding members Google, GE and ClearPath.
The group was created by Princeton University’s ZERO lab and is designed to help businesses and organizations use low carbon advancements to help make their operations more sustainable while making energy technologies more commercially practical. The program supports two research areas, including developing ways to help with decision making and evaluating technologies for economic, environmental and other impacts.
The program, which is aligned with the corporate program Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership, was designed and launched by Princeton assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Jesse Jenkins and the ZERO Lab. ZERO stands for Zero carbon, energy systems, research and optimization.
One of the coalition’s goals is to pool funding and maximize research that can be done in areas ZERO Lab researchers have been working on. Those include long duration energy storage, flexible geothermal energy systems, carbon capture and sequestration and commercial fusion power plants.
The founding members of the coalition were chosen based on their numerous successes in clean energy.
Google, for example, has pledged to match energy demand from its data centers and offices with local carbon-free power on an hourly basis, also known as 24-7 carbon-free electricity procurement. Jenkins has previously worked with the company on 24-7 carbon-free electricity procurement and the United Nations also has a compact on the issue, saying it is a key component to achieving net zero worldwide by 2050.
Google is also a part of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council, and its parent company Alphabet is part of a group including Facebook’s Meta and Shopify that has committed $925 million toward carbon capture efforts. The tech giant has invested $3.5 billion in renewable energy projects worldwide.
Additionally, GE has a wide range of energy technologies, including wind and gas turbines and advanced nuclear power. The company is estimated to help generate one-third of the world’s electricity and is also developing new technologies such as hydrogen fueled gas turbines, carbon capture platforms and offshore wind superconducting platforms.
GE helped produce the 998-megawatt Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma, the largest wind farm constructed in a single phase in North America. The company also is working with General Motors to source rare materials used in renewable energy equipment.
ClearPath is a non-profit organization that develops and advocates for clean energy policy with a focus on innovations in energy and industrial sectors.
By also being a part of the Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership, the organizations will be able to work with faculty members on topics like optimizing power architecture in data centers and securing the power grid.
The coalition hopes it can also bring together other important players in clean energy transitions. It also believes its structure and flexible funding will help researchers take on the important energy topics as they arise without having to wait for funding cycles or grants.
“We want to provide practical insights and roadmaps that can support decision-making, guide investment and accelerate innovation,” Jenkins says.
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