Colorado and Wyoming get $15 million to launch “engine” for profitable climate change solutions – By Michael Booth and Tamara Chuang (Colorado Sun) / Jan 30, 2024
National Science Foundation offers up to $160 million over 10 years to translate startup ideas into big-scale greenhouse gas fixes
AColorado-Wyoming partnership on Monday landed $15 million over two years from the National Science Foundation to launch a climate solutions and clean energy innovation hub aimed at expanding startup ideas to measurably cut greenhouse gases.
Colorado state leadership and the Congressional delegation, which said the hub will be based here, said the initial funding is matched “nearly 2 to 1” by federal, local and private spending. The NSF has said hubs making progress toward high-impact solutions could get up to $160 million total over 10 years.
The inaugural “Regional Innovation Engines” will screen and channel grants to startups working on carbon-capture, clean energy and methane-reduction solutions with promising results, Colorado officials said. The grants are a bridge for small companies, academic consortiums or public-private partnerships that lack the measurable proof their idea can have a significant impact on emissions that contribute to climate change.
A federal injection is needed in part because “your fleece-vest laden tech bros” with venture capital won’t fund such ideas at the earliest stages, said Brian Wilson, executive director of the Energy Institute at Colorado State University, one of the partner institutions that make up the “engine.”
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