EarthEn, a startup based in Phoenix, has secured groundbreaking funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity (OE), coupled with support from a U.S. National Lab. This two-year funding and assistance package will empower EarthEn to significantly propel the commercialization of its innovative energy storage solution, which relies on supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) technology. This unique technology by EarthEn involves a hybrid thermo-mechanical approach to energy storage using sCO2, offering superior efficiency and versatility for both extended and shorter-duration energy storage needs.
Manas Pathak, the CEO of EarthEn, has been granted entry into the prestigious “Innovation Crossroads” initiative, a selective program that only accepts seven entrepreneurs annually. This program, established by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in collaboration with the DOE and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is designed to nurture entrepreneurs in the creation of the next wave of American clean energy companies. As part of this program, EarthEn will receive DOE funding and support for collaborative research and development of their technology at ORNL’s campus in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Beyond participating in Innovation Crossroads, EarthEn has also been selected as the commercialization partner in the latest round of funding from the DOE’s 2023 Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) lab call. In this context, EarthEn’s proposed project focusing on sCO2 heat-exchangers, developed in partnership with ORNL, has been awarded a substantial $750,000 by the DOE.