News Releases for June 2005
June 9, 2005
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Hoeven Announces $14 Million Energy Department Grant For EERC At UND
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today in Washington, D.C. announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota the lead in a $21 million federal research project dedicated to new environmental and energy technology. A $14 million grant will be combined with local share of $7 million for the effort.
The Governor was notified of the grant in a meeting Wednesday in Washington, D.C. with Energy Department Deputy Secretary Clay Sell. Hoeven called Gerald Groenewod, director of the EERC, Wednesday night to notify him of the award.
“This is precisely what we mean when we talk about the benefits of our campuses partnering with business and government to create opportunities for North Dakotans,” Hoeven said. “The EERC has once again demonstrated that it is a world-class leader in energy and environmental research.”
The award to the EERC is one of seven projects selected by the Department of Energy (DOE). Each is led by public-private sector consortiums of businesses, state agencies, and universities. These consortiums are part of a national network of regional carbon sequestration partnerships created by DOE in 2002 to serve as the backbone of this country's sequestration research network.
The EERC project is the Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership, which will conduct four technology validation field trials and two investigations of carbon sequestrations concepts. The field trials will involve storage of CO2, comprehensive monitoring, and mitigation in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, unmineable coal seams and restoration of wetlands. The Plains partnership includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, along with the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The project will be led by the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Total Project Cost: $21,461,549
DOE Share: $14,300,000
Partner Share: $7,161,549 (33.4 percent)
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