Award Data

Most of the world's freshwater usage--as high as 70%--goes to agriculture. Unfortunately, in many of the country's major farming regions secure sources of agriculture water are threatened: freshwater aquifers are being over pumped, coastal saltwater intrusion is tainting freshwater supplies, agricultural run-off is dumping nitrates into the environment, and severe droughts are periodically ...

INRS and MDP will collaborate to build an analytical model that demonstrates the probability of success - and opportunities for enhancement - for the redevelopment of idled industrial assets. This model will be developed and refined using the former pulp and paper mill in Old Town, ME., and data supplied by multiple redevelopment efforts elsewhere in the State of Maine. Based upon learnings and ex ...

As a nation, we are faced with multiple challenges from global climate warming, rapid depletion of fossil oil, a strong desire to become independent from foreign oils, and a moral obligation to preserve our environment for future generations. In response to these challenges, many consumers have changed their purchasing behavior, preferring bio-based products over fossil-based products with a willi ...

This SBIR project proposes a new approach to making liquid fuels from cellulosic biomass sources (a Biomass-to-Liquids or "BTL" process) that would significantly reduce the cost and complexity of production. The project uses innovative chemistry and reactor designs to enhance efficiency, selectivity, and reduce operating condition severity. Phase I aims to demonstrate process feasibility by determ ...

In the US, Paralichthyd flounder, summer (Paralichthys dentatus) and southern (P. lethostigma) flounder on the east coast and California halibut (P. californicus) on the west, are high-value finfish with established markets worldwide. While the demand for flounder remains high globally, fishing pressure has significantly reduced wild catches, such that demand often exceeds supply. Meeting the incr ...

The demand for seafood in the United States is increasing and will continue to increase. Recent federal health guidelines call for Americans to double their consumption of seafood. The U.S. would need an additional 4 to 6 million metric tons of seafood per year over current levels if we doubled our consumption. If consumption remains at the current per capita levels, the U.S. will still require an ...

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 established a minimum usage volume for renewable fuels. First-generation biofuels, predominately corn-derived ethanol, served to meet the initial goals of the program. Ethanol consumption in the US reached 10.6 billion gallons last year. Ethanol has many benefits as a biofuel, with the most important being that it is a naturally occurring product of the metabolic proc ...

This Phase I SBIR project directly addresses two major nutritional needs - the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome in adults. Its objective is to validate a newly discovered Nutrasorb (TM) technology for the manufacture of a new generation of science-based, efficacious, shelf-stable, and tasty functional foods, specifically, natural, nutritious, low-sugar functional snacks ...

There is a great need for low-cost, efficient, reliable solar water pumping systems for agriculture. Especially for small farm applications, solar water pumping is a potential solution for crop irrigation and livestock watering where it reduces labor and allows the use of otherwise unusable land. Our Phase I objective is to create a working pump prototype that is as close as possible to a final ma ...

We presently manage the production of tetraploid oyster broodstock which is used by hatcheries along the Eastern seaboard to produce triploid oysters(triploid oysters are sterile and grow faster and larger than diploid oysters). Our tetraploid broodstock is not resistant to Dermo, a disease that frequently kills many eastern oysters. The research supported in this project will allow us to produce ...