The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program announced $1.75 million in contracts to 25 small businesses to research and develop new environmental technologies.
The contracts will help small businesses develop new technologies in five areas: nanotechnology and pollution prevention, biodiesel and ethanol biofuels, solid and hazardous waste, air pollution control, and homeland security.
"There are huge new opportunities for profits in the booming green technology business sector," said Dr. George Gray, assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development. "Many large corporations are already investing heavily in environmental applications. Through the SBIR program, EPA is helping small businesses also make significant contributions to new technologies that are both environmentally friendly and profitable."
Each company will receive $70,000 for Phase I or "proof of concept" awards. If Phase I is successful, the companies can apply for Phase II awards to commercialize their technology. EPA will be accepting submissions for the next year’s Phase I SBIR awards until May 21, 2008.
To participate in EPA’s SBIR program, a small business must have fewer than 500 employees, and at least 51% of the business must be owned by U.S. citizens.
EPA is one of 11 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development, create green jobs, and promote U.S. technical innovation in the United States.
As one example of previous SBIR success, Edenspace Systems developed plants that effectively extract arsenic from soil, avoiding digging up large tracts of residential properties. The plants were used by the U.S. Army to clean up contaminated areas of Spring Valley in Washington, D.C., a process that is called phytoremediation.
See the list of companies.
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