Investment company 8 Rivers Capital, which focuses on technologies “capable of a billion dollars in revenue within 5-10 years with execution risk”, has been awarded seven US Department of Energy grants for the development of clean energy projects. Each award is in conjunction with a partner, as detailed on the PR Newswire website:

• General Electric: The Allam-Fetvedt Cycle optimized for high-variable renewable energy
• MIT: Negative carbon electricity from retrofitted carbon capture and direct air capture
• National Renewable Energy Lab: Development of novel combustion codes for sCO₂ combustion
• Parametric Solutions: Building the world’s first syngas-fueled sCO₂ combustor
• Southwestern Research Institute: Renewable energy storage through the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle, and, separately, to develop a detailed design for a sCO2 oxy-fuel turbine for syngas and the Allam-Fetvedt Cycle
• UNOTech: Novel phase-change post combustion capture process for existing gas power plants.

The impressive range of projects reflects to some extent 8 Rivers’ approach of investing in technologies that are “being ignored by the crowd” and which aim to address societal problems. With partners as esteemed as those 8 Rivers is working with, good things can be expected of the more than US$30 million (€25 million) in total awarded for the various research projects.