Friday, October 16, 2015

UC San Diego Researchers Join Top U.S. Innovators In Fueling Nation's Clean Energy Future

First-of-its-Kind Clean Energy Impact Fund to Connect Top Researchers With Philanthropists

In an effort to bolster the nation's clean energy future, several researchers and centers at UC San Diego have been selected, along with other top innovators around the nation, to participate in a first-time Clean Energy Impact Fund.

The fund – created by Benefunder, which is building the first marketplace for research funding – is a unique philanthropic-based initiative designed to spark a passionate appeal to donors who want to have a direct impact on solving some of our nation’s biggest energy issues.

The Clean Energy Impact Fund will focus on advancing all areas of clean energy, including basic and applied research, with an emphasis on commercializing new methods and technologies. Benefunder’s clean energy innovators includes 40 researchers from some of the top research institutions in the country, including Harvard, Duke, UC San Diego, Cornell, The University of Texas at Austin, Rice, and Georgia Tech. These innovators are working on new breakthroughs in power production, storage, and delivery, as well as policy. Research efforts include printable solar cells, global water purification, algae biofuel technology, improved battery storage technology, powerful electric vehicles, and more.

UC San Diego researcher and centers involved in Benefunder’s Clean Energy Impact Fund include:

Darren Lipomi 
Here's a video on one of Lipomi's research projects:
Wrapped in Solar Blankets
Can a blanket generate clean energy? Darren Lipomi, a nanoengineer at UC San Diego thinks so. Check out how he is pioneering the discovery of ultra-low-cost solar technologies. #cleantech
Posted by Benefunder Clean Energy Impact Fund on Monday, October 19, 2015
Carlos Coimbra
California Center for Algae Biotechnology 

Benefunder hopes to create the nation’s largest Clean Energy Impact Fund. Benefunder’s strategy is to diversify resources to a wide range of top clean energy research – from renewable energy technologies to energy efficiency, and infrastructure and resources – with equal periodic distributions to all researchers in the fund, in exchange for regular research updates to donors. Donors can make any contribution amount to the fund. Funds will be distributed to researchers on a quarterly basis. As research results in new company formation and intellectual property, the fund will provide investment and other opportunities.

“By shifting the traditional expensive and time-consuming grant funding model, Benefunder is putting more resources in the hands of innovators,” said Benefunder Cofounder and CEO Christian Braemer. “Our nation’s academic research institutions are one of our most important infrastructures. Increasing funding in the clean energy space is one of the wisest investments we can all make, and Benefunder is here to make it easy, fun, and efficient, while allowing donors to make a deeper impact for current and future generations.”

More information about Benefunder at www.benefunder.org.

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