Stanford Research Institute

SRI International (http://www.sri.com/), not to be confused with Southern Research Institute (www.sri.org), is a Stanford University affiliated organization that you should add to your favorites.

To quote from their Energy & Environment page ...

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Energy and Environment

SRI's Assisted Hydrothermal Oxidation (AHO) technology is used by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan to safely dispose of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from wastewater.

As the lifeblood of all industrial and technological societies, energy is one of our most fundamental needs. Our nation's goal to achieve energy self-sufficiency affects U.S. foreign, environmental, security, and economic policies. Developing new energy sources and exploiting existing ones more efficiently and cleanly are among the 21st century's greatest challenges.

SRI addresses this issue with a diversified, holistic approach that brings multiple disciplines together to work on a problem of staggering technological, economic, and political complexity. Our government and commercial clients worldwide benefit from our scientific expertise and practical know-how in a range of areas, from basic and applied research to developing and testing of advanced systems.

In the 1940s, SRI pioneered smog research in Los Angeles and hosted the first National Air Pollution Symposium. In the 1970s, our groundbreaking research into the environmental causes of lung diseases led to regulatory guidelines for air pollutants. In the 1980s, we demonstrated how chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) contribute to the ozone hole, and developed protocols for the EPA’s regulation of pesticides.

Today, SRI is developing pioneering technologies and services in power generation, energy storage, infrastructure, and environment:

Power generation

Fuel cells: PEM (proton exchange membrane fuel cells, SOFC (solid oxide fuel cells), DCFC (direct carbon fuel cells)
Solar cells (Single and polycrystalline silicon, thin film, nano-composite)
Thermal Cycling Absorption Process (TCAP) technology
Thermomagnetometry (TMAG) technology
Thermionics
Fuel sensors (hydrocarbon, hydrogen), oxidants, emissions, etc.
Advanced materials (turbines, coatings, corrosion/erosion resistance, nuclear)
Electroactive polymer "artificial muscle" for vibration scavenging, polymer engines, more)
Combustion (catalysts, kinetics, monitoring)
Energy storage

Batteries (High-power, high-energy, super capacitor, NFE, fiber)
Hydrogen generation and storage
Advanced materials (High-strength, corrosion-resistant, impermeable, membranes, gas sorbants)
Infrastructure

Pipeline materials, fracture detection, safety, and monitoring
Fuel processing and sensors
Switching of wide bandgap materials
Safety: natural gas, hydrogen, nuclear, remote gas leak detection
Environment

Dinitramide salts for nontoxic oxidizers
Noise suppression/vibration control
Chemical and engineering processes
Handheld biological and chemical sensors
Optoelectronic systems
Hydrothermal technology
Hydrogen fuel generation, storage, and distribution
Waste destruction
Pollution abatement
Potable water production
Biodegradable materials
Ultrasensitive hazardous materials detection
Environmental impacts and site selection
Eco-effective product design
Carbon dioxide separation, sequestration, and reaction
Nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide sensing and removal
Fuel clean-up (sulfur, heavy metals)
Hazardous waste destruction: Assisted Hydrothermal Oxidation (AHO), hot water extraction, trace chemical detection

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