Innovators Boost Clean Energy with NREL’s West Gate Program

Fourth Cohort Tackles Flywheels, Water Filtration, Phytomining, and Wind Tech

Cutting-edge energy solutions are gaining momentum as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) West Gate program welcomes its fourth cohort of innovators. These entrepreneurs are leveraging NREL’s unparalleled resources to refine technologies ranging from advanced energy storage to sustainable resource extraction.

Powering Progress with Advanced Energy Storage

James Clegern, founder of KineticCore Solutions, is revolutionizing flywheel energy storage with a novel, ovoid-shaped carbon composite design. This innovative approach allows flywheels to spin significantly faster, requiring less mass and drastically reducing costs compared to traditional designs.

“We’re looking at applications across EV charging and advanced facility electrification where the needed grid high-power draw is expensive to implement and a higher cost to continuously use over a project’s lifetime. By allowing commercial and industrial customers to minimize their peak power demand, their electrical costs go down and local utility grids improve stability by having reduced power spikes.”

—James Clegern, President and Founder of KineticCore Solutions

KineticCore’s technology aims to make flywheels a cost-effective alternative to chemical batteries for applications demanding high power and long life, while mitigating safety risks. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, battery storage capacity in the U.S. reached over 23 GW in 2023, highlighting the growing demand for energy storage solutions.

Next-Generation Water Purification Takes Flight

OsmoPure Technologies, cofounded by Kian Lopez, is developing an energy-efficient water purification system inspired by natural evaporation and condensation. Their method utilizes pressure-driven vapor transport across a membrane, offering a more sustainable alternative to energy-intensive thermal distillation.

This technology is particularly suited for industries requiring ultrapure water, such as semiconductor manufacturing. OsmoPure plans to scale up its membrane’s active area with NREL’s support, aiming for industrial deployment.

Phytomining Recovers Critical Minerals from Plants

Ying Sun, cofounder of Rare Flora, is pioneering phytomining, a sustainable method for extracting valuable elements like rare earth elements, nickel, and cobalt from low-grade ores and contaminated soils using specialized plants.

Rare Flora’s partnership with NREL will focus on enhancing its extraction process efficiency. This innovation holds significant promise for domestic mineral security, supporting the production of essential components for electric vehicles and consumer electronics.

Vertical Wind Turbines Gain Momentum

XFlow Energy, led by cofounder and CEO Ian Brownstein, is advancing vertical-axis wind turbine technology. Unlike traditional horizontal-axis turbines, XFlow’s designs are mechanically simpler, eliminating the need for yaw and pitch systems, which reduces costs and complexity.

“NREL leads in distributed-wind analysis and testing, so I’m excited to work with NREL on validating our rotor design through accelerated fatigue testing. I’m also excited about working with market analysis folks to locate untapped markets for when we are ready to take our product live.”

—Ian Brownstein, Cofounder and CEO of XFlow Energy

With NREL’s assistance, XFlow will validate its turbine design through accelerated fatigue testing, a crucial step towards international certification and market entry. This collaboration could accelerate the adoption of a more versatile form of wind energy generation.

Through the West Gate program, these innovators are positioned to refine their technologies, enhance industry energy efficiency, and bolster the United States’ leadership in the global energy landscape.