Maine Maritime Academy gets $1.4M R&D grant
The Maine Maritime Academy has won a $1.4 million federal grant to support its research and development around cutting emissions from seafaring vessels.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported the academy hopes its research will help ships reduce their emissions by 30% over the next two decades by featuring more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning engines for the types of ships that now use a heavy marine diesel fuel. That marine diesel is typically of a lower grade than the fuel used in freight trucks, according to Richard Kimball, a professor at the academy.
Kimball said the initial grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and another $1.4 million expected next year, will help the school launch a new Marine Engine Testing and Emissions Laboratory that will research topics like fuel additives that can reduce emissions and ways to convert waste heat into usable energy.
Coupled with the grant, the school is pushing for voter approval of a $4.5 million bond measure on a November ballot that would allow it to construct a new building that could house the new research center’s labs.
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