N.C. A&T receives $10M for clean energy research

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has received a $10 million grant to open a clean energy research center. 

The center will be funded by a four-year grant from the federal Department of Energy (DOE). 

It's part of an interdisciplinary effort focused on creating affordable, net-zero emission energy sources.

The research will be led by College of Engineering Professor Dhananjay Kumar. He says the primary focus will be on splitting hydrogen and oxygen from water, with the goal of producing clean hydrogen for energy use.

Kumar believes this work has the potential to provide breakthroughs in the field of clean energy. 

He will lead a team including not only N.C. A&T researchers but faculty from other universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Cornell. 

He says the funding is a “crown jewel award from DOE” with N.C. A&T being the first historically Black college or university to receive funding of this nature.