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Albuquerque Small Business Receives EPA Research Contract

Release Date: 3/9/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Clear Skies Unlimited, Inc., of Albuquerque, New Mexico, received $70,000 from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts program.  Clear Skies Unlimited was chosen from a pool of 363 applicants from across the country.

     "I applaud Clear Skies Unlimited for its success in this highly competitive program and look forward to sharing its proven technologies with restaurants across the country.  The vitality and innovation of small business like Clear Skies Unlimited continue to find better ways to fuel the nation's economy while protecting natural resources," EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene said.

     Clear Skies Unlimited will use a recently patented technology to remove harmful emissions such as particulates and volatile organic compounds from restaurants.  The company's low-cost technology has already been shown to efficiently remove organics, particulates and carbon monoxide from wood combustion.  

     There are more than 870,000 restaurants in the United States. Most of them have under-fired charbroilers that create a significant amount of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds with potential health and environmental hazards.  Current devices used to remove emissions, such as air scrubbers and catalytic filters, have found little acceptance in restaurants because of their high costs, short life cycles, and poor performance.  

     The proposed system will be highly effective in treating restaurant emissions, affordable compared to competing technologies, easily integrated into rooftop ventilation systems, require low maintenance and have an environmentally friendly product life cycle.  This exhaust purification system could have numerous applications in a host of other industries including composites processing, paint booths, wood-burning kilns, chemical manufacturing and others.

     EPA's competitive SBIR program offers critical financial support to small businesses to develop the best innovative technologies.  EPA's SBIR program focuses on important areas related to environmental protection, including clean air and water, hazardous and solid wastes, pollution prevention, remediation, and monitoring.  Recent issues include homeland security, clean-up technologies, and technology solutions for specific environmental needs.  

     To learn more about EPA's SBIR program and research projects, please visit https://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir.