EPA announces P3 grants

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced 38 ‘People, Prosperity and the Planet’ (P3) grants to university student teams for proposed projects to develop new, sustainable products and strategies. Each team will receive up to US$15 000.

Funding for the P3 competition is divided into two phases. Teams selected for Phase I are awarded grants of up to US$15 000 to fund the development of their projects, which are then showcased at the National Sustainable Design Expo in the spring. Following the Expo, teams compete for Phase II awards, which can be up to US$75 000, in order to further develop their designs and potentially bring them into the marketplace.

“This year’s P3 teams have created innovative research projects that tackle some of our most pressing environmental and public health challenges,” said Dr. Thomas A. Burke, EPA’s Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These students have the opportunity to bring their exciting new ideas for innovation in sustainability to life, by expanding their learning experience beyond the classroom.”

This years teams are testing innovative ideas, such as repurposing chemical byproducts from the mining industry into new concrete that helps inhibit the corrosion of steel, and developing a food waste collection kiosk that will increase food waste to energy production in the local community.

Adapted from press release by Rebecca Bowden

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/17022016/epa-announces-p3-grants-516/