HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 02-05 3M named to US-Chinese clean energy research team STAR TRIBUNE Stairibune
3M named to U.S.-Chinese
clean energy research team
Article by: Dee DePass
Star Tribune
February 5,2014-10:23 AM
3M Co.will participate in a clean-energy research
partnership with China as part of a dual-nation
approach to developing greener methods of
heating and cooling buildings,company officials 3M Co's corporate headquarters in St.Paul.
said Tuesday. Ariana Lindquist,Bloomberg
3M will work with other American and Chinese scientists and engineers as part of the U.S.-
China Clean Energy Research Center's 14-member Building Energy Efficiency Consortium.
The 3M partnership,which is expected to last two to five years,could result in new
technologies, new construction materials,strategies and tools that reduce energy
consumption,costs and global warming.
The consortium is expected to work on an unknown number of"demonstration buildings"in
China that incorporate 3M technologies and study their effects in different environments,
company officials said.
Connie Thompson,spokeswoman for Maplewood-based 3M,said the effort began as a way
to cut fuel consumption by two of the heaviest user nations on the globe.
The Clean Energy Research Centers,or CERC,was created in 2009 by President Obama
and China's then-President Hu Jintao with$150 million contributed by both nations.Over the
years,the consortium has grown to include Dow Chemical;SAGE Electrochomics in
Faribault,Minn.;Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee;the San Francisco-based
Energy Foundation;ClimateMaster in Oklahoma;Bentley Systems Inc.in Pennsylvania;and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,among others.
The consortium is led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
3M officials said they were happy to be chosen to join.
"3M's participation in the consortium will not only help us drive the growing market for large-
scale energy efficiency and sustainability projects...but will give all members the opportunity
to learn first-hand about the energy efficiency needs of the Chinese market,"said Stefan
Babirad,technical director for 3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes.
Ashish Khandpur,a 3M vice president of research and development,said the joint initiative
could improve energy efficiency"in both the United States and China"and"make a global
impact."
3M manufactures specialty solar cells,protective coatings for windmill blades,air filters,and
vapor barriers that wrap around and insulate buildings. It also makes specialty films for
windows that enhance or reduce the effects of the sun,depending on the season.
3M's Thompson said Tuesday that it is not known which projects 3M may work on in China or
how much of the federal funding might be allocated to those projects.More details will
become available in the coming months.