"As world petroleum reserves continue to dwindle and the U.S. faces ever-increasing energy security risks, the topic of alternative fuels has once again become of vital interest to the U.S."

Advanced Fuels for the Energy Future

The Transportation Energy Center (TEC) headquartered at the University of Michigan (UM) is engaged in fundamental and applied research in the areas of advanced energy conversion and storage technologies. TEC initiatives cover a broad spectrum of research that impacts distributed generation of hydrogen from a variety of sources to supply fuel cell-based auxiliary power systems, small stationary fuel cell systems, and electric microgrids. The center is also developing high-performance synthetic fuels, and advanced chemical energy conversion and storage concepts.

TEC researchers work closely with government and industry to ascertain that ongoing research remains both cutting edge and relevant, ensuring that our nation continues to be a leader in developing advanced energy technologies and diversifying the options for gaseous and liquid transportation fuels, distributed generation of electric power and energy storage technologies.

TEC presents a bold new approach for creating the scientific foundation for transitioning our nation toward energy independence by:

• Using synthetic fuels as a bridge to the future hydrogen economy
  
• Harvesting energy while producing value-added chemicals
  
• Exploring mobile and stationary energy conversion systems