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Energy Technologies Area (ETA) researchers are continually building on the strong scientific foundation we have developed over the past 50 years. We address the world’s most pressing climate challenges by bringing to market energy-efficient innovations across the buildings, transportation, and industrial sectors. ETA is at the forefront of developing better batteries for electric vehicles; improving the country's aging electrical grid and innovating distributed energy and storage solutions; developing grid-interactive, efficient buildings; and providing the most comprehensive market and data analysis worldwide for renewable technologies like wind and solar.
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The Energy Technologies Area (ETA) Strategic Plan is the guiding force for our research and development for the next ten years. It clearly charts a path toward clean-energy solutions and focuses on five detailed Strategic Initiatives. The Plan provides an in-depth look at how ETA is accelerating research to provide affordable, clean energy to all while accomplishing deep, economy-wide decarbonization, looking to avoid a rise in global average temperature while simultaneously developing solutions to increase humanity's resilience to extreme weather volatility.
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The Energy Technologies Area (ETA) is unique in translating fundamental scientific discoveries into scalable technology adoption. Our approach combines an understanding of the marketplace and the role of state and federal regulation and policies. ETA's research drives real-world, practical results that affect and improve the everyday lives of Americans and those across the globe. Saving energy and battling the Climate Crisis are key to the foundation of our research, which is driven by technoeconomic analysis and in-lab experimentation and discovery.

Tasty Bacon Made From Seaweed Reels in Funding

May 5, 2022

A highly realistic, plant-based bacon that harnesses the power of sustainable seaweed protein made an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank, setting a new record during the show for the highest valuation of a pre-revenue company in the show’s history. Co-developed by Cyclotron Road entrepreneur-scientist Amanda Stiles, UMARO™ Bacon marks the first step in establishing ocean-farmed seaweed as a future global source of high-quality, abundant protein.

Stiles (pictured left), a plant biochemist, is a fellow at Cyclotron Road, a division of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Through a strong partnership with Activate, Cyclotron Road supports leading entrepreneurial scientists like Stiles as they advance technology projects with the potential for global impact. Stiles serves as chief technology officer and co-founder of UMARO Foods alongside CEO Beth Zotter.

"My mission is to reduce the factory farming of animals, and I think the best way to achieve this is to make plant-based foods that are so delicious, people prefer them. Seaweed protein just makes sense - seaweed is fast-growing, requires no land, no fresh water, and no fertilizer to grow. We truly believe it is the protein of the future," said Stiles.

Ocean plants can produce five times more high-quality protein per acre than soybeans. Ocean-farmed seaweed is affordable, sustainable, and highly scalable – requiring no land use or disruption of marine habitat.

Plant-based bacon is just the start for UMARO Foods, said Stiles, and the company aims to expand its proprietary UMARO™ red seaweed protein into other plant-based meat products. Ultimately, UMARO closed a $3 million seed round this March and plans to launch their plant-based bacon in restaurants soon.

“Cyclotron Road and Activate have been an enormous help in moving UMARO Foods forward. They've provided an amazing network, lab space to help us get our start, and an endless amount of advice and mentoring for me as I make the transition from scientist to entrepreneur,” said Stiles. “I'm honored to be a part of the program, both for the impact it has had on the company, and personally as well for the opportunity it has provided me to interact with so many fascinating people working to change the world.”

Stiles also recently discussed the future of ocean-farmed protein in a more in-depth conversation at a University of California - Berkeley Midday Science Cafe.