“It’s my mission to make Long Island a clean technology and green jobs capital. With companies like ATK doing innovative carbon capture technology research right here on Long Island, we will achieve that goal,” said Rep. Israel. “Today I’m proud to join ATK to announce $1 million in federal funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy for the cutting edge research they are doing in Ronkonkoma. As a Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I made funding ARPA-E a top priority and that success is paying off for Long Island.”

“ATK GASL’s experience with wind tunnel design and testing is being leveraged to develop a system for CO2 separation from fossil fuel power plants at lower cost than other approaches.   This award reflects the strong technical capability and promise of our new Center of Energy and Aerospace Innovation (CEAI) facility in Ronkonkoma, and of our partner, ACENT Laboratories, another Long Island company,” said Dr. Robert Bakos, Vice President, ATK GASL.

The ARPA-E grant was awarded to ATK and ACENT Laboratories for research on a new method for carbon dioxide capture using a unique aero-thermodynamic inertial separation device derived from aerospace applications. This novel technology based on rocket designs will be used to capture CO2 by passing it through a nozzle at supersonic speeds, which will cause the CO2 to precipitate out from the flue gas as a solid (dry ice).

ARPA-E is an agency within the Department of Energy that focuses on high risk, high payoff concepts that will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve overall energy efficiency. Rep. Israel has long supported ARPA-E and advocated for funding the agency after its creation in 2007. In 2009, Rep. Israel was successful in advocating for $400 million in funding for APRA-E in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).