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Commercialization

<a href="http://energy.gov/node/307033/">See an example of these steps in the commercialization process of Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries</a>.

See an example of these steps in the commercialization process of Nickel Metal Hydride Batteries.

Commercialization is the process by which technologies and innovations developed in the lab make their way to market. By licensing patents or using Energy Department facilities, researchers from the private sector and academia are able to take advantage of federal investments into basic science research, while researchers are able to ensure that their discoveries have a life beyond the lab.

The Energy Department also helps entrepreneurs, small business owners and start-ups bridge the gap between research and development and commercial deployment. This helps create globally competitive industries in the United States, helps companies save money and is making the clean energy economy of the future a reality today.

Featured

America's Best Student Start-Up Companies Pitch for Your Vote
After pitching their business plan to panels of judges at the regional semifinal and final, six teams advanced to the national competition for a chance at the cash grand prize. | Energy Department file graphic.

Voting opened on May 24 for voters to review company summaries online, view their 3-minute video pitches, and then ‘like’ the companies they think will most positively impact America’s energy future.

Lab Game-Changers in Our Past and Future
A researcher at the Joint Bioenergy Institute at Berkeley National Lab chooses bacteria colonies in their efforts to create a game-changing biofuel from sustainable, energy-dense plants, such as switchgrass. The JBEI is one example of the ability for Energy Department labs to form scientific partnerships designed to hurdle an energy barrier with transformative technology. | Photo courtesy of Berkeley National Lab.

The products of scientific research are how we define our modern life and the National Labs play an important role, as evidenced by these innovations.

New Licensing Agreement Opens Energy Patents to NGOs, Non-Profits
To reduce the amount of firewood Darfur refugees need, Berkeley Lab scientist Ashok Gadgil and colleagues modified an existing cookstove design to create one that is 75 percent more energy-efficient than the three-stone stove traditionally used in Darfur, and is appropriate to the environmental conditions and food preferences of the local inhabitants. | Photo courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

As part of President Obama’s Global Humanitarian Initiative, a new licensing agreement opens a number of Energy Department patents to qualified non-governmental and non-profit organizations.

Delivering Innovations That Create Jobs: National Lab Ignites Business for Entrepreneurs 
DEP Shape Memory Therapeutics, Inc. is working to treat aneurysms with exclusively licensed LLNL-developed polymer materials that "remember" their shape. LLNL is a leader in the development of shape memory polymers, for use in medical applications, as well as homeland security. | Courtesy of LLNL

Tapping the entrepreneurial spirit of its Silicon Valley surroundings, Lawrence Livermore National Lab has a legacy that includes the launch of hundreds of successful companies. During just the past 20 years, five entrepreneurs from the Lab have founded four companies with a current market capitalization of $8.4 billion.

From the Lab to the Showroom: How the Electric Car Came to Life
An illustration of the 2011 Chevy Volt, whose lithium-ion battery is based on technology developed at Argonne National Laboratory. | Image courtesy of General Motors.

In the U.S., businesses tend to invest in research that will pay off in the short term. National laboratories are filling a gap by conducting the essential research that will change the game 10 to 20 years down the road. Learn more about how years of conducting advanced research in both the private and public sectors led to battery technology that made electric cars possible.

PNNL Breakthrough Leads to Less Foreign Oil, More American Jobs
A highly efficient catalyst to convert renewable crops into the product propylene glycol was discovered by scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and commercialized by the Archer Daniels Midland Company. | Image courtesy of PNNL.

A highly efficient catalyst to convert renewable crops into the product propylene glycol was discovered by scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and commercialized by the Archer Daniels Midland Company.