History
The Kentucky General Assembly appropriated $400,000 to establish the Kentucky Coal Utilization Research Program at the University of Kentucky's Institute for Mining and Minerals Research (IMMR).
Kentucky's General Assembly approved Governor Wendell Ford's request to create an Energy Development and Demonstration Trust Fund and authorized up to $50 million for coal development projects. It also appropriated $3.7 million for coal research to support the demonstration projects and $4 million to construct a coal research laboratory.
Construction of the Kentucky Center for Energy Research Laboratory (now CAER’s Lab #1) was completed.
Catlettsburg's H-Coal direct liquefaction facility, the largest ever built in the U.S., began operations. The Commonwealth contributed funds for the design and construction; purchased options for the plant site; and conducted research at the laboratory on conversion of Kentucky coals.
The Center began research on the utilization of coal combustion by-products (ash and flue gas desulfurizationmaterials) for road building and construction applications. The utilization of coal combustion by-products for wallboard, cinder blocks, and concrete were investigated.
The management contract for the Center for Energy Research Laboratory was moved by the Kentucky Energy Cabinet from IMMR to the University of Louisville Speed Scientific School and the laboratory was renamed the Kentucky Energy Cabinet Laboratory.
The General Assembly passed legislation which again restructured the Commonwealth's energy research program and returned management responsibility for the laboratory back to the University of Kentucky. The laboratory was renamed the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER).
A carbon materials research program was established to investigate alternative, high-value uses for coal and other carbonaceous feedstocks for producing structural, amorphous and graphitic carbons. Early carbon research investigated the synthesis and application of granular and powdered activated carbons, activated carbon fibers and related composite materials.
CAER was selected to administer the Kentucky DOE Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). The program is designed to improve the research capabilities (human capital and physical infrastructure) of select states so that they may better compete for federal research funding.
CAER began to look toward renewable energy investigations in addition to its traditional research on fossil fuels.
CAER partners with the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) to host the first-ever World of Coal Ash (WOCA) in Lexington, Kentucky. WOCA would go on to become the largest international conference in the industry. Held biennially, WOCA brings together the world’s leading experts on beneficial re-use of coal ash to discuss the most pressing topics and learn about the latest innovation in the field.
The CAER's Power Generation Group formed an industrial-governmental-academic consortium called the Carbon Management Research Group (CMRG), which is carrying out a $24M ten-year research and development program. Initial participants included: Duke Energy, Kentucky Utilities, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Kentucky Power Cooperative, along with EPRI. The Kentucky Dept. for Energy Development and Independence is also supporting this project with a yearly $1M match in funding
Groundbreaking began in the fall for on what will become the university's first LEED-certified laboratory. The $19.8 million renewable energy laboratory will allow the Center to expand research devoted to Kentucky's growing renewable energy industries, including biomass and biofuels, electrochemical power sources (like capacitors and batteries), and distributed solar energy technologies.
CAER and the Department of Mining Engineering received federal funding to ramp up the Center’s rare earth elements and critical minerals research and development efforts.
CAER launches GEN-EV, an innovative partnership GreenpowerUSA and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC), to offer Kentucky middle school students a creative opportunity to design, construct, and competitively race a one-person electric vehicle. This STEM education program is available to schools across the Commonwealth.
CAER researchers were able to take what is an environmental liability — impounded waste Kentucky coal — and turn it into a highly sought-after strategic material that is critical to the nation’s transportation, national security, and renewable energy sectors. This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Office in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory