Largest-Ever NSF Grant Awarded to LSU-Led Energy Team

Dear LSU Community,

I am proud and excited to share with you that LSU is leading a statewide effort in energy research and expansion that just received the largest-ever grant awarded by the National Science Foundation – up to $160 million over the next 10 years.

This is a huge accomplishment for LSU and for Louisiana, as this grant was highly competitive, with more than 700 applicants from across the country.

The LSU-led team receiving the grant is known as Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, or FUEL, and it includes more than 50 energy companies, universities, community and technical colleges, and state agencies. The team will work to support Louisiana’s expanding and changing energy industry by driving new technologies, creating new jobs in the energy sector, training the energy workforce, and developing innovative solutions to energy challenges. This grant will position Louisiana to be the global research and development leader for the energy industry into the future.

Louisiana is already a world leader in energy expertise, so it makes perfect sense that we should spearhead this effort. Our state has more than 250,000 people working in the energy, chemical and petrochemical industries, and our geographic location and existing energy infrastructure place us at the epicenter of energy innovation. LSU will be at the forefront of that. This project aligns with our Scholarship First Agenda to solve the most pressing problems for Louisiana and the globe.

Leading the FUEL team and winning this transformational grant affirms what we already knew – that LSU is one of the nation’s premier research universities, poised to change the lives of the people of Louisiana and the world. What we do here at LSU makes a difference, and all of you – students, faculty and staff – are part of that.

At LSU, we build teams that win; not just on the playing field or the court, but in life.

Please join me in congratulating all those at LSU who have worked to establish the FUEL team and achieve this monumental grant. In particular, I’d like to thank Andrew Maas, principal investigator on the project and associate vice president for research in the LSU Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, and Robert Twilley, vice president of Research & Economic Development, for all their efforts in this endeavor.

To learn more about FUEL and LSU’s other energy-related wins, visit our energy website.

William F. Tate IV
LSU President