Clean Technology

Clean tech is a emerging industry in Lexington and there are many assets in place to help propel the industry forward in the region. Of particular importance are the growing number of biotechnology firms in the area and the high concentration of life sciences research being conducted at the University of Kentucky. There is a great deal of overlap between life sciences, biotechnology, and certain branches of renewable energy including biomass and their conversion to biofuels.

Lexington Growth in the Clean Tech Industry

3H Company recently relocated to Kentucky and is not located in the University of Kentucky’s Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center. The start-up, which focuses on clean technologies, received $2.7 million from the U.S. Department of Labor for carbon capture process research and commercialization.

nGimat, LLC is an Atlanta-based company that recently expanded to Lexington. nGimat established an R & D and manufacturing research program here with a focus on high performance nanomaterials for Lithium-ion batteries.

The Kentucky-Argonne National Battery Manufacturing Research and Development Center, a partnership between the federal government, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky, is based in Lexington and focuses on battery technology for vehicle applications.

Algae fermentation research is conducted in the region by Alltech, Inc., a Nicholasville-based firm, which recently acquired a $14 million facility from Martek Bioscience Corporation. Alltech will be expanding in to the renewable energy filed with this new research endeavor.

Read Commerce Lexington's white paper about Clean Technology in Lexington here.