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Imagine strolling down a sidewalk made from algae or building a wall with the help of microbes grown in a bioreactor.��

This extraordinary image may sound futuristic, but the technology is already here, thanks to��Prometheus Materials, a sustainability-focused CU Boulder spinout giving concrete blocks a makeover with the help of environmentally-friendly bio-cement-making bacteria, algae and microbes.��

CU Boulder civil, environmental and architectural engineering professor��Wil Srubar founded the Longmont-based company in 2021 with CEO Loren Burnett and a cross-disciplinary team of CU Boulder collaborators, including civil, environmental and architectural engineering associate professors Mija Hubler and Sherri Cook and the late Jeff Cameron, formerly of biochemistry.��

The impetus for the research group formed several years earlier around a call for proposals from the�� (DARPA), the�� (DoD) focused on developing new technologies for the military.��

“It sounded impossible, a bit like a Frankenstein objective of bringing building materials to life.”��

“Our charge from the DoD was to grow a material that had both biological and structural function,” said Srubar. “It sounded impossible, a bit like a Frankenstein objective of bringing building materials to life.”��

But the challenge was right for Srubar, who leads��, where researchers aim to create construction materials that are in harmony with the natural world.

“We had been thinking about these concepts for some time,” he said. “But this was the first government investment in this particular area that really catalyzed an entirely new field.”

After two years of “spinning their wheels,” said Srubar, the team had a breakthrough in the lab when they made the first sample of engineered living materials that fulfilled DARPA’s requirements. Srubar said this success required looking back — way back — to life on Earth before humans. They were inspired by formations called stromatolites, stony structures built by microscopic photosynthesizing organisms known as cyanobacteria, which are among the oldest living lifeforms on the planet.

“We know nature has built really strong, tough materials,” said Srubar.

By studying the composition of coral and seashells, for example, the team figured out how to make lab-grown versions of the natural phenomena.

“You apply principles of biomimicry, you bring that process into the lab and beautiful things can happen,” he said.

Now Prometheus Materials, named for the legendary Greek god who introduced fire and other technologies to humans, is making sustainable building materials with a process that combines microalgae with other natural components to form zero-carbon bio-cement and bio-concrete with the major goal of reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry.

This is so important because making concrete — the most ubiquitous human-made building material on earth — generates massive amounts of CO2 and contributes significantly to climate change. Global cement manufacturing produces 11 million tons of CO2 every day (roughly equivalent to emissions from all the cars in the world), or about 8% of the world’s total CO2 emissions, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, demand for cement in the U.S. alone is expected to double by 2050.

As the company realizes its transformative role in the construction industry, it has raised $8 million in private funding in the past year and was awarded a role in a $10 million grant from the�� (DOE) that will fund collaboration between a trio of national labs. Within this partnership, Prometheus will join other institutions in the field to establish methods for measuring, reporting and verifying CO2 removal and sequestration in cement and concrete materials.��

Environmental Stewardship

Prometheus is just one example of CU Boulder’s strong network of researchers bringing innovations out of labs and into companies that have real-world impact — the university is a national leader and spinout powerhouse, launching 35 companies in fiscal year 2024 and over 100 since 2016, according to��Bryn Rees, associate vice chancellor for innovation and partnerships. Since 2000, the university has launched 44 sustainability-focused spinouts, including a dozen new companies in just the past few years, said Rees, who leads��Venture Partners at CU Boulder, the university’s commercialization arm for the campus.

According to Rees and Srubar, several factors combine to make CU Boulder so effective at generating these kinds of companies: research expertise, commercialization resources, market need and an eagerness to improve our world.

“There’s such a history of environmental stewardship here at the University of Colorado, and in Boulder specifically, and that’s very much a part of our institutional fabric,” said Srubar. “We do sustainability research really well and it’s one, if not the pillar, of our education and research mission at the university.”

Rees agreed: “It’s a function of our research prowess in that area. There are many highly talented researchers who care deeply about the climate crisis, and so that’s where they’ve oriented their research.”

Those innovations could be used in lots of different ways, but Rees shared, “The innovators are saying, ‘We want to apply these technologies to really important problems.’”

For Srubar and others, the drive to make the world a better place is strong.

“It all begins with a vision and a belief that, first, the world is not static; it can become whatever you dream,” he said. “Understanding that you have the power and the potential to affect change is what really fueled me and our team.”

Rees also sees market need as critical to driving sustainability-focused ventures.

“There is an abundance of funding opportunities and demand from the market to have these types of solutions,” he said. “You’ve got the push from what CU Boulder is really good at, and you’ve got the pull from a true need for these types of solutions across different industries.”

“You’ve got the push from what CU Boulder is really good at, and you’ve got the pull from a true need for these types of solutions across different industries.”

Driving Meaningful Change

Another company with CU Boulder beginnings is the well-established, Boulder-based��, founded in 2017 by��Greg Rieker, chief technology officer and CU Boulder associate professor of mechanical engineering, with colleagues��Caroline Alden (PhDGeol’13),��Sean Coburn (PhDChem’14) and Robert Wright, former CU Boulder senior researcher.

LongPath harnesses quantum technology to detect fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas operations, innovation that benefits industry and investors — and the planet. The company’s breakthroughs in laser technology and quantum sensing, rooted in CU Boulder’s, created a leak detection system to do what previous approaches could not: continuously detect invisible-to-the-eye natural gas escaping from pipes on-site at oil and gas facilities.

Finding and patching those leaks is a triple win — in industry cost savings (from $820 to $980 million per year), and improved air quality and public health. LongPath’s technology can identify natural gas leaks that sicken and displace thousands of people each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane.

Today, LongPath’s Active Emissions Overwatch System is live at oil and gas operations in several states, covering hundreds of thousands of acres. Rieker and his team see the impacts of those systems growing each day, and he estimates that each system saves between 40 and 80 million cubic feet of methane annually.

“Every time we deploy a new system, it really is impactful,” he said, adding the team still celebrates every large leak located. “We’ll nail a big one for a customer, and that’s exciting.”

Similar to Srubar, LongPath’s founders were motivated by protecting the environment.

“Many academics measure impact in terms of papers published or citation rates. I always wanted the impact of my work to be more palpable,” said Rieker. “In 2024, LongPath stopped more than 6 billion cubic feet of methane emissions and counting. That’s impact, and that’s why we launched.”

“Many academics measure impact in terms of papers published or citation rates. I always wanted the impact of my work to be more palpable.”

Wil Srubar of CU Boulder's Living Materials Laboratory

Recently, the company received landmark financial backing from the DOE for a loan of up to $189 million to accelerate the scale-up of the company’s monitoring systems.

Another game-changing company making significant strides in sustainability is Louisville-based��, founded in 2011, based on technology developed by CU Boulder mechanical engineering professor Se-Hee Lee and professor emeritus of mechanical engineering��Conrad Stoldt (����’94).

Similar to Srubar and Prometheus Materials, Stoldt and Lee answered a call from DARPA. Their challenge was to double the energy density of a rechargeable battery.

“The metrics they wanted to reach were unheard of,” said Stoldt, but he and Lee accepted the challenge anyway. “We saw it as an opportunity… and we sat down and determined that, at least on paper, the only rechargeable battery technology that could meet the specs for the program was a solid-state battery.”

Lee and Stoldt partnered with Douglas Campbell, a small business and early-stage product developer, and chief technology officer Joshua Buettner-Garrett to start��Solid Power. Along with then-mentor Dave Jansen, the team negotiated a commercialization agreement with��Venture Partners (known then as the CU Technology Transfer Office), making the company an exclusive licensee to the university’s intellectual property.

What began as an idea Stoldt said was “bootstrapped” in CU Boulder labs, Solid Power is now an industry-leading developer of next-generation all-solid-state battery technology. As their name suggests, solid-state batteries (SSBs) differ from conventional batteries in that the electrolyte powering them is a solid material instead of a gel or liquid. That gives SSBs many advantages over lithium-ion batteries now widely used in electronics, toys, appliances and — critically — electric vehicles.

Solid Power’s design bests lithium-ion cells on safety, cost, durability and battery life — attributes long sought by consumers and automakers. Their technology swaps the flammable liquid in lithium-ion cells with a solid, sulfide-based electrolyte that is safer and more stable across a broad temperature range. Solid Power’s cells also easily outpace the conductivity and energy density of today’s best rechargeable batteries. The result is a smaller, lighter cell that is cheaper and has a longer-lasting charge.

Solid Power, which went public in 2021, employs many Forever Buffs and boasts major partnership deals with BMW and Ford, along with a new 75,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Thornton.

Their continued innovation was recognized with a recent $5.6 million DOE grant to continue developing its nickel- and cobalt-free cell, and, late last year, the company began award negotiations for up to $50 million in DOE funding. With this project, Solid Power intends to launch the world’s first continuous manufacturing process, allowing the company to produce its critical electrolyte material more quickly and at a lower cost.

From Lab to Marketplace

With the burgeoning success of Prometheus and others, Srubar hopes to inspire other researchers to make the leap to the marketplace. To that end, he was recently named Deming associate dean for innovation and entrepreneurship, a new role in the College of Engineering and Applied Science focused on building bridges between labs and the marketplace.

“This is something I’m so passionate about — shining a light for those inspired and driven by a vision to see change in the world and to follow that pathway of commercialization,” Srubar said. “I think CU Boulder’s reputation will continue to grow in this space, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

“I think CU Boulder’s reputation will continue to grow in this space, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”