NYSP2I selects seven awardees for 2025-26 sustainability research and development funding

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) has awarded $650,000 to seven research and development projects aimed at advancing practical, near-term solutions that help New York state businesses reduce their environmental impact while strengthening economic competitiveness.

Through its annual Research and Development Program, NYSP2I solicits proposals from faculty and staff at its five partner universities—Binghamton University, Clarkson University, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and RIT—to develop and apply innovative green technologies. The program supports applied research that addresses real-world business needs, creating transferable practices and technologies that foster sustainability across the state.

Projects selected through a competitive review process receive up to $100,000 in funding and technical support for up to one year. Eligible projects build on proven concepts, focusing on research that validates and expands their practical applications.

To date, the program has funded 65 projects with grants totaling more than $5.78 million, reinforcing NYSP2I’s commitment to improving New York’s environmental quality and public health.

“This funding gives researchers across our partner universities the opportunity to tackle the pressing challenge of reducing environmental impacts—not only in New York, but beyond,” said Roy Green, NYSP2I’s director. “We’re proud to continue supporting innovative work that drives both pollution prevention and economic growth. Congratulations to this year’s awardees.”

The following projects were awarded funding from NYSP2I for 2025-26:

Plasma-Enabled Nitrogen Fixation for Sustainable Fertilizer Production in NYS Agriculture (Clarkson University): New York farms rely on nitrogen fertilizer produced with fossil fuels that then travels up to 2,000 miles to reach farms, contributing to 47% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. This project focuses on optimizing and scaling up to farm-level an innovative non-thermal (plasma) spinning disc reactor that creates nitrogen fertilizer out of air, water, and electricity. The fertilizer, plasma-activated water (PAW), is suitable for immediate uptake through roots and leaves. This project will test PAW effectiveness on state crops like tomatoes and lettuce. Developing the farm-scale reactor prototype and conducting a lifecycle analysis will lead the way to greater fertilizer production directly on farms, drastically shrinking their carbon footprint, reducing nitrogen runoff, and lowering the economic vulnerability of smaller and rural farms.

PFAS Replacement and Energy Usage Reduction in Semiconductor Manufacturing (Santosh Kurinec, RIT): Semiconductor manufacturing is a major consumer of energy and utilizes environmentally harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” as gases in critical etching processes. This project adapts Ion Beam Etching (IBE) from magnetic recording as a PFAS-free chip fabrication technique. In addition, a new, lower-energy, and more precise way to etch chips called Monolayer Doping (MLD) will substitute for current energy-intensive processes, aiming to create a method of chip production for the state that is significantly cleaner and more energy efficient.

Nutrient Pollution Prevention in NYS Through Manure Recovery (Johannes Lehmann, Cornell University): New York's large dairy industry produces vast amounts of manure which, when applied to fields in semi-raw states, often leads to nutrient runoff polluting lakes and rivers. This project will investigate pyrolysis (a thermal process) to reduce manure volume by converting it into a stable, nutrient-rich biochar fertilizer. This approach leverages circular fertilizer production to avoid water pollution at the source while locking in quantified nutrients for precise crop application. The project will develop a business model for dairy farmers to market the biochar as a sustainable product with adoption potential for other livestock and food and beverage producers, such as breweries.

Peaker Plant Emissions Reduction by Accurate Dispatch of Energy Storage (Katie McConky, RIT): During summer's ten-highest electricity demand days, National Grid aims to dispatch energy storage to reduce loads on “peaker” plants. Because peaker plants use more energy and generate more emissions than standard plants, predicting the ten-highest demand days is critical. Dispatching energy storage on a day that turns out to demand less energy is inefficient and releases pollutants unnecessarily. This project will develop machine learning forecasting models to replace the current labor-intensive prediction processes in order to more accurately predict peak load days. Greater accuracy in timing energy distribution will minimize peaker plant operation and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other air pollutants. This forecasting model will benefit New York state utility companies and can be applied to utilities nationwide.

A Pilot Study for the Valorization and Pretreatment of Dairy Byproduct and Waste Streams (Carmen I. Moraru, Cornell University): As the fifth largest dairy producer, New York state consumes large volumes of water (up to 60 liters per kilogram of milk) and generates a significant amount of low-value byproducts and wastewater that contribute to water pollution. This project will pilot a strategy to recover clean water and valuable milk solids (fat, protein, and lactose) from rinse water and acid whey, a common byproduct, by testing different membrane filtration technologies. Optimizing the membrane filtration process will enable recovering water that is clean enough to potentially reuse in food processing; reduce water usage and waste volumes; and recover marketable milk solids efficiently. Developing a membrane filtration at scale supports the state’s plan to reduce food waste and pollution as dairy production is set to expand in New York with the arrival of new businesses such as Chobani. 

Reducing Environmental and Economic Cost of Semiconductor-manufacturing Process Through Advanced ML-based Predictive Maintenance (Nenad Nenadic, RIT): When a fault occurs in semiconductor component fabrication, entire batches of product are often scrapped and relevant subsystems are shipped for service, often leading to a waste of time, labor, and capital. This project will develop advanced machine learning diagnostic tools to accurately detect and identify subcomponent incipient failures before they cause major disruptions, as well as reduce the rate of costly services related to no-fault found (NFF). Implemented at scale, these tools could save New York state's rapidly growing semiconductor industry up to $10-20 million by decreasing material and energy waste while also cutting down on transportation for unnecessary service and its associated greenhouse gas emissions. 

Beet Waste Reduction by Valorization (Olga Padilla-Zakour and Chang Chen, Cornell University): New York is the leading producer of table beets, but the canning process generates thousands of tons of waste sent to landfills or used for animal feed annually. Working with the largest beet processor in the state, Seneca Foods, this project will use Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology to co-extract a natural red dye (betanin) and a soluble fiber (pectin) from peels and pulp. Next, dietary fiber for human and animal consumption will be harvested through dehydration. Two valuable products—a stable natural red food colorant to take the place of synthetic Red #40, which is being phased out, and a high-fiber food ingredient—will reduce landfill burden and generate new revenue streams for NYS food producers.

Proposals for the fiscal year 2026-27 are now being accepted through Feb. 16, 2026. For more information about the RFP or to apply, email nysp2i@rit.edu.

About the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute

Funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute is led by the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and is a partnership between RIT, Binghamton University, Clarkson University, Cornell University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the NYS Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

NYSP2I’s goal is to make the state more sustainable for workers, the public, the environment, and the economy through pollution prevention. Pollution prevention is reducing or eliminating waste at the source by modifying production processes, promoting the use of non-toxic or less-toxic substances, implementing conservation techniques, and reusing materials rather than putting them into the waste stream.

Funding was provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The opinions, results, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of Rochester Institute of Technology and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of New York State.