The Energy and Environmental Research Center at UND won the General Electric and Statoil joint competition for unconventional energy innovations.
The center received $25,000 and is now eligible along with four other winners to receive an additional $375,000 for developing and commercializing the technology, according to a news release.
The EERC won for using sand to develop lightweight material designed to keep fissures created during hydraulic fracturing open.
"We can expand on the EERC's efforts by working to make sure their innovations aren't just being used to harness North Dakota's oil and gas resources, but to develop and produce our resources on a global level, and I'll keep working with our federal and private partners like the Department of Energy and GE and Statoil today to make sure the EERC has the support and the resources to do that," Sen. Heidi Heitkamp said in the release.
