Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) The EERC is a research, development, demonstration, and commercialization facility recognized as one of the worlds leading developers of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies as well as environmental technologies to protect and clean our air, water, and soil.The EERC, a high-tech, nonprofit division of the University of North Dakota (UND), operates like a business and pursues an entrepreneurial, market-driven approach to research and development in order to successfully demonstrate and commercialize innovative technologies. The EERC currently employs approximately 235 people. The Center was founded in 1951 as the Robertson Lignite Research Laboratory, a federal facility under the U.S. Bureau of Mines. It became a federal energy technology center under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1977 and was defederalized in 1983, becoming a part of the university. Today, the EERC leverages and enhances government research dollars by developing working partnerships with industry, government, and the research community. Since 1983, the EERC has had 1265 clients in 50 states and 52 countries. The EERC conducts research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities involving zero-emissions coal conversion; CO2 capture and sequestration; energy and water sustainability; hydrogen and fuel cells; advanced air emission control technologies, emphasizing SOx, NOx, air toxics, fine particulate, CO2, and mercury control; renewable energy; wind energy; water management; flood prevention; global climate change; waste utilization; energy efficiency; and contaminant cleanup.