The Iowa Energy Center has awarded more than $1 million to four projects, including three to Iowa State University.

According to a news release, the awards were announced at the Iowa Energy Center’s board meeting on Thursday. The Iowa Energy Center Grant Program is funded by Iowa electric and natural gas customers. It received 11 applications requesting more than $3 million.

The projects that were awarded grants:

• Iowa State University, $347,530, for the Recycling and End-of-Life Li-Ion Batteries to Extract Lithium, Anode and Cathode Materials project.

• Iowa State University, $203,342, for the Mining Smart Meter Data for Modeling and MItigating EV Charging Impacts on Distribution Grids project.

• Iowa State University, $200,000, for the Laser Surface Engineering of Natural Gas Pipelines for Extended Services Life project.

• Legov Systems Group at the Iowa State Research Park in Ames, $301,000, for the Continuous Thermal to Electrical Energy Harvesting Industrial and Residential Waste Heat project.

The Iowa Energy Center board also approved a $193,000 Energy Infrastructure Revolving Loan to Accu-Steel in Audubon. The company plans to integrate thin solar panels into a fabric prototype building for research and demonstration purposes. Accu-Steel currently makes fabric covered buildings for beef cattle farmers.