Science Policy
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DOE ARPA-E Selects 37 Transformational Energy Research Projects www.arpa-e-.energy.gov The U.S. Department of Energy announced in October major funding for 37 ambitious research projects—including some that could allow intermittent energy sources like wind and solar to provide a steady flow of power, or use bacteria to produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. The $151 million in funding is being awarded through the Department’s recently formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (“ARPA-E”). ARPA-E’s mission is to develop nimble, creative, and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing U.S. technology leadership. This is the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving a total of $400 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grants will go to projects with lead researchers in 17 states. Of the lead recipients, 43% are small businesses, 35% are educational institutions, and 19% are large corporations. A second set of ARPA-E funding opportunities will be announced in 2009. Visit Web site www.arpa-e-.energy.gov for more information about these selections, upcoming technical workshops, and new funding opportunities. Inspired by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E was created to support highrisk, high-reward energy research that can provide transformative new solutions for climate change and energy security. This first ARPA-E solicitation was highly competitive and oversubscribed, with over 3,600 initial concept papers received. Of those, approximately 300 full applications were requested and ultimately 37 final awardees were selected through a rigorous review process with input from multiple review panels composed of leading U.S. energy science and technology experts and ARPA-E’s program managers. Evaluations were based on the potential for high impact on ARPA-E’s goals and scientific and technical merit. The selected projects, which are receiving an average of approximately $4 million each, span the energy sector, including potentially transformative innovations in energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture, renewable power, building efficiency, vehicles, and other energy technology areas. Some of the innovative projects selected for awards include:
Liquid Metal Grid-Scale Batteries: Created by Don Sadoway of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the all-liquid metal battery is based on low-cost, domestically available liquid metals with potential to break through the cost barrier required for mass adoption of large-scale energy storage as part of the country’s energy grid. If successful, this battery technology could revolutionize the way electricity is used and produced on the grid, enabling round-the-clock power from U.S. wind and solar power resources, increasing the stability of the grid, and making blackouts a thing of the past. And if deployed at homes, it could allow individual consumers the ability to be part of a future “smart energy Internet,” where they would have much
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