Dept of Energy Awards $175MM to Disruptive Tech

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $175 million for 68 research and development projects aimed at developing disruptive technologies.

Led by the organization’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the OPEN 2021 program prioritizes funding “high-impact, high-risk” technologies that support novel approaches to clean energy challenges, the DOE outlined.

Selected projects span 22 states and coordinated at universities, national laboratories, and private companies, the DOE highlighted. They’ll advance technologies for a wide range of areas, including electric vehicles, offshore wind, storage and nuclear recycling, according to the organization.

“Universities, companies, and our national labs are doubling down on advancing clean energy technology innovation and manufacturing in America to deliver critical energy solutions from renewables to fusion energy to tackle the climate crisis,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a DOE statement.

“DOE’s investments show our commitment to empowering innovators to develop bold plans to help America achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, create clean energy good-paying jobs and strengthen our energy independence,” Granholm added in the statement.

OPEN 2021 is ARPA-E’s latest installment of the OPEN program. The first four iterations took place in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018 and awarded over $600 million in funding to 225 projects working to achieve breakthroughs in commercializing a variety of energy solutions, the DOE highlighted. Since being founded in 2009, ARPA-E has provided $2.93 billion in research and development funding, according to the DOE, which noted that ARPA-E projects have attracted more than $7.6 billion in private sector follow-on funding.

ARPA-E advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment, the agency’s website notes. According to the site, ARPA-E projects have the potential to “radically improve” U.S. economic prosperity, national security, and environmental well-being.

Earlier this month, the DOE announced an organizational realignment to ensure that it has the structure needed to effectively implement $62 billion in clean energy investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Energy Act of 2020. The new structure establishes two Under Secretaries - one focused on fundamental science and clean energy innovation and the other focused on deploying clean infrastructure.

On November 15, Biden signed into law the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which the DOE described as a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure that will create good-paying jobs, combat climate change, and grow the economy sustainably and equitably for decades to come. The DOE noted that the deal will help it play an “even more effective role” in the “boldest” climate agenda in the nation’s history by charting the course towards reaching 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The DOE’s mission is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions, according to its website. The DOE traces its lineage to the Manhattan Project effort to develop the atomic bomb during World War II.

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