U.S. Department of Energy Offers $100 Million to Support Clean Energy Innovation

The U.S. Energy Department on Dec. 16 announced a $100 million funding opportunity to support innovative technologies that can contribute to emissions reductions, increase energy efficiency, and support grid modernization. The agency’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will run the funding program, which is expected to support President Biden’s Building a Better America initiative by reducing emissions, creating jobs, and advancing clean energy.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm noted that the clean energy transition will require development of new energy technologies ranging from heating and cooling homes to fueling vehicles. The department aims to commercialize native emerging technologies, which can speed up the clean energy transition, reduce carbon emissions, and support the growth of small businesses that can enhance the country’s industrial future.

The previous ARPA-E awarded projects that have proved feasible for wide-ranging deployment and domestically monetized are eligible to apply for follow-on funding under this program – “Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential.” The selected companies will demonstrate that their technology is scalable and capable of attracting private sector investment.

Since 2009, ARPA-E has provided $2.4 billion in research and development funding, and its projects have gained more than $4.9 billion in private funding to commercialize clean energy technologies. These include reliable and resilient electricity grids through a new generation of distribution technology, improving methane emissions detection in the natural gas supply chain, and developing next-generation sodium-based batteries that are safe, reliable, and low-cost. The program also aided in designing a rooftop-radiative cooling panel to improve the efficiency of air conditioners and refrigeration systems and helped in making grid storage and electric vehicle adoption faster by optimizing supply and demand predictive software.