dept of energy

Unless Congress and the White House take action by the end of the year, across-the-board spending reductions will go into effect for all federal agencies as a result of provisions in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The budget sequestration would reduce defense discretionary funding by 9.4 percent and non-defense funding by 8.2 percent from the 2011 baseline. Though the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report outlining these reductions does not provide details by program, research and economic development spending could be affected disproportionately, since, in many agencies, these programs are supported through discretionary spending.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new $120 million five-year multidisciplinary and sustained effort intended to identify problems and develop solutions across the lifecycle of critical materials. The Critical Materials Hub will work to advance U.S. leadership in energy manufacturing (e.g., electric vehicles, wind turbines and efficient lighting) through research aimed at having a reliable supply of these rare earths and other critical materials, as well as finding efficiencies and alternatives that reduce the amount needed. It is the fifth Energy Innovation Hub established by DOE since 2010. Institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations and private firms are eligible to apply and are encouraged to form partnerships with regional entities. Interested organizations should submit their concept papers to the DOE by June 29, 2012.

Three federal agencies (Departments of Commerce, Defense and Energy) are accepting applications for the establishment of a $45 million pilot Institute for Additive Manufacturing. The federal agencies intend for the Institute for Additive Manufacturing to accelerate research, development and demonstration in additive manufacturing and transition technology to manufacturing enterprises within the United States. It will serve as a proof-of-concept for the potential subsequent institutes in the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) — a network composed of up to fifteen institutes for manufacturing innovation around the country, each serving as a hub of manufacturing excellence in a specific research area.

Innovative companies involved in commercializing research with universities and federal agencies often cite complicated contracts and uncertainty surrounding the process as a barrier to bringing more technologies to the marketplace. In an effort to remove some of those hurdles, two new initiatives recently were announced from the University of Minnesota (UM) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will commit $25 million over the next five years to support the U.S.-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center, as part of the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy. DOE will provide matching grants to universities, national labs, private companies and others to support research in energy efficiency, second-generation biofuels and solar energy. The $50 million contributed by DOE and award grantees will be matched by an additional $50 million in public and private funds from India. Facilities associated with the program will be located in both countries. Read the announcement...

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) — a $30 million initiative to support up to 10 research and development (R&D) projects focused on advanced biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products. Projects should propose integrated science and engineering research in three technical areas of interest:

Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy, announced nearly $170 million in available funding over the next three years to support the advancement of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) technologies in four areas: