DOE considering competition to address water issues

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry is calling on Americans’ competitive spirit to help solve critical water issues. Perry led a roundtable discussion last week on the use of federal prizes and challenges to drive innovation in dealing with water issues such as alternative water supplies, reducing water treatment costs, greater efficiency in usage, and advancing market-based solutions that incentivize innovation and cooperation. The roundtable, which included government and industry representatives along with experts from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory and others, was a first step toward launching a potential grand challenge. DOE has released an RFI to solicit input from the public and may use the information it gathers to develop challenges and prize competitions to address key water issues. Comments to the RFI are due by May 14, 2018.