dept of energy

Congress has passed a budget for FY 2017 that largely continues support for federal innovation programs and R&D investments. Among the highlights are $17 million for Regional Innovation Strategies (a $2 million increase over FY 2016), level funding of $130 million for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership and $5 million for SBA’s clusters program. In reviewing dozens of line items, offices that had received significant cuts in the White House’s skinny budget appear to receive some of the largest funding increases (such as the Appalachian Regional Commission, Community Development Block Grant and ARPA-E). However, with the exception of multi-billion dollar increases for Department of Defense R&D, many increases are rather small in terms of overall dollars. This is, at least in part, a reflection of non-defense spending caps rising by only $40 million for FY 2017, limiting the availability of new funds. In this context, science and innovation gains are particularly impressive, with a five percent overall increase for federal R&D that particularly benefits NASA and NIH.

Innovation in the energy sector requires strong leadership from the federal government to help mitigate potential risks, according to a recent report by the American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC), a project of the Bipartisan Policy Center. The AEIC is a group of ten private sector leaders that includes Bill Gates, the heads of industry giants like Dominion Energy and Southern Company, and retired leaders of corporations such as Lockheed Martin and DuPont. Unlike many industries, the energy sector has suffered from an underinvestment in R&D, according to AEIC’s The Power of Innovation report. This has led to considerable challenges not seen in other industries. To spur energy innovation in the energy sector, AEIC recommends building on previous efforts to develop a national energy strategy. They recommend investing $16 billion a year in advanced energy innovation, and funding ARPA-E at anywhere from $300 million to $1 billion per year. Additionally, the authors recommend establishing a New Energy Challenge Program for innovative pilot projects.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced the Zero Energy Districts Accelerator, an initiative to develop best practices for establishing commercial districts that have net-neutral energy consumption. The accelerator is now one of 12 listed under the Better Buildings Initiative, which also includes dedicated programming for community and manufacturing initiatives. DOE’s most recent annual report finds that collectively, Better Buildings programs saved 160 trillion Btus of energy and 2.3 billion gallons of water while collecting more than 400 resources on implementation processes and technologies through 2015.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has launched the third round of the Small Business Vouchers (SBVs) pilot program. In this round of funding, DOE will commit up to $5 million in technical assistance from DOE national labs to help bring the next generation of clean technologies to market in nine technical areas of interest. Proposals are due November 10. For the third round, EERE hopes to increase new small businesses collaborating with the DOE national laboratories. As such, small businesses with little to no experience working with the DOE national labs are strongly encouraged to submit requests for assistance.

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that 43 small businesses had been selected to participate in the second round of its Small Business Voucher (SBV) pilot project, and was collectively awarded more than $8 million for a wide range of R&D clean energy, public-private sector innovation activities. The winning businesses will have the opportunity to collaborate with 12 DOE labs, as well as access to world class facilities and expert advice from renowned scientists and engineers to bring their clean energy technologies to market. The DOE laboratories scheduled to work with the awardees will offer their support and resources to commercialize clean energy techs involving advanced manufacturing, bioenergy, buildings, fuel cells, geothermal, solar, vehicles and water. Nearly $15 million in SBVs have been awarded in Rounds 1 and 2. The first SBV pilot took place in the fall of 2015 and involved 33 small businesses. Information involving Round 3 of the SBV program is expected to be released in October.

President Obama announced  the creation of the new Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (Smart MII) – a $140 million public-private partnership to develop smart sensors for use in advanced manufacturing. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) – a consortium of nearly 200 partners from academia and industry as well as nonprofit organizations – will lead the Smart MII. The Smart MII is the ninth MII awarded by the Obama administration. The president also announced five additional MII competitions, which are intended to invest nearly $800 million in combined federal and non-federal resources to support transformative manufacturing technologies in four areas:

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) released a notice of intent to establish and sustain a Clean Energy
Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in materials manufacturing. The $70 million funding opportunity
will be released in June to enable the development and widespread deployment of key industrial platform technologies that will dramatically reduce life-cycle
energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with industrial-scale materials production and processing through the development of technologies for reuse,
recycling, and remanufacturing of materials. Earlier this month, EERE also announced a new pilot program in partnership with the National Institute of Standards
and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) in four states – Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia – to provide
small businesses with better access to resources.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that they are seeking proposals for a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute, a part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The $70 million Modular Chemical Process Intensification Institute will focus on developing breakthrough technologies that increase the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes used across an array of U.S. industries. Examples could include ethylene for plastics and biofuels used in sustainable transportation, among others. Proposals for this institute, which will be the fourth within the NNMI led by the DOE, are due June 15. In addition to its request for proposals, the DOE also announced the topic of its fifth manufacturing institute: Reducing Embodied Energy and Emissions of Manufactured Materials.  More information on this institute, which will be focused on lowering energy use through the development of innovative recycling and remanufacturing technologies, will be announced by the end of May 2016.

In its first passage of a broad energy bill since the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the U.S. Senate included provisions in the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 (S.2012) that would: increase the authorization level for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science by 5 percent per year to $7.1 billion; increase the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program’s authorization level to $375 million in 2020, up from $291 million this year; help remove barriers for technology transfer at the federal laboratories; and, authorize the DOE to establish “microlabs” in close proximity to federal labs in support of regional innovation. The bipartisan legislation was approved by a vote of 85 to 12.