Chemical and Materials Science Research to Advance Clean Energy Technologies Like Solar, Next-Generation Batteries, and Carbon Capture and Storage
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $150 million in open funding for research projects focused on increasing efficiency and curbing carbon emissions from energy technologies and manufacturing. This funding will support research underpinning DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiatives, which set goals for significant improvements in clean energy technology within a decade, including hydrogen, long duration storage, and carbon capture and sequestration. This research is fundamental to the climate solutions that will be critical to reaching President Biden’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Rapidly deploying existing climate technology while cranking up investments in early-stage climate research is the one-two punch we need to build long-term resilience to the climate crisis and meet our 2050 goals,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “From discovery to deployment, this research funding will draw on the talent of American colleges and universities to expedite the development of new technology that, paired with our current arsenal of climate solutions, will be key to tackling the climate crisis while creating good-paying jobs and bolstering American competitiveness.”
Funding will support an array of research topics in basic chemical and materials research, including new clean energy approaches that are inspired by energy-efficient biological processes, such as photosynthesis that harnesses sunlight to synthesize the molecules plants need for life. This research is foundational to the development of solar and nuclear energy technologies, energy storage, carbon capture, novel manufacturing processes, and the use of critical minerals in energy technologies and manufacturing. This funding will also support research underpinning DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiatives, including the Hydrogen Shot, which aims to decrease the cost of producing hydrogen; the Long Duration Storage Shot, which seeks to reduce the cost and increase the duration of grid-scale energy storage; and the Carbon Negative Shot, which targets the decrease of costs to remove and durably store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
DOE encourages applications led by, or in partnership with, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) that are underrepresented in the Basic Energy Sciences portfolio and applications involving individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM. Applications are open to all accredited U.S. colleges and universities, national laboratories, nonprofits, and private sector companies. Contingent on congressional appropriations, total planned funding is up to $150 million, with up to $50 million in Fiscal Year 2022.
The Funding Opportunity Announcement, sponsored by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences within the Department’s Office of Science, can be found here.
