DOE Invests $150M in Decarbonizing Energy Technologies, Manufacturing

The Department of Energy has earmarked $150 million in funding for projects aimed at reducing the negative environmental impacts of energy technologies and manufacturing.

DOE said that the projects’ focus areas include the development of biologically inspired clean energy approaches, reduction in the cost of producing hydrogen, increasing the duration of grid-scale energy storage and lowering the cost of storing carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere.

The funding opportunity is open to accredited colleges, universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations and private-sector organizations in the United States, DOE said Tuesday.

DOE also encouraged applications for projects involving minority-serving institutions and individuals from historically underrepresented communities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said the investments will advance the development of technologies that will help address the climate crisis, create good-paying jobs and strengthen national competitiveness.

According to the department, the investment funds the technologies underpinning its Energy Earthshots program, which finances moonshot projects in clean energy.

Energy Earthshots is designed to drive collaboration among DOE’s science and applied energy offices and the larger research and development community.

DOE added that its new funding will support the Biden administration’s vision of decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050.

The $150 million funding is funding opportunity announcement is sponsored by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences in DOE’s Office of Science.