Clean energy investments

Multiple Projects to Receive $100M in Department of Energy SCALEUP Funding

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has revealed eight private-sector projects that will receive $100 million in investments under the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential program, which is intended to aid in scaling and commercializing clean power technologies assessed as marketable.

According to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, achieving the Biden administration’s climate goals requires a ramp-up of funding for companies in the clean energy and transportation sectors. President Joe Biden aims to halve greenhouse gas production by 2030 and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, ARPA-E said.

SCALEUP investments include $20 million to InventWood for a wood-based construction material meant to be sturdier, lighter, cheaper and more sustainable than conventional steel; $17.5 million to Kent Houston Offshore Engineering for NASA-integrated wind turbine technologies; and $17.5 million to Niron Magnetics for a permanent magnet made from more abundant materials rather than critical minerals.

The Department of Energy made the funding opportunity announcement for this round of the SCALEUP program in December 2021. The initial set of awardees was shared in 2019.

A similar program administered by ARPA-E is Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery, which saw $39 million granted in October to 16 research projects aimed at increasing yields of rare earth metals for clean energy technologies.