ASERTTI MEMBER NEWS
Brookhaven Lab to Offer Streamlined Partnership
Agreement to Help Industry Bring New Technologies to Market
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu
recently announced that the DOE's Brookhaven National
Laboratory will participate in a pilot initiative to make it
easier for private companies to utilize the Laboratory’s
research capabilities. The program will harness America’s
unique advantages in innovation to create jobs and
accelerate the development of new clean energy technologies.
Previously, companies wishing to partner with the
laboratories for commercial research had two options:
signing a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
(CRADA) or a Work For Others (WFO) Agreement. The
eight laboratories participating in this pilot program
intend to offer a third, more flexible option: an Agreement
to Commercializing Technology (ACT). ACT was created
to address concerns that have been raised by industry and to
remove barriers that sometimes got in the way of
commercializing technology under a CRADA or WFO agreement.
To view the FAQ on Agreements for Commercializing Technology
(ACT), visit
http://technologytransfer.energy.gov/ACTpilotFAQ.html.
EPRI Study Identifies Power Generation Sites in U.S.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released a
study that provides an assessment of the physical and
geographic capacities to site nuclear, advanced coal, and
solar plants throughout the United States.
The study
shows potential electric generation capacity of 158
gigawatts (GW) for new advanced coal (with projections for
sites in Montana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia); 60 GW/18 GW for
dry-cooled and water-cooled concentrated solar power,
respectively (with projections for sites in California,
Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming) and 515 GW for large nuclear
reactors and 201 GW for small nuclear reactors (with
projections for sites throughout the United States). The
study suggests very large capacity for compressed air energy
storage with plant siting opportunities in 38 percent of the
contiguous United States, primarily in the middle regions of
the country. The report titled "Application
of Spatial Data Modeling and Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) for Identification of Potential Siting Options
for Various Electrical Generation Sources" is available
for download on EPRI’s website. It is also available at
www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1032036/.
N.C. Solar Center Offers New Certificate in
Renewable Energy Management
Renewable energy and energy efficiency activity in North
Carolina have been booming since the Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard passed in the summer of
2007. The boom in the renewable energy industry has
matured to involve more non-technical personnel who don’t
necessarily have a renewable energy background. With tax
credits and other incentives available, project development
has become more competitive – and complicated. To help
advance the market, the N.C. Solar Center is launching the
Certificate in Renewable Energy Management (CREM), a
40-hour hybrid program offered with both online and on-site
components, in March 2012 and is offering its Renewable
Energy Technologies Diploma Series online. This
non-credit certificate program will be offered from March to
May, and is the only non-degree program of its kind in North
America that includes topics to help develop
commercial-scale projects.
NATIONAL NEWS
President Obama Highlights Energy Department
Efficiency Training Centers That Save U.S. Manufacturers
$5.6 Billion
During a visit to the University of Miami to highlight
his administration’s all-out, all-of-the-above approach to
American energy, President Obama touted the U.S. Department
of Energy’s cost-cutting Industrial Assessment Program. The
program supports university-based Industrial Assessment
Centers (IACs) across the country, which provide students
with critical skills and training to conduct energy
assessments in a broad range of facilities, while producing
real cost savings for small to mid-size manufacturers. To
date, these assessments have helped save over 530 trillion
BTUs of energy – enough to meet the energy needs of 5.5
million American homes – and have helped participating
manufacturers save more than $5.6 billion in energy costs.
More information and a full list of Industrial Assessment
Centers across the U.S. can be found
HERE.
Bill Gates Comments on Energy Funding Levels at
ARPA-E Conference
Bill Gates told an audience of energy entrepreneurs,
scientists and investors at the ARPA-E energy conference on
Tuesday that “It’s crazy how little we’re funding energy.”
Energy research is underfunded by a factor of two, Gates
said, referring to the amount of current U.S. government
investment in energy research. Underfunding energy
research means there is a higher risk that we won’t be able
to deliver the needed energy breakthroughs, said Gates.
Gates pointed out that funding basic research naturally has
a high failure rate: Potentially 90 percent of the projects
in ARPA-E won’t make a dent in the future of energy
technology, he said. “Look at the battery companies [at
ARPA-E], and if you can find the one out of ten that will
breakthrough, then great, go invest in it,” said Gates.
But the high failure rate is why we “literally need
thousands of these companies to try this,” in order to get a
dramatic solution, said Gates. Gates also noted that he
thought the IT revolution has “morphed people’s minds” about
how fast progress can be delivered. The energy revolution
will be much slower than the IT revolution, said Gates.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
President Obama Announces Funding for Breakthroughs
in Natural Gas and Biofuels as Alternative Fuels for
Vehicles
President Obama recently announced new funding to
catalyze breakthrough technologies for two key alternative
fuels – natural gas and biofuels – as part of his
all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce our reliance on
foreign oil and provide American families new choices for
vehicles that do not rely on conventional gasoline.
Through its Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy
(ARPA-E), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will make $30
million available for a new research competition in the
coming months that will engage our country’s brightest
scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to find ways to
harness our abundant supplies of domestic natural gas for
vehicles. DOE will also make $14 million available to
support research and development into biofuels from algae.
ARPA-E’s $30 million funding announcement for
natural gas breakthroughs build on President Obama’s call
for a new era for American energy that benefits from the
safe, responsible development of the near 100-year supply of
American natural gas, which has the potential to support
more than 600,000 U.S. jobs. For more information and
application requirements for the Funding Opportunity
Announcement, please visit
https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/.
DOE’s $14
million funding announcement to develop transportation fuels
from algae builds on an Administration-wide commitment to
biofuels research, development, and demonstration that
includes support for the construction of commercial-scale,
next-generation biorefineries. Applications are due on April
18, 2012. For more information and application requirements
for the Funding Opportunity Announcement, please visit the
Grants.gov website.
DOE Launches New Research Program to Advance Solar
Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $3
million available this year to support research to
significantly lower the cost of solar energy. The funding
will enable collaborative research teams from industry,
universities and national laboratories to work together in
the Energy Department's research centers including the
Scientific User Facilities to develop solutions to drive
down the cost of solar energy. By accelerating scientific
breakthroughs, these research teams support the DOEt's
SunShot Initiative goal to make solar energy cost
competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the
decade – creating jobs, enhancing U.S. energy security, and
boosting American competitiveness in the global clean energy
economy. Letters of intent are requested from
potential applicants no later than April 25, 2012. Full
applications are due May 21, 2012. For more information and
application requirements for this funding opportunity
announcement, please visit the
Funding
Opportunity Exchange website.
DOE Releases
Formula and Competitive State Energy Program Funding
Opportunity Announcements
On Monday, February 27, DOE
released both the State Energy Program (SEP) Formula Grant
and the Competitive Award funding opportunity announcements
(FOAs) for program year 2012. Of the total $50 million
available in FY'12 SEP funding, $30 million is being
directed to the states through formula grants, $15 million
is being offered through competitive awards, and $5 million
is going toward technical assistance.
-
SEP Formula: (Due in accordance with applicant's
program year)
-
SEP Competitive: (Due Monday, April 16, 2012)The
areas of interest under the competitive FOA include the
following:
Area of Interest 1 – Advancing Energy Efficiency
in Public Facilities
Number of Projects: Up to
30
Total Potential Award Funding: Up to $10,000,000
Awards range from $250,000- $1,000,000
Area
of Interest 2 – Stimulating Energy Efficiency Action in
States
Number of Projects: Up to 8
Total
Potential Award Funding: Up to $2,000,000
Awards range
from $250,000 to $750,000
Area of Interest 3
– Improving or Developing A Fee-Based Self-Funded Public
Facilities
Energy Retrofit Program
Number of
Projects: up to 12
Total Potential Award Funding: up to
$5,000,000
EVENTS
Biomass 2012: Confronting Challenges, Creating Opportunities – Sustaining a
Commitment to Bioenergy
July 10-11, 2012 – Washington, D.C. |
