Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy

Title Sort descending Due Date Maximum Award Amount Description
Funding Opportunity Announcement: Sensing Exports of Anthropogenic Carbon through Ocean Observation (SEA CO2) $10,000,000.00

Funding Opportunity Announcement: Sensing Exports of Anthropogenic Carbon through Ocean Observation (SEA CO2) To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website athttps://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit applicationmaterials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailedguidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted throughother means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA nameand number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website athttps://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit applicationmaterials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https ://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. AGENCY OVERVIEW The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260): “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any cooperative agreements or grants made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on, and the development of, transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive improvements to the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly better than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”1 Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”)2 should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity). PROGRAM OVERVIEW Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) will be an essential component of a future negative emissions industry, which alongside emissions reduction is necessary to restrict climate warming to less than 2°C and avoid global, irreversible, and catastrophic changes caused by this temperature rise. This program seeks to accelerate the development of the mCDR industry through the development of scalable Measurement, Reporting and Validation (MRV) technologies. MRV must be of sufficient quality to quantify carbon drawdown magnitudes, the degree of permanence, and bound the uncertainties associated with these parameters so that carbon markets can ascertain credit quality and financial institutions can make informed decisions regarding investment risk. To achieve these goals, a paradigm shift in chemical oceanographic data collection is required, moving from a single-point collection paradigm towards a goal of persistent sensing of parameters across large areas and/or volumes. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346178
GRID OVERHAUL WITH PROACTIVE, HIGH-SPEED UNDERGROUNDING FOR RELIABILITY, RESILIENCE, AND SECURITY (GOPHURRS) $10,000,000.00

DE-FOA-0003047, Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security (GOPHURRS) To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260): “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any cooperative agreements or grants made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on, and the development of, transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive improvements to the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly better than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.” Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”) should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity). Program Overview: GOPHURRS (Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-Speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security) intends to fund a portfolio of new technologies based on bold and unconventional ideas that will transform the construction of underground medium voltage (MV, 5 – 46 kV) power distribution grids (e.g., primary feeders and laterals) in urban and suburban areas and reduce the cost of undergrounding electric power grids by at least 50% in order to improve the overall reliability, resilience, and security of power infrastructure in the United States. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) are two commonly used reliability metrics. In the United States today, SAIDI and SAIFI range approximately 5-8 hours and 1.5 times per customer, respectively, which is responsible for an economic cost to U.S. electricity consumers of $79 billion/year. Undergrounding powerlines is a proven way of improving the system reliability for both transmission and distribution grids as indicated in stark differences in SAIDI and SAIFI of overhead systems and underground systems (Figure 1). Despite the reliability benefits, the cost of burying distribution powerlines is significant, up to five to ten times that of overhead distribution lines, making it the major barrier to making such grid investment decisions. Furthermore, today's undergrounding processes pose safety concerns, such as damage to other buried utilities during construction, occupational safety and health hazards associated with tasks performed in a manhole, and lengthy surface disruptions and traffic detours affecting the safety of surrounding communities, making undergrounding a difficult project to undertake. The GOPHURRS program aims to reduce the time and cost required to underground by a factor of at least two when compared to traditional trenching-based methods. More specifically, GOPHURRS technologies will shift the paradigm of undergrounding from digging to drilling in order to leave the surface nearly untouched. In order to achieve this goal, GOPHURRS focuses on developing transformative technologies capable of achieving autonomous/trenchless utility installation, such as automated and rapid subsurface drilling along the terrain and concurrent conduit installation, while also avoiding hidden underground obstacles (e.g., existing infrastructure, geologic anomalies) with advanced look-ahead sensors (Figure 2). In addition, GOPHURRS aims to reduce the life cycle cost of an underground power system by developing reliable cable joint designs and installation systems, as cable joints are typically the first to fail during operation. The GOPHURRS program could reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the reliability and safety of undergrounding operations and the surrounding communities by developing such technologies focused on automation, damage prevention, and error elimination. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347216
GRID OVERHAUL WITH PROACTIVE, HIGH-SPEED UNDERGROUNDING FOR RELIABILITY, RESILIENCE, AND SECURITY SBIR/STTR (GOPHURRS SBIR/STTR) $4,241,580.00

DE-FOA-0003048, SBIR/STTR Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security (GOPHURRS) To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260): “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any cooperative agreements or grants made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on, and the development of, transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive improvements to the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly better than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.” Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”) should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity). Program Overview: GOPHURRS (Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-Speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security) intends to fund a portfolio of new technologies based on bold and unconventional ideas that will transform the construction of underground medium voltage (MV, 5 – 46 kV) power distribution grids (e.g., primary feeders and laterals) in urban and suburban areas and reduce the cost of undergrounding electric power grids by at least 50% in order to improve the overall reliability, resilience, and security of power infrastructure in the United States. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) are two commonly used reliability metrics. In the United States today, SAIDI and SAIFI range approximately 5-8 hours and 1.5 times per customer, respectively, which is responsible for an economic cost to U.S. electricity consumers of $79 billion/year. Undergrounding powerlines is a proven way of improving the system reliability for both transmission and distribution grids as indicated in stark differences in SAIDI and SAIFI of overhead systems and underground systems (Figure 1). Despite the reliability benefits, the cost of burying distribution powerlines is significant, up to five to ten times that of overhead distribution lines, making it the major barrier to making such grid investment decisions. Furthermore, today's undergrounding processes pose safety concerns, such as damage to other buried utilities during construction, occupational safety and health hazards associated with tasks performed in a manhole, and lengthy surface disruptions and traffic detours affecting the safety of surrounding communities, making undergrounding a difficult project to undertake. The GOPHURRS program aims to reduce the time and cost required to underground by a factor of at least two when compared to traditional trenching-based methods. More specifically, GOPHURRS technologies will shift the paradigm of undergrounding from digging to drilling in order to leave the surface nearly untouched. In order to achieve this goal, GOPHURRS focuses on developing transformative technologies capable of achieving autonomous/trenchless utility installation, such as automated and rapid subsurface drilling along the terrain and concurrent conduit installation, while also avoiding hidden underground obstacles (e.g., existing infrastructure, geologic anomalies) with advanced look-ahead sensors (Figure 2). In addition, GOPHURRS aims to reduce the life cycle cost of an underground power system by developing reliable cable joint designs and installation systems, as cable joints are typically the first to fail during operation. The GOPHURRS program could reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the reliability and safety of undergrounding operations and the surrounding communities by developing such technologies focused on automation, damage prevention, and error elimination. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=347220
Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) $10,000,000.00

FOA Number: DE-FOA-0002625 Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260) to: “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy (http://fossil.energy.gov/), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (http://energy.gov/oe/office-electricity-delivery-and-energy-reliability). Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”) should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy (http://fossil.energy.gov/), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (http://energy.gov/oe/office-electricity-delivery-and-energy-reliability). Program Overview: The goal of the HESTIA program is to support the development of technologies that nullify embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (see Section I.B above), while simultaneously transforming buildings into net carbon storage structures. Specifically, projects funded under the HESTIA Program will develop and demonstrate building materials and whole-building designs that are net carbon negative (see Section I.B above) on a life cycle basis by utilizing atmospheric CO2 or CH4 (see Section I.B above) from a wide range of potential feedstocks (e.g., forestry and purpose-grown products, agricultural residues, marine derived, direct carbon utilization) in the production process. HESTIA metrics are: •storage of more carbon in the chemical structure of the finished product than emitted during manufacture, construction, and use, •relevant performance testing (e.g., flammability, strength) as required per applicable building code and incumbent specifications, •market advantage (e.g., improved material performance in at least one area, lower cost, easier installation) over the best-in-class incumbent building element(s) (i.e. structural and/or enclosure) selected for replacement, and •sufficient retention of carbon storage over service lifetime and minimized end-of-life emissions where possible by designing for reuse, repurposing, and/or recycling. This FOA supports the development of viable technologies to achieve these metrics in a cost-effective manner to meet building construction industry demand for low-cost. Technical categories of interest are identified in Section I.E of the FOA. Performance targets for the technical categories of interest are provided in Section I.F of the FOA. Section I.G of the FOA provides information on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) requirements. To ensure that the technologies developed through this Program are evaluated consistently and transparently, a separate solicitation will be used to develop and perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in conjunction with and to support Applicants of this FOA. The HESTIA Program offers a unique opportunity to address the growing need for market-ready negative emission technologies to implement carbon removal strategies by changing the paradigm for building construction through the use of carbon negativity as a design parameter. Projects will create novel designs that maximize the energy benefits of carbon storage in addition to manufacturing methods and performance of the materials themselves. To read this FOA in its entirety, please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336470
Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) $5,000,000.00

Program Overview: The Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) program’s aim is to support the development of commercial-ready technologies that give the United States a net-zero or net negative emissions pathway toward increased domestic supplies of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical elements required for the transition to clean energy. The lack of a secure domestic supply of these minerals poses a significant supply chain risk for the United States, especially with regard to batteries, renewable energy generation, and transmission. Meanwhile, the domestic mining industry faces the rapid depletion of high-profit deposits, increased cost of mining and processing, expensive, management, and accumulation of tailings, resulting in an overall reduced return of investment by conventional mining methods. Consequently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with objectives to support the development of technology and approaches to: (1) decrease comminution energy by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; (2) increase yield of energy-relevant minerals by reducing unrecovered energy-relevant minerals in the tailings by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; and (3) enabling the negative emissions production of key minerals by sequestering >10 wt.% CO2e per metric ton of ore processed. Four categories have been identified as necessary to achieve these goals and are discussed in detail later: I. Mineral comminution II. Improvements to beneficiation and processing to increase mineral yield III. Carbon negative reactions IV. Sensing, analyzing and enabling carbonation potential and mineralization This FOA supports the development of viable technologies to achieve these goals cost-effectively with the potential to reach commercial scalability. Identified within this FOA are technical categories of interest in Section I.F. Also provided within this FOA are performance targets for the technical categories of interest in Section I.G. Lastly, Sections I.H and I.I of the FOA provide information on technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) requirements, respectively. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260) to: “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”1 Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”)2 should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity).
To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338299
Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) (SBIR/STTR) $3,952,638.00

To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line). Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. Agency Overview: The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358), as further amended by the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260) to: “(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that— (i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; (iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; (iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; and (v) improve the resilience, reliability, and security of infrastructure to produce, deliver, and store energy; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of transformative science and technology solutions to address the energy and environmental missions of the Department. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/. ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology. ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale. ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.”1 Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research (defined by the Office of Management and Budget as “experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundations of phenomena and observable facts”)2 should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (https://www.energy.gov/fecm/office-fossil-energy-and-carbon-management), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity (https://www.energy.gov/oe/office-electricity). Program Overview: The Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery (MINER) program’s aim is to support the development of commercial-ready technologies that give the United States a net-zero or net negative emissions pathway toward increased domestic supplies of copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and other critical elements required for the transition to clean energy. The lack of a secure domestic supply of these minerals poses a significant supply chain risk for the United States, especially with regard to batteries, renewable energy generation, and transmission. Meanwhile, the domestic mining industry faces the rapid depletion of high-profit deposits, increased cost of mining and processing, expensive management, and accumulation of tailings, resulting in an overall reduced return of investment by conventional mining methods. Consequently, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with objectives to support the development of technology and approaches to: (1) decrease comminution energy by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; (2) increase yield of energy-relevant minerals by reducing unrecovered energy-relevant minerals in the tailings by 50% compared to state-of-the-art; and (3) enabling the negative emissions production of key minerals by sequestering >10 wt.% CO2e per metric ton of ore processed. Four categories have been identified as necessary to achieve these goals and are discussed in detail later: I. Mineral comminution II. Improvements to beneficiation and processing to increase mineral yield III. Carbon negative reactions IV. Sensing, analyzing and enabling carbonation potential and mineralization This FOA supports the development of viable technologies to achieve these goals cost-effectively with the potential to reach commercial scalability. Identified within this FOA are technical categories of interest in Section I.G. Also provided within this FOA are performance targets for the technical categories of interest in Section I.H. Lastly, Sections I.I and I.J of the FOA provide information on technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) requirements, respectively. To view the FOA in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338324
OPEN 2021 $10,000,000.00

DE-FOA-0002459 (OPEN 2021)To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line).Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358) to:“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that result in—(i) reductions of imports of energy from foreign sources;(ii) reductions of energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; and(iii) improvement in the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; and(B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. ”ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under its authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538. The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R. Part 200 as supplemented by 2 C.F.R. Part 910. ARPA-E funds research on and the development of high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment. The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology. For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/.This FOA marks the fifth OPEN solicitation in the history of ARPA-E. The previous OPEN solicitations were conducted at the inception of the agency in 2009 and again in 2012, 2015, and 2018. OPEN 2021 therefore continues the three-year periodic cycle for ARPA-E OPEN solicitations. An OPEN solicitation provides a vitally important mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary mechanism, which is through the solicitation of research projects in focused technology programs. ARPA-E’s focused programs target specific areas of technology that the agency has identified, through extensive interaction with the appropriate external stakeholders, as having significant potential impact on one or more of the Mission Areas described in Section I.A of the FOA. Awards made in response to the solicitation for focused programs support the aggressive technical targets established in that solicitation. Taken in total, ARPA-E’s focused technology programs cover a significant portion of the spectrum of energy technologies and applications. ARPA-E’s OPEN FOAs ensure that the agency does not miss opportunities to support innovative energy R&D that falls outside of the topics of the focused technology programs or that develop after focused solicitations have closed. OPEN FOAs provide the agency with a broad sampling of new and emerging opportunities across the complete spectrum of energy applications and allow the agency to “take the pulse” of the energy R&D community. OPEN FOAs have been and will continue to be the complement to the agency’s focused technology programs – a unique combination of approaches for supporting the most innovative and current energy technology R&D. For instance, one-third of the sixty examples of most successful ARPA-E projects featured in ARPA-E Impact volumes (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/about/our-impact) resulted from OPEN solicitations. Potential applicants to this FOA are strongly encouraged to examine the OPEN projects in these volumes and all of the projects supported in the previous four OPEN solicitations (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/open-programs) for examples of the creative and innovative R&D ARPA-E seeks in its OPEN solicitations. The objective of an ARPA-E OPEN FOA is simple, yet comprehensive: to support high-risk R&D leading to the development of potentially disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. ARPA-E seeks to support early-stage, but potentially transformational research, in all areas of energy R&D, covering transportation and stationary applications. Areas of research responsive to this FOA include (but are not limited to) electricity generation by both conventional and renewable means; electricity transmission, storage, and distribution; energy efficiency for buildings, manufacturing and commerce, and personal use; and all aspects of transportation, including the production and distribution of both renewable and non-renewable fuels, electrification, and energy efficiency in transportation. Because of the enormous breadth of energy technologies solicited under an OPEN FOA, the well-defined technical targets in a focused ARPA-E technology program FOA are inapplicable. Rather, ARPA-E asks applicants to address the potential impact of the proposed technology on the agency’s Mission Areas: reducing imported energy, reducing energy-related emissions, and improving energy efficiency. The critical question for applicants to consider in assessing potential impact is: “If it works, will it matter?” In a FOA for a focused technology program, this question has already been answered by ARPA-E. If an applicant can demonstrate that the proposed technology can achieve the challenging technical targets specified in the FOA for a focused program, the agency believes that the technology can have significant impact on the agency’s missions. In an OPEN FOA, the burden of demonstrating potential impact lies solely upon the applicant, who must make the strongest possible case for why the proposed technology will matter – that it has the potential to change our energy future. To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Registration.aspx). For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx). ARPA-E will not review or consider concept papers submitted through other means. For problems with ARPA-E eXCHANGE, email ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with FOA name and number in the subject line).Questions about this FOA? Check the Frequently Asked Questions available at http://arpa-e.energy.gov/faq. For questions that have not already been answered, email ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=331457
Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0003027 on Achieving Circularity of the Domestic Battery Supply Chain Varies

Program and FOA Description for Grants.gov:Request for Information (RFI)DE-FOA-0003027: Achieving Circularity of the Domestic Battery Supply ChainThe purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on achieving a circular and domestic battery supply chain for various types of electric vehicles including scooters, cars, buses, trucks, trains, ships, and aircrafts. A circular battery supply chain keeps materials and products in circulation at their highest level of performance for as long possible. It is based on a system-level approach that minimize material use, waste, and emissions through the selection of regenerative materials and sustainable designs and manufacturing processes of parts and products. From an economic standpoint, it aims to manage supply chain risks and recover lost manufacturing value.The potential program is not concerned with supplies of critical minerals or with existing battery recycling processes. Instead, it focuses on alternative strategies that can be implemented to achieve circularity including servicing, upgrading, refurbishing, and remanufacturing of batteries. The primary goals are (1) to identify materials (e.g., electrode materials, electrolytes, adhesives) amenable to in-cell regeneration to prolong the life of batteries, (2) to develop sustainable design and manufacturing of battery cells, modules, and packs that facilitate serviceability, disassembly, refurbishing, and recovery of materials and/or components at the end of life, and (3) to minimize waste, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions during the battery lifecycle. Such transformation should be achieved without affecting the performance and safety of the battery packs. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative and implementable technologies that can:(a) Extend the life of battery materials, cells, modules, and/or pack through regeneration, servicing or maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, and remanufacturing. Examples include selection of electrode materials that can be regenerated through thermomechanical, chemical, and/or electrochemical treatments,(b) Develop designs and manufacturing processes for cells, modules and packs that can be easily disassembled to enable servicing, reuse, refurbishing, or remanufacturing, and(c) Minimize the overall amount of waste generated, energy consumed, and greenhouse gas emitted throughout the battery manufacturing, servicing, and recycling processes. Examples include designs that avoid permanent bonding or any fabrication that requires destructive disassembly (e.g., shredding).To view the RFI in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346436
Request for Information (RFI): Enabling Technologies for Improving Fusion Power Plant Performance and Availability Varies

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance. The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future programs. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E-funded research program focused on two overarching themes: (A) Improving fusion power plant performance and (B) Increasing fusion power plant availability. ARPA-E identifies and funds applied research and development to translate science into breakthrough energy technologies with large commercial impact. The ALPHA (Accelerating Low-Cost Plasma Heating and Assembly) , BETHE (Breakthroughs Enabling THermonuclear-fusion Energy) , and GAMOW (Galvanizing Advances in Market-Aligned Fusion for an Overabundance of Watts) fusion programs, each contribute to enabling timely, commercially viable thermonuclear fusion energy. However, there remain technological and economic gaps that need to be closed to enable timely demonstration and deployment of fusion energy. To close these gaps, a path forward should include the development of low-cost enabling technologies that improve fusion power plant performance as well as increase plant availability. Improving performance with innovative heating schemes and high-performance targets: For both magnetic fusion energy (MFE) and laser inertial fusion energy (IFE) concepts, increasing the wall-plug efficiency (WPE) of plasma heating systems and lasers, respectively, reduces the required recirculating power and therefore increases the fraction of the fusion power which can be delivered to the grid, thereby reducing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). An additional challenge for IFE concepts is the need for large quantities (~million/day) of low-cost targets designed for to the chosen laser technology that can survive injection into the target chamber at high velocity. Increasing FPP availability through accelerated discovery of novel fusion materials: Presently, there is no solution for a plasma-facing material that can handle the expected heat, neutron flux, and particle load without significant erosion and melting, requiring periodic replacement at high cost. The development of materials with the ability to survive the harsh reactor environment is essential for cost competitive fusion energy. The economic viability of a FPP is improved significantly with the development of novel structural materials with better reliability and longer life. Structural materials development for FPPs must also require consideration of change in nuclide composition (transmutation) under neutron irradiation. Additionally, some of these newly created nuclides may be radioactive, leading to activation of the material. Autonomous and accelerated discovery of novel materials for FPPs will enable realizing fusion power within a reasonable timeframe. Advancements in enabling technologies in the areas of high-throughput material synthesis and characterization will certainly help with these efforts. Successes in earlier data-driven approaches that fuse high-throughput materials synthesis and characterization with machine learning algorithms and closed-loop discovery automation should be leveraged to reduce the development timeline. To view the RFI in its entirety, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=344152
Request for Information (RFI): Nuclear Hybrid and Non-Electricity Energy Systems Varies

Request for Information (RFI): Nuclear Hybrid and Non-Electricity Energy Systems The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on the integration of nuclear reactor facilities into industrial processes to enable their provision of carbon-free heat and/or power. ARPA-E is seeking information regarding transformative and implementable technologies to facilitate this integration. Traditionally, nuclear energy produces electricity via the conversion of fission reactions to heat, to mechanical energy, and finally to electricity. As a fundamentally clean, zero-carbon source of heat, nuclear energy offers a path to decarbonization in hard-to-abate industries where heat, especially high-quality heat, is a major energy input. Historically, there have been applications of nuclear heat outside of electricity generation, such as desalination and district heating, but with the imminent deployment of advanced reactors (ARs), the opportunity to widen the application scope is expanding. ARs are distributed bi-axially in terms of thermal and electric output and temperature. Capacity ranges from a single megawatt (MW) for microreactors, to a few tens or low hundreds of MWs for small modular reactors (SMRs), and even up to gigawatt scale. Operating temperatures range from 300 up to 900°C. The recent focus on decarbonization and sustainability has created new opportunities for novel combinations of existing, or emerging, technologies in new sector applications. Industrial processes, which generate 24% of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions , remain difficult to decarbonize due to their large heat requirements. The potential to integrate advanced nuclear reactors with industrial processes offers a potential pathway to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from this sector.

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=346221