The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $70 million in funding to support research into technologies designed to increase resilience and reduce risks to energy delivery infrastructure from a variety of hazards, including cyber and physical threats, natural disasters, and climate-change fueled extreme weather events. This new competitive funding opportunity will be available to public and private sector stakeholders, universities, and DOE’s National Laboratories and will help advance next-generation innovations that strengthen the resilience of America’s energy systems, which include the power grid, electric utilities, pipelines, and renewable energy generation sources like wind or solar.

DOE’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for Building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships. These partnerships advance the understanding of the physical world by supporting fundamental, early-stage energy research collaborations with DOE National Laboratories. Participation by undergraduate students, graduate students, or postdoctoral fellows is required. Early career faculty from EPSCoR jurisdictions are encouraged to apply, and utilization of DOE user facilities is encouraged.

The primary objective of the GREENWELLS program is the development of chemical reactors and supporting units that economically store at least 50% of incoming intermittent electrical energy in carbon-containing liquids. To achieve attractive economics, ARPA-E expects that chemical reactors will need to be dynamically operable to optimize the entire system of renewable energy production, electrolysis capital, and energy storage. If successful, the GREENWELLS program will provide low-cost carbon-containing liquids that enable the transportation and storage of renewable energy, are suitable as-is or with upgrading for use in the difficult-to-decarbonize sectors, and will speed the development of new renewable energy projects by alleviating requirements for connection to an electric grid.

Technical approaches of interest include but are not limited to:

(1) Dynamic Reactor Design

(2) Novel Catalyst Development and Optimization

(3) Manufacturing of Modular Reaction Systems

(4) Transient Modelling and Process Optimization

The 2024 challenge: To be part of a competitively selected cohort of start-up and/or seed stage ventures who offer innovative products or services aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to help Vermont meet its climate goals. Start-ups addressing the decarbonization of buildings, transportation, heating and industrial processes through electrification, biofuels, thermal energy networks or other renewables with a particular focus on load management controls integrated with storage, heat pumps, electric vehicle charging equipment and building systems are encouraged to apply. Ventures that address energy burden for under-represented and low to moderate income populations are of particular interest.

Congress established the Small Business Innovation Research / Technology Transfer (SBIR and STTR) programs to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy.  Federal agencies with large research and development budgets set aside a small fraction of their funding for competitions among small businesses only. Small businesses that win awards in these R&D programs keep the rights to any technology developed and are encouraged to commercialize the technology. DOE’s Phase 1 Release 2 includes funding for topics at the Offices of:

• Electricity
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
• Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D
• Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
• Nuclear Energy

This three-phase prize will award a total of $4.5 million in cash prizes and $1.1 million in national laboratory analysis consultation and technical assistance to teams that develop innovative ways to extend the lifetimes of products or parts via re-using, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, or repurposing (“Re-X”) before recycling.  

The innovations developed through this prize will reduce life cycle energy and emissions, strengthen circular supply chains for emerging clean energy technologies, and decrease the demand for virgin materials. Innovations that enable new or expanded Re-X supply chains can also engage communities and labor, advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), and support the implementation of the White House Justice40 initiative. 

This lab call represents the combined effort of fourteen different U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program offices and the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). This solicitation offers an opportunity for private industry to partner with DOE’s National Labs to advance energy-related National Lab-developed technology toward commercialization and to reduce the barriers to commercializing lab-developed energy-related technologies and IP. The intent is to increase the volume and speed to which energy-related lab-developed technologies make it to market from an improved lab commercialization ecosystem.

For Year 2 of the ACCEL program, we’re seeking applications from innovative startups at TRL 1-4 with founding and executive teams that are primarily made up of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders who are developing climate solutions for the electricity, transportation, buildings, manufacturing, agriculture, and resiliency + adaptation sectors.

This year-long program combines acceleration with a curated curriculum, incubation through a Greentown Labs membership, and extensive mentorship from Greentown and Browning the Green Space (BGS)’s networks of industry experts. Greentown and BGS know the climatetech industry must change the status quo to equitably position you to lead startups that will address climate change, support the development of diverse workforces, and fiercely advocate for the deployment of clean technologies in historically underserved communities.

EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for approximately $2 billion dollars in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments.

Are you a Climate Tech innovator looking to commercialize your hardware product? Apply to the 2023-2024 Scale For ClimateTech (S4C) program. Through the S4C program, supported by NYSERDA, and administered by SecondMuse and NextCorps, innovators receive dedicated support throughout their manufacturing process in order to gain confidence in their path to market and scale up production to meet demand. Innovators receive dedicated support throughout their manufacturing process in order to gain confidence in their path to market and scale up production to meet demand

The Keeling Curve Prize, awards $50,000 annually to 10 projects that demonstrate the ability to reduce, replace, or remove greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and oceans. Since 2018, $1.75M has been awarded to 60 nonprofits, for-profits, and startups, and more than 1,130 viable solutions have been vetted. Eligible categories include carbon sinks, energy, finance, social and cultural pathways, and transport and mobility

NextEra Energy Investments, LLC (NEI), an indirect and wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc., is holding a Seed Competition. Startups have the potential to receive up to a $500,000 seed capital investment, with such investment documentation terms to be negotiated between the potential winner and NEI. The Seed Competition is intended for entrepreneurs solving critical problems within Cybersecurity, Data & AI, Decarbonization and Energy Transition who want to work with NextEra and its subsidiaries to innovate for a better tomorrow.