The goal of the PERSEPHONE SBIR/STTR program is to develop disruptive new technologies for bioenergy crop genetic engineering. Bioenergy provides about 5% of domestic energy consumption and has the potential to provide 5-10% more. Agriculture also could revolutionize the energy sector in other ways, such as providing precursors for chemicals and materials that are currently derived from petroleum. However, bioenergy crops may not maintain their current utility, much less achieve their potential, without transformative advances in tools to engineer them. Genetic engineering is an essential strategy to realize U.S. bioenergy potential and security.

This funding opportunity seeks to foster environmental stewardship and sustainable agriculture in communities by addressing the need for conservation education and resource support in urban and underserved communities. Projects may include conservation practice demonstration and education opportunities as well endeavors to engage historically underserved growers and communities in NRCS programs. In addition, on established USDA People’s Gardens, projects can include support for things like climate smart conservation practices, stormwater runoff and erosion control, and habitat establishment and management.

The FES Discovery Plasma Science: Plasma Science and Technology–General Plasma Science (GPS) program seeks new or renewal single-investigator or small-group applications to carry out hypothesis-driven frontier-level research in basic plasma science and engineering. This program aims to develop accurate descriptions of the complex behavior of the plasma state, to push it into new regimes that expand our concept of what constitutes a plasma, to design experiments and diagnostics to explore these states, and to validate theoretical models. GPS topical areas are broad and include but are not limited to: understanding the onset of magnetic reconnection and trigger mechanisms for explosive instabilities in nature (solar flares, geomagnetic storms) and in the laboratory; magnetic dynamo processes by which magnetic fields are generated in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas; mechanisms by which energy is transferred between fields, flows, and particles; how coherent
structures are created through the self-fields of the plasma and its interactions with waves; coupling of dusty plasma in strong magnetic fields; and plasma chemistry and processes related to interaction of plasma with surfaces, materials, or biomaterials.

The Exchange Network (EN) was launched in 2002 as an intergovernmental, collaborative partnership of EPA, states, territories, and Tribes to foster better environmental management and decision-making through increased access to timely, high quality environmental information. This was achieved through a standards-based approach to facilitate environmental data sharing among EPA, states, Tribes, and territories. The framework adopted allows organizations to exchange data over the Internet regardless of the specific information technology used.

DOE SC hereby invites applications for support under the ECRP in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); High Energy Physics (HEP); Nuclear Physics (NP); Isotope Research and Development (R&D) and Production (DOE IP); and Accelerator R&D and Production (ARDAP). The purpose of this program is to support the development of individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers and to stimulate research careers in the areas supported by SC.

EmPower Massachusetts offers multiple stages of investment in communities and community-based organizations so that they can explore, develop, and implement program models or projects that provide access to the benefits of clean energy for previously underserved populations. This MassCEC program crowd-sources new and innovative ideas, then helps put them into action.

The objective of the Private Facility Research (PFR) program is to support public research utilizing world leading experimental capabilities owned by private companies. Along the path to constructing Fusion Pilot Plants (FPPs), many private fusion companies are constructing interim small-to-large scale research facilities to establish the scientific and/or technological basis for their chosen fusion concepts. Since the research on these interim facilities is largely foundational in nature, the mission overlap between the public and private sectors is large. The PFR program
serves as a bridge from boldly delivered private sector hardware back to foundational research expertise residing in the public sector. Through the program, public researchers will conduct open peer-reviewed science at private facilities, to enhance the scientific rigor and breadth of the existing private efforts for the mutual benefit of all involved. As with all thriving high-tech industries, a strong connection to foundational research is essential.

This is a competitive grant solicitation. The California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean Transportation Program announces the availability of up to $4 million in grant funds for one or more third-party implementers to provide technical assistance (TA) for communities eligible to seek federal and state funding for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure. TA providers will, at minimum, assist in identifying grant opportunities, support successful application development and submittal, and support project implementation that delivers benefits in under-resourced communities.

The SUPERHOT program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the production of geothermal energy from super-hot reservoirs (>375 °C and >22 MPa) for 15 years or more. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality. The final application deadline is TBD. The program will have two categories:

• Category 1: Technologies related to the construction of robust super-hot wells and validation services for quality assurance of new well designs and materials. This focus will involve new materials, novel well solutions, and state-of-the-art testing facilities to assess these new approaches.

• Category 2: Technologies related to the extraction of heat from the reservoir to the well. The focus of this category is to develop fracture based and non-fracture-based methods for extracting heat from a super-hot reservoir (potentially composed of ductile rocks) to a working fluid in a well.

This Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) funding opportunity provides support for rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit their communities. Applicants must propose projects that support at least one of these eligible activities:

• Improving overall cost-effectiveness of energy generation, transmission, or distribution systems;
• Siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines;
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation in rural or remote areas;
• Providing or modernizing electric generation facilities;
• Developing microgrids; and
• Increasing energy efficiency.

The objective of this NOFO is to facilitate innovative energy storage technology material, subcomponent, component, or system pre-production design to improve the manufacturability of one or more energy storage technologies. The R&D projects supported by this NOFO will improve the manufacturability of an energy storage technology and advance the TRL and MRL of the technology in the United States. Results may benefit a consortium of developers if the design challenges are widely shared within an industry. Manufacturability improvements can reduce technology production costs for the energy storage technology in question. Identifying and implementing design innovations will align pre-production storage system design to set the stage for manufacturing scale-up.