DOE announces $100 million in clean energy solutions funding

The funding is meant to support President Biden and Vice President Harris’ climate innovation agenda.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $100 million in funding for research and development of transformative clean energy solutions, in support of the Biden administration’s climate innovation agenda.

The funding opportunity is through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s OPEN 2021.

This new funding opportunity for transformative clean energy solutions is expected to be only the first of billions of dollars the DOE will make available in R&D funding opportunities this year. The goal is to discover cutting-edge, disruptive green energy tech in the face of the climate crisis.

The DOE also intends to take part in the Climate Innovation Working Group through the National Climate Task Force, recently announced by the White House. That group’s purpose will be the coordination of federal government-wide strategies and actions for driving affordable, viable tech to bring the United States closer to the Biden administration’s 2050 target for a net zero carbon emissions economy. The working group will also underscore research for building and strengthening and building American green energy supply chains while supporting US manufacturing.

This is only the first in a large wave of funding for clean energy solutions and similar investments.

“Today we are inviting scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs and creative thinkers around America to join us in developing the energy technologies we need to tackle the climate crisis and build a more equitable clean energy economy,” said Tarak Shah, DOE Chief of Staff. “The Department of Energy is committed to empowering innovators to develop bold solutions that will help America achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 while creating millions of good-paying jobs that benefit all Americans.”

Since the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was first established in 2009, it has provided $2.4 billion in funding to research and development. Moreover, projects through the program have drawn over $4.9 billion in follow-on funding from the private sector. They are projects aimed at commercializing clean energy solutions and to form sustainable green energy employment. Prior recipients of ARPA-E funds have made ground-breaking discoveries in commercializing a spectrum of energy solutions, including in advanced surface coating technology, biofuels, batteries, solar, and geothermal.