6. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION

In order to support the only advanced nuclear reactor currently under construction in the United States, the DOE in March 2019 announced additional loan guarantees of up to USD 3.7 billion (for a total of USD 12 billion) for the Vogtle nuclear facility in Georgia (DOE, 2019k).

To address the full nuclear cycle, the DOE also conducts RD&D activities in the area of spent nuclear fuel, under the Used Nuclear Fuel Disposition Research and Development programme. The focus of the programme is on disposal as well as storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel and waste.

The DOE also grants scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students in nuclear engineering to foster the next generation of expertise and innovation in nuclear sciences. Since 2009, it has administered the Nuclear Energy University Program, which oversees all university support programmes. In addition, the DOE runs the Millennial Nuclear Caucus, to convene young leaders in nuclear innovation to hold discussions on the future role of nuclear technology.

Energy efficiency and renewable energy

The mission of the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is to support an expanded role for clean energy in the US economy, including ensuring a leadership role for the United States in clean energy technologies. In this respect, EERE devotes a considerable share of its initiatives and financing to RD&D efforts, including overseeing activities of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and several other DOE national labs. EERE comprises 11 technology offices, falling under three broad technology categories: efficiency, renewables and transportation. EERE has run its agenda through multi-year roadmaps, the most recent of which is the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan. According to the DOE, based on third-party evaluations of one-third of EERE’s RD&D portfolio, USD 12 billion of investments had resulted in a net economic benefit of over USD 230 billion (yielding an annual return of around 20%) (DOE, 2019l).

EERE runs or participates in several initiatives to support efficiency and renewable RD&D efforts, including collaborating with universities, industry and foreign countries. Among the initiatives is the Grid Modernization Initiative – an effort co-led with the Office of Electricity – which co-ordinates across the DOE and collaborates with public and private partners to develop grid technologies that are better suited to address changes in the power mix, especially the introduction of larger shares of variable renewable generation.

Efficiency

In an effort to promote energy savings in buildings and manufacturing processes, EERE undertakes RD&D efforts to develop new and innovative ways to achieve more costeffective energy efficiency outcomes.

To this end, EERE’s Buildings Technologies Office (BTO) funds RD&D projects, both competitively awarded and through national labs. BTO’s Emerging Technologies Program, in particular, finances projects that usually last for three years and undergo both merit and peer reviews at least once during those three years. The Emerging Technologies subprogramme areas comprise: heating, ventilation and air conditioning; water heating and appliances; windows and building envelope; solid-state lighting; building energy modelling; sensors and controls; and building-to-grid integration.

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6. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION

In a similar vein, the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) provides competitive funding to support RD&D projects and early-stage technical partnerships with national laboratories, industry, state and local governments, and universities to promote new advanced manufacturing technologies that result in energy savings. AMO maintains a diverse RD&D portfolio of projects including in the following areas: electric machines, co-generation, 2 high-performance computing, lab-embedded entrepreneurship, nextgeneration manufacturing processes, emerging research exploration, innovative process and materials technologies, small business innovation, and next-generation materials. AMO also hosts RD&D consortia and promotes technical partnerships among academia, industry and national labs.

EERE also supports research efforts to identify ways to cut energy consumption and energy costs in federal facilities, in co-ordination with the Federal Energy Management Program.

Renewables

EERE’s RD&D efforts in the space of renewable energy (which comprises solar, wind, water and geothermal energy) are focused on technologies that will make renewable electricity cost-competitive with other sources of power generation.

To this end, the DOE in March 2019 announced USD 130 million for early-stage solar research as well as USD 36 million in RD&D funding projects that will boost the role of solar in strengthening the US electricity grid. EERE also runs the American-Made Solar Prize, a USD 3 million competition aimed at reviving US solar manufacturing capabilities. Solar subprogrammes include photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, systems integration, soft costs, technology-to-market and national labs research.

Similarly, the Wind Energy Technologies Office supports over 250 advanced wind energy RD&D projects throughout the country, including through partnerships with universities, industry and national labs. Research areas include: offshore wind, distributed wind, atmosphere to electrons, resource assessment and characterisation, next-generation wind technology, testing and certification, manufacturing and supply chains, grid integration, environmental impact and siting, and workforce development and education.

EERE’s Geothermal Technologies Office provides RD&D support to enhanced geothermal systems with an eye to commercialisation by 2030, with focus areas of technology validation, cost reduction and performance enhancement.

EERE also houses the DOE’s Water Technologies Office, which supports RD&D to advance marine energy and next-generation hydropower and pumped storage technologies.

Transportation

EERE also leads a robust RD&D programme focused on developing the next generation of sustainable transportation technologies, including programmes on vehicles, bioenergy, and hydrogen and fuel cells. The Vehicle Technologies Office supports development of a broad range of advanced vehicle technologies, including EVs, internal combustion engine efficiency and vehicle lightweighting.

2 Co-generation refers to the combined production of heat and power.

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