ARPA-E Funding Opportunity Announcements

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 Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that would seek to enhance the pace of energy innovation by accelerating the incorporation of machine learning into the engineering design processes for energy technologies and systems.

In order to organize the anticipated efforts, a simplified engineering design process framework has been adopted (Figure 1 - see attached document). Within the context of this framework, it is possible to conceptualize how machine learning tools would help engineers to execute and solve several general mathematical optimization problems, common to many (perhaps most) engineering design processes, in a manner that dramatically accelerates the pace of energy innovation.

The envisioned program would seek to enhance several aspects of the design process via machine-learning tools:

1) Hypothesis Generation Tools: Enhance the creativity of the hypothesis generation (i.e. conceptual design) process by helping engineers develop new concepts and by enabling the consideration of a larger and more diverse set of design options. Many of the design problems at this stage of the process can be characterized as Mixed Integer Non-Linear Optimization problems;

2) Hypothesis Evaluation Tools: Enhance the efficiency of the high-fidelity evaluation (i.e. detailed design) process by accelerating the high-fidelity analysis and optimization of the hypothesized solution concepts. Many of the design problems at this stage of the process can be characterized as Non-Linear Constrained Optimization problems; and

3) Inverse Design Tools:Reduce (ideally eliminate) design iteration by developing the capability to execute “inverse design” processes in which the product design is effectively expressed as an explicit function of the problem statement.

ARPA-E envisions posing several challenge problems to motivate the development of enhanced design processes/tools. These challenge problems are in areas that ARPA-E feels to be of significant importance and for which it feels that adequate data either are available or can be generated during the program. Note: the intended FOA evaluation criteria are expected be principally focused on the potential impact that the proposed ML-enhanced design tools might have on future general engineering design processes through their potential to reduce design cost, time and risk and/or increase design performance, robustness and novelty.

Potential design challenge problems include the following:

· Hypothesis Generation (i.e. Conceptual Design)

• Thermodynamic Cycles/Chemical Processes (e.g. Gas Separations)
• Electrical Circuits
• Materials/Molecules

· Hypothesis Evaluation (I.e. Detailed Design)

• Fuel/Electrolyzer Cells
• Gas Compressors
• Solar Cells

· Inverse Design

• Aerodynamic Surfaces
• Optical Devices

ARPA-E envisions projects that seek to develop machine learning enhanced tools that facilitate the solution to one of the above challenge problems. It is also envisioned that, for any of the above categories, there will be an option for applicant teams to propose their own, alternative challenge problem so long as it is sufficiently justified (i. e. that it is both highly impactful and especially appropriate/ripe for enhancement via machine learning). It is expected that each proposal would explicitly identify a selected challenge problem, an anticipated ML-enhanced solution approach, a data[1] acquisition/generation strategy, the major development risks, and an anticipated path to market for the design tool / software to be developed. It is important to note that ARPA-E does not envision developing prototypes of physical systems through this FOA – the focus is on developing the ML-enhanced design tools only.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this teaming announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the pending FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, selection criteria, and other terms and requirements. However, for purposes of the Teaming Partner List, a summary of the currently anticipated scope is provided below.

In order to realize the envisioned program goals, ARPA‐E aims to bring together diverse engineering and scientific communities. These communities include, but are not limited to machine learning, mathematics/optimization, computer science, software, and energy (e.g. mechanical, chemical, materials, or electrical) engineering.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting January 15, 2019. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List.  ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

[1] In the interest of minimizing the cost of acquiring/generating training data, it is anticipated that the vast majority of the “data” used in the development of the desired tools will be generated with physics-based models.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides a continuing opportunity for the rapid support of early-stage applied research to explore innovative new concepts with the potential for transformational and disruptive changes in energy technology. IDEAS awards are intended to be flexible and may take the form of analyses or exploratory research that provides the agency with information useful for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. IDEAS awards may also support proof-of-concept research to develop a unique technology concept, either in an area not currently supported by the agency or as a potential enhancement to an ongoing focused technology program. Applications must propose concepts that are not covered by open ARPA-E focused FOAs and that also do not represent incremental improvements over existing technology.

IDEAS awards are defined as single-phase efforts of durations 12 months or less with a total project cost of $500,000 or less and will be issued through Grants.

This FOA is a continuation of the IDEAS Program initially announced in September 2013 and continued for a second year in September 2014. ARPA-E continues to view the IDEAS program as a success and therefore plans to extend this FOA on an annual basis, based on the availability of funds.

REMEDY (Reducing Emissions of Methane Every day of the Year) is a 3-year, $35MM research program to reduce methane emissions from three sources in the oil, gas, and coal value chain. The goal is to reverse the rate of accumulation of methane in the atmosphere, decrease atmospheric methane concentration, and thus ameliorate climate change. The target sources are:

• Exhaust from natural gas-fired lean-burn engines, used to drive compressors, generate electricity, and increasingly, repower ships; 
• Flares required for safe operation of oil and gas facilities; and
• Coal mine ventilation air methane (VAM) exhausted from operating underground mines.

These sources are responsible for at least 10% of US anthropogenic methane emissions.

The REMEDY program seeks highly replicable system-level technical solutions that achieve an overall methane conversion of 99.5%, reduce net greenhouse gas emissions > 87% on a life-cycle basis, have a levelized cost of carbon less than $40/ton CO₂^e, and address techno-economic issues related to commercialization. Systems must incorporate technologies that can operate at lean- and ultra-lean methane concentrations integrated with sensors and/or control algorithms to quantify emission reduction and ensure consistent operation. Stage 1 of the program will be used to screen concepts, and projects selected to continue in Stage 2 will confirm metrics in a limited field test or larger, extended-lab-scale test.

The REMEDY program addresses methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and complements programs focused on CO₂ reduction. REMEDY metrics will facilitate comparison of methane reduction processes with CO₂ reduction processes.^{[1, 2]}

REMEDY augments and extends but will not duplicate existing initiatives focused on methane reduction, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Natural Gas Star program and Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP), the DOE Fossil Energy Flare Reduction program, and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. Recovery or conversion to high-value products is allowed, provided techno-economic and environmental metrics are met.

[1] See, e.g., https://netl.doe.gov/projects/files/CostandPerformanceofBituminousCoalandNGPlantswithCCSRev4_091020.pdf.

[2] Gillingham, K. and Stock, J.H., “The Cost of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, J Economic Perspectives, Vol. 32 (4), p. 73-72, Fall 2018.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides a continuing opportunity for the rapid support of early-stage applied research to explore innovative new concepts with the potential for transformational and disruptive changes in energy technology. Spurring Projects to Advance Energy Research and Knowledge Swiftly (SPARKS) awards are intended to be flexible and may take the form of analyses or exploratory research that provides the agency with useful information for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. SPARKS awards may also support proof-of-concept research to develop a unique technology concept, either in an area not currently supported by the agency or as a potential enhancement to an ongoing focused technology program. Applications must propose concepts that are not covered by open ARPA-E focused FOAs and that do not represent incremental improvements over existing technology.

SPARKS awards are defined as single-phase efforts of durations of 18 months or less with a total project cost of $500,000 or less and will be issued through Grants. ARPA-E expects to make approximately $10 million per fiscal year available for new awards, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2021 (SCALEUP 2021) Funding Opportunity Announcement provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. ARPA-E funds the R&D of technologies to build and maintain U.S. technological leadership in highly competitive global energy markets, thus supporting American jobs and economic growth. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to develop linkages between its sponsored applied research and the marketplace.[1] These linkages are central to realizing the public’s return on technology investments.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years). ARPA-E-funded technologies typically face significant remaining technical risks upon completion of an award’s funding period. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and with a wide range of investors, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these very early-stage technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. (These projects are often termed “pre-pilot” development in different industries.) Success in these scaling projects would enable industry, investors, and partners to justify substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, production facilities, and materials to develop promising ARPA-E technologies into early commercial products.

The SCALEUP 2021 FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling the most promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”.[2]

[1] 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(a-c)

[2] Id.

REMEDY (Reducing Emissions of Methane Every day of the Year) is a 3-year, $35MM research program to reduce methane emissions from three sources in the oil, gas, and coal value chain. The goal is to reverse the rate of accumulation of methane in the atmosphere, decrease atmospheric methane concentration, and thus ameliorate climate change. The target sources are:

• Exhaust from natural gas-fired lean-burn engines, used to drive compressors, generate electricity, and increasingly, repower ships; 
• Flares required for safe operation of oil and gas facilities; and
• Coal mine ventilation air methane (VAM) exhausted from operating underground mines.

These sources are responsible for at least 10% of US anthropogenic methane emissions.

The REMEDY program seeks highly replicable system-level technical solutions that achieve an overall methane conversion of 99.5%, reduce net greenhouse gas emissions > 87% on a life-cycle basis, have a levelized cost of carbon less than $40/ton CO₂^e, and address techno-economic issues related to commercialization. Systems must incorporate technologies that can operate at lean- and ultra-lean methane concentrations integrated with sensors and/or control algorithms to quantify emission reduction and ensure consistent operation. Stage 1 of the program will be used to screen concepts, and projects selected to continue in Stage 2 will confirm metrics in a limited field test or larger, extended-lab-scale test.

The REMEDY program addresses methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and complements programs focused on CO₂ reduction. REMEDY metrics will facilitate comparison of methane reduction processes with CO₂ reduction processes.^{[1, 2]}

REMEDY augments and extends but will not duplicate existing initiatives focused on methane reduction, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Natural Gas Star program and Coalbed Methane Outreach Program (CMOP), the DOE Fossil Energy Flare Reduction program, and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. Recovery or conversion to high-value products is allowed, provided techno-economic and environmental metrics are met.

[1] See, e.g., https://netl.doe.gov/projects/files/CostandPerformanceofBituminousCoalandNGPlantswithCCSRev4_091020.pdf.

[2] Gillingham, K. and Stock, J.H., “The Cost of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, J Economic Perspectives, Vol. 32 (4), p. 73-72, Fall 2018.

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) solicitation provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. ARPA-E funds the R&D of technologies to build and maintain U.S. technological leadership in highly competitive global energy markets, thus supporting American jobs and economic growth. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to develop linkages between its sponsored applied research and the marketplace.^[1] These linkages are central to realizing the public’s return on technology investments.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years). ARPA-E-funded technologies typically face significant remaining technical risks upon completion of an award’s funding period. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and with a wide range of investors, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these very early stage technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. (These projects are often termed “pre-pilot” development in different industries.) Success in these scaling projects would enable industry, investors, and partners to justify substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, production facilities, and materials to develop promising ARPA-E technologies into early commercial products.

The SCALEUP FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling the most promising. Stranding promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “ accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”.^[2]

_{[1] 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(a-c)}

_{[2] Id.}

Concept Paper Encourage / Discourage decisions are published and available in eXCHANGE as of 11/1/23.

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2023 (SCALEUP 2023) Funding Opportunity Announcement provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support face significant remaining technical and commercial risks upon completion of an award's funding period, and thus are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and input from a wide range of investors and industry stakeholders, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these potentially transformative technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. Success in these scaling projects should enable industry, investors, and partners to justify the substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, manufacturing facilities, and materials necessary to subsequently deploy the technologies at commercial scale.

The SCALEUP 2023 FOA seeks to scale the most promising technologies previously funded by ARPA-E. The stranding of promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. Thus, projects selected for SCALEUP 2023 will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”. [1]

[1] 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(a-c)

Concept Paper Encourage / Discourage decisions are published and available in eXCHANGE as of 6/30/23.

The GOPHURRS program aims to reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the reliability and safety of undergrounding operations through the development of technologies focused on automation, damage prevention, and error elimination. GOPHURRS technologies will shift the paradigm of undergrounding from digging to drilling in order to leave the surface nearly untouched. The focus will be to develop transformative technologies capable of achieving autonomous/trenchless utility installation while also avoiding hidden underground obstacles with advanced look-ahead sensors. In addition, GOPHURRS aims to reduce the life cycle cost of an underground power system by developing reliable cable joint designs and installation systems.

If successfully developed, the technologies envisioned would help accelerate grid expansion and also improve the speed of underground construction of other types of infrastructure through automation, as well as the safety of the operators and surrounding communities. The development of GOPHURRS technologies is an urgent matter due to the need for increased undergrounding to improve reliability and resilience in the face of growing severe weather-related threats resulting from climate change and will help the United States position as a global leader in the delivery of clean, affordable, equitable, and climate-resilient electricity.

Specific technology categories include:

1. High-speed construction tools with maneuverability to install underground conduits with minimal disruption to the surface, where the installed conduits are suitable for pulling medium voltage (5 – 46 kV) power cables.
2. Sensors that characterize near-surface geology, underground obstacles, and existing underground infrastructure in order to assist underground construction operations at the required speed and to minimize risk of utility strikes and cross-borings.
3. Automated cable splice installation systems as well as novel splice designs to ensure error-free and safe installation of cable joints.

The purpose of this FOA is to fund research and development of solution techniques that will be used by awardees to compete in Challenge 3 of the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. The GO Competition is a series of prize challenges to accelerate the development and comprehensive evaluation of grid software solutions. The GO Competition, Challenge 3, is an algorithm competition focused on the optimal power flow (OPF) problem for the electric power sector that includes AC power flow, optimal topology, bid-in demand, unit commitment, and N-1 reliability. Awardees under this FOA will be required to participate in Challenge 3. As described in detail in Appendix A to this FOA and on the GO Competition website (https://gocompetition.energy.gov/), Challenge 3 is anticipated to launch in the Spring of 2022. Participation in the GO Competition Challenge 3 will be open to anyone that satisfies the applicable requirements in the Rules Document on the GO Competition website (https://gocompetition.energy.gov/competition-rules), not just those awarded under ARPA-E DE-FOA-0002690.

The purpose of this FOA is to provide grants: (i) to further incentivize and identify innovative research for solution methods applicable to Challenge 3, and (ii) to enable broader diversity in team domain expertise, i.e., to encourage teams to participate that do not traditionally focus on the particular problems that are targeted but otherwise have innovative approaches for this class of optimization problems. While Challenge 3 focuses on a power systems problem, the Challenge and this FOA target a much broader audience (e.g., those specialized in operations research, applied mathematics, optimization methods and algorithms, controls, etc.).

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) solicitation provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. ARPA-E funds the R&D of technologies to build and maintain U.S. technological leadership in highly competitive global energy markets, thus supporting American jobs and economic growth. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to develop linkages between its sponsored applied research and the marketplace.^[1] These linkages are central to realizing the public’s return on technology investments.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years). ARPA-E-funded technologies typically face significant remaining technical risks upon completion of an award’s funding period. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and with a wide range of investors, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these very early stage technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. (These projects are often termed “pre-pilot” development in different industries.) Success in these scaling projects would enable industry, investors, and partners to justify substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, production facilities, and materials to develop promising ARPA-E technologies into early commercial products.

The SCALEUP FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling the most promising. Stranding promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “ accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”.^[2]

_{[1] 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(a-c)}

_{[2] Id.}

The aim of this ARPA-E program is to make a transformational change to the current state-of-the-art and improve advanced reactor (AR) designs with operations and maintenance (O&M) in mind. Advances in autonomous, efficient, and low-cost systems O&M are occurring in many industrial sectors, largely powered by artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data analytics, distributed computing, powerful physics simulation tools, and other technical breakthroughs. To date, little of this advancement has been adopted by the nuclear energy industry. There is a crucial need to design and execute extremely robust and low-cost operations and maintenance procedures for ARs.

Most analysts conclude that the low-carbon electricity grids of the future will be most easily and economically achieved by including firm low-carbon resources such as nuclear energy. However, existing light water nuclear power plants are facing the significant challenge of having comparatively high fixed O&M costs and new builds of large light water reactors (LWRs) have historically been drastically over schedule and budget in the U.S. and Western Europe. Advanced reactors offer a compelling solution option as they can provide enhanced flexibility, a range of power generation outputs, lower capital costs and shorter construction schedules, high temperatures for industrial heating use, and strong safety cases. For a decarbonized future, we need to ensure that AR construction and operating costs are competitive and the plants are flexible to operate.

To accomplish this goal, ARPA-E seeks interdisciplinary teams to develop digital twins (DTs), or a technology with similar capability, for an AR design as the foundation of the team’s O&M strategy. The digital twins (or equivalent) and associated O&M approaches the teams will develop will include diverse technologies that are driving efficiencies in other industries, such as AI, advanced control systems, predictive maintenance, and model-based fault detection. Because ARs are still in design phases, with no physical units operating, teams working on core operations will also develop cyber-physical systems (CPS) that simulate advanced reactor plant operating dynamics using a combination of non-nuclear experimental facilities (e.g., flow loops) and software. Teams will use these systems as the “real asset,” a surrogate upon which developers can test their DT platforms for operations and maintenance. CPS may also provide validation data for regimes for conditions with high uncertainty. Teams focusing on activities outside the reactor core are encouraged to identify appropriate test systems and data. ARPA-E will also support research for filling specific technical gaps to enable the O&M strategies. This program lays the basis for a future where ARs operate with a staffing plan and fixed O&M costs more akin to that of a combined cycle natural gas plant than that of the legacy LWR fleet.

The Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) program is designed to support a new cohort of early-career innovators to develop the most disruptive and unconventional ideas into transformative new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. This announcement is purposefully broad in technical scope, but eligibility is limited to early-career researchers.

Submissions to this solicitation must propose transformational R&D that have the potential for high impact. If successful, a project could create a new class or new trajectory for an energy technology, with the potential to substantially contribute to ARPA-E’s statutory goals.Awards under this program may take the form of exploratory research that provides the agency with information useful for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. Alternatively, awards may support proof-of-concept research for a particular new technology in an area not currently supported by the agency.

This program aims to empower early-career scientists and engineers in becoming independent researchers and in unleashing their creativity to develop disruptive energy technologies. A second objective is to encourage these early-career innovators to focus their careers on tackling the substantial and urgent energy-related problems our society currently faces. In doing so, this FOA will help ensure that the U.S. maintains its technological leadership in the development and deployment of advanced energy technologies.

Concept Paper Encourage / Discourage decisions are published and available in eXCHANGE as of 6/30/23.

The GOPHURRS program aims to reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the reliability and safety of undergrounding operations through the development of technologies focused on automation, damage prevention, and error elimination. GOPHURRS technologies will shift the paradigm of undergrounding from digging to drilling in order to leave the surface nearly untouched. The focus will be to develop transformative technologies capable of achieving autonomous/trenchless utility installation while also avoiding hidden underground obstacles with advanced look-ahead sensors. In addition, GOPHURRS aims to reduce the life cycle cost of an underground power system by developing reliable cable joint designs and installation systems.

If successfully developed, the technologies envisioned would help accelerate grid expansion and also improve the speed of underground construction of other types of infrastructure through automation, as well as the safety of the operators and surrounding communities. The development of GOPHURRS technologies is an urgent matter due to the need for increased undergrounding to improve reliability and resilience in the face of growing severe weather-related threats resulting from climate change and will help the United States position as a global leader in the delivery of clean, affordable, equitable, and climate-resilient electricity.

Specific technology categories include:

1. High-speed construction tools with maneuverability to install underground conduits with minimal disruption to the surface, where the installed conduits are suitable for pulling medium voltage (5 – 46 kV) power cables.
2. Sensors that characterize near-surface geology, underground obstacles, and existing underground infrastructure in order to assist underground construction operations at the required speed and to minimize risk of utility strikes and cross-borings.
3. Automated cable splice installation systems as well as novel splice designs to ensure error-free and safe installation of cable joints.

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) will be an essential component of a future negative emissions industry, which, alongside emissions reduction, is necessary to restrict global climate warming to less than 2°C and avoid global, irreversible, and catastrophic changes caused by this temperature rise. Sensing Exports of Anthropogenic Carbon through Ocean Observation (SEA-CO2) 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. In addition, regional-scale modeling of the combined major ocean carbon pathways relevant to mCDR applied to observation simulation experiments with quantifiable uncertainties as outputs are required. These technologies could also enhance our understanding of the secondary environmental effects associated with mCDR.

ARPA-E considers the following advancements ones that would most rapidly enable effective MRV and the robust establishment of financial value for the mCDR industry:

1. Sensing approaches to quantify oceanographic carbon properties, which boast:

• Large spatial scale, volumetric, or area-survey sensing capability with precision and accuracy (equivalent to bias and variance) comparable to today’s single-point state-of-the-art sensing approaches.
• Size, weight, and power requirements that enable utilization on existing ocean data collection platforms.
• Deployment periods exceeding one year without a reliance on physical human interaction.

2. Regionally focused models representing relevant ocean carbon fluxes and cycles at resolutions suitable to distinguish the additionality associated with mCDR events, with root-mean-square errors (RMSE) and anomaly correlation coefficients (ACC) at least comparable to general state-of-the-art ocean models.

Alternating current (AC) electric power has dominated the transmission and distribution system in the U.S for over a century. However, direct current (DC) electric power offers several benefits over AC, reducing system power losses due to improved electrical conductivity utilizing fewer power cables with higher power carrying capacity. In addition, wind and solar PV generators, energy storage, electric transportation, and consumer devices all utilize DC power. Because of this evolving power landscape, estimates show that DC loads currently make up over 50% of total electricity consumption in the United States.

Recent advances in semiconductor-based power electronics (e.g., Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors), Voltage Source Converters (VSCs), DC to DC Converters, and Gas Discharge Tubes, have created an opportunity for greater utilization of DC in distribution and transmission. However, safety and protection mechanisms required to mitigate potentially damaging faults, especially at the medium voltage DC (MVDC) level, represent a significant technology gap. This program seeks to support the advancement of MVDC circuit breaker technologies with a focus on system level integration by overcoming major adoption barriers. Transition from AC to DC will support growth in renewable energy, transportation electrification, and distributed energy resources (DERs) as well as mature industries such as subsea oil and gas exploration.

ARPA-E aims to support the development of timely, commercially viable fusion energy.[1] Based on numerous studies examining the cost challenges facing advanced nuclear energy,[2] which shares some attributes with fusion such as unit size, capital cost, and power-generation characteristics, ARPA-E believes that a commercial fusion power plant should target an overnight capital cost (OCC) of <US$2B and <$5/W.[3] If a grid-ready fusion demonstration can be realized within approximately twenty years while satisfying these cost metrics, then, as a firm low-carbon energy source, fusion can contribute to meeting global, growing low-carbon energy demand and cost-effective deep decarbonization[4] in the latter half of the century.

This program addresses the need to lower the costs of development and eventual deployment of commercial fusion energy by supporting R&D to increase the performance and number of credible, lower-cost fusion concepts. Full Applications are invited in the three research categories[5] described in Section I.D of the FOA. Criteria and metrics are described in Section I.E of the FOA. The technology-to-market (T2M) component of this program, via a number of planned activities at the project and program levels, aims to build and smooth the path to fusion commercialization to include public, private, and philanthropic partnerships.

[1] See agenda and posted materials from ARPA-E fusion workshop, Burlingame, CA, Aug. 13–14, 2019.

[2] e.g., The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World, An Interdisciplinary MIT Study, MIT Energy Initiative (2018).

[3] Assuming 10^th-of-a-kind for the fusion-specific systems and n^th-of-a-kind for the balance of plant.

[4] N. A. Sepulveda et al., “The Role of Firm Low-Carbon Electricity Resources in Deep Decarbonization of Power Generation,” Joule 2, 2403 (2018).

[5] At the recent ARPA-E fusion workshop (see footnote 2), a potential program covering both “lower-cost fusion concept development” and “fusion enabling technologies” was discussed (for the latter, see also ARPA-E Request for Information (RFI) DE-FOA-0002131, released May 6, 2019). Please note that this program, BETHE, covers the former but only a subset of the latter, as described in detail in Section I.D of the FOA. ARPA-E recognizes that serious development of fusion enabling technologies must be initiated as soon as possible to meet the objective of a grid-ready fusion demonstration in 20 years, and is exploring a potential, separate program focused on that topic.

As the U.S. works to decarbonize the transportation sector and produce an increasing amount of “clean” (zero emission) electricity, electric vehicles (EVs) become logical alternatives to internal combustion engines (ICEs). However, to accelerate and/or broaden EV adoption, consumer-centric considerations need to be more thoroughly addressed, including cost, convenience, reliability, and safety. Although it is expected that EVs will continue to gain market share domestically, significantly more effort is required to address and remove key technology barriers to EV adoption among a greater percentage of the population. In response to these challenges, ARPA-E's Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program will focus on advancing next-generation battery technologies that have the potential to significantly improve affordability, convenience, reliability, and safety of EVs compared to those available today. If the EVs4ALL program can successfully achieve its primary objective, which is to increase domestic EV adoption through elimination of key battery detractors such as slow charge time, disappointing winter performance, concerns regarding resilience and high cost, it will directly impact three ARPA-E mission areas as follows:

i) 80% adoption of electrically powered passenger cars in the U.S. could reduce annual energy consumption by 4 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Quads), thereby improving the energy efficiency of the sector.

ii) 80% adoption of electrically powered cars could reduce overall CO₂ emissions by 800 million tons/year, thereby reducing energy-related emissions.

iii) Solutions to i) and ii) may also target the utilization of “noncritical” battery materials in order to address supply chain risk and drive down cost, thereby reducing imports of critical metals and supporting ARPA-E’s energy independence mission.

The Aviation-class Synergistically Cooled Electric-motors with iNtegrated Drives (ASCEND) program supports the development of novel lightweight and ultra-efficient electric motors, drives^[1], and associated thermal management system (collectively referred to as the all-electric powertrain) that will facilitate net-zero carbon emissions in the single-aisle, 150-200 passenger commercial aircraft segment. This FOA represents part of a wider ARPA-E effort in the development of enabling technologies for long-range (≥ 2,800 nautical miles), carbon neutral commercial aviation. The other part of the wider ARPA-E effort is included in a separate FOA targeting ultra-efficient and lightweight energy storage and fuel-to-electric power conversion system^[2]. The overarching goal of the two FOAs is to reduce the emissions from commercial aviation by developing cost-competitive systems for the efficient conversion of the chemical energy of carbon-neutral liquid fuels (CNLFs)^[3] to delivered electric energy, which is then further converted to thrust via propulsors driven by electric motors and associated motor drives. The focus of the ASCEND program is the development of an all-electric powertrain as the prime mover for long-range, narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737. Current electric powertrains do not have high enough power density and efficiency to enable competitive and fully decarbonized aviation for the narrow-body class of aircraft.

The ASCEND program aims to take advantage of emerging materials, manufacturing techniques, and design topologies, with a focus on the co-design of electromagnetics, power electronics, and thermal management solutions. The ASCEND program requires demanding figures of merit for specific power (≥ 12 kW/kg) and efficiency (≥ 93%) for the fully integrated all‑electric powertrain systems; these targets, among others, are well beyond the capability of current state‑of‑the-art technologies and will require creative thinking and innovation in the electric motor and power electronics space.

The ASCEND program will incorporate two phases. Phase I calls for conceptual designs and computer simulations of motor, its drive, and their integration, as well as subsystem/component level demonstrations, as necessary, for the proposed key enabling technologies to support the design and simulated performance projections. Phase I will be 18 months long. Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, projects that achieve technical success in Phase I may, at ARPA-E’s sole discretion, proceed to the second phase of the program to develop, fabricate, and test an integrated motor and drive developmental prototype (≥ 250 kW) comprised of an electric motor, its drive and associated thermal management system (TMS).

If successful, the ASCEND program will accelerate innovations and cause disruptive changes in the emerging electric aviation field, which is poised to play a significant role in the near- and long-term. The program will also further enhance the U.S. technology dominance in the field of high-performance electric motors for hybrid electric aviation and a full range of other industrial applications beyond aviation, such as electric vehicles, maritime technologies, wind turbines, and off-shore drilling.

[1] A drive is the electronic device that harnesses and controls the electrical energy sent to the motor, utilizing power electronics and associated control logic.  The drive can feed electricity into the motor in varying amounts and at varying frequencies, thereby enabling control of the motor's speed and torque.

[2] Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon Emission and High Efficiency (REEACH), DE-FOA-0002240 and DE-FOA-0002241.

[3] CNLFs are defined in REEACH as energydense liquid fuels with no net greenhouse gas emissions or net carbon footprint. They are made by converting molecules contained in air (N2, CO2), water, and/or biomass using renewable energy into energy-carrying fuels that are liquid at moderate temperatures and pressures (e.g. sustainable hydrocarbons and oxygenates).

Concept Paper Encourage / Discourage decisions are published and available in eXCHANGE as of 4/22/2024.

The overarching goal of the CIRCULAR program is to successfully translate the definition of a circular economy to the domestic EV battery supply chain by supporting the development of innovative solutions that can overcome both the technological and economic barriers to broad commercial adoption. CIRCULAR recognizes that conventional recycling is not the only, nor primary, pathway to closing the supply chain loop. The program will support the development and deployment of foundational technologies capable of maintaining materials and products in circulation at their highest level of performance and safety for as long as possible. CIRCULAR acknowledges that simultaneous advancements in multiple technological domains may be required to accomplish this ambitious objective.

The program will have four categories:

Category A seeks innovations in battery cell materials, designs, regeneration methods, and corresponding manufacturing techniques to prolong battery service life.

Category B seeks innovations in battery pack designs, materials, and reversible manufacturing methods as well as fast and safe disassembly techniques to recover manufacturing value of cells and pack components.

Category C seeks innovations in cell-level sensing, data analytics, and battery intelligence systems for circularity and safety.

Category D focuses on analytical tools to assess the economic benefits of the technologies developed in Categories A, B, and C, including their impact on GHG emissions and overall material consumption per unit of energy delivered over the lifetimes of battery cells and packs.

As the U.S. works to decarbonize the transportation sector and produce an increasing amount of “clean” (zero emission) electricity, electric vehicles (EVs) become logical alternatives to internal combustion engines (ICEs). However, to accelerate and/or broaden EV adoption, consumer-centric considerations need to be more thoroughly addressed, including cost, convenience, reliability, and safety. Although it is expected that EVs will continue to gain market share domestically, significantly more effort is required to address and remove key technology barriers to EV adoption among a greater percentage of the population. In response to these challenges, ARPA-E's Electric Vehicles for American Low-Carbon Living (EVs4ALL) program will focus on advancing next-generation battery technologies that have the potential to significantly improve affordability, convenience, reliability, and safety of EVs compared to those available today. If the EVs4ALL program can successfully achieve its primary objective, which is to increase domestic EV adoption through elimination of key battery detractors such as slow charge time, disappointing winter performance, concerns regarding resilience and high cost, it will directly impact three ARPA-E mission areas as follows:

i) 80% adoption of electrically powered passenger cars in the U.S. could reduce annual energy consumption by 4 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Quads), thereby improving the energy efficiency of the sector.

ii) 80% adoption of electrically powered cars could reduce overall CO₂ emissions by 800 million tons/year, thereby reducing energy-related emissions.

iii) Solutions to i) and ii) may also target the utilization of “noncritical” battery materials in order to address supply chain risk and drive down cost, thereby reducing imports of critical metals and supporting ARPA-E’s energy independence mission.

The Aviation-class Synergistically Cooled Electric-motors with iNtegrated Drives (ASCEND) program supports the development of novel lightweight and ultra-efficient electric motors, drives^[1], and associated thermal management system (collectively referred to as the all-electric powertrain) that will facilitate net-zero carbon emissions in the single-aisle, 150-200 passenger commercial aircraft segment. This FOA represents part of a wider ARPA-E effort in the development of enabling technologies for long-range (≥ 2,800 nautical miles), carbon neutral commercial aviation. The other part of the wider ARPA-E effort is included in a separate FOA targeting ultra-efficient and lightweight energy storage and fuel-to-electric power conversion system^[2]. The overarching goal of the two FOAs is to reduce the emissions from commercial aviation by developing cost-competitive systems for the efficient conversion of the chemical energy of carbon-neutral liquid fuels (CNLFs)^[3] to delivered electric energy, which is then further converted to thrust via propulsors driven by electric motors and associated motor drives. The focus of the ASCEND program is the development of an all-electric powertrain as the prime mover for long-range, narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737. Current electric powertrains do not have high enough power density and efficiency to enable competitive and fully decarbonized aviation for the narrow-body class of aircraft.

The ASCEND program aims to take advantage of emerging materials, manufacturing techniques, and design topologies, with a focus on the co-design of electromagnetics, power electronics, and thermal management solutions. The ASCEND program requires demanding figures of merit for specific power (≥ 12 kW/kg) and efficiency (≥ 93%) for the fully integrated all‑electric powertrain systems; these targets, among others, are well beyond the capability of current state‑of‑the-art technologies and will require creative thinking and innovation in the electric motor and power electronics space.

The ASCEND program will incorporate two phases. Phase I calls for conceptual designs and computer simulations of motor, its drive, and their integration, as well as subsystem/component level demonstrations, as necessary, for the proposed key enabling technologies to support the design and simulated performance projections. Phase I will be 18 months long. Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, projects that achieve technical success in Phase I may, at ARPA-E’s sole discretion, proceed to the second phase of the program to develop, fabricate, and test an integrated motor and drive developmental prototype (≥ 250 kW) comprised of an electric motor, its drive and associated thermal management system (TMS).

If successful, the ASCEND program will accelerate innovations and cause disruptive changes in the emerging electric aviation field, which is poised to play a significant role in the near- and long-term. The program will also further enhance the U.S. technology dominance in the field of high-performance electric motors for hybrid electric aviation and a full range of other industrial applications beyond aviation, such as electric vehicles, maritime technologies, wind turbines, and off-shore drilling.

[1] A drive is the electronic device that harnesses and controls the electrical energy sent to the motor, utilizing power electronics and associated control logic. The drive can feed electricity into the motor in varying amounts and at varying frequencies, thereby enabling control of the motor's speed and torque.

[2] Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon Emission and High Efficiency (REEACH), DE-FOA-0002240 and DE-FOA-0002241.

[3] CNLFs are defined in REEACH as energydense liquid fuels with no net greenhouse gas emissions or net carbon footprint. They are made by converting molecules contained in air (N2, CO2), water, and/or biomass using renewable energy into energy-carrying fuels that are liquid at moderate temperatures and pressures (e.g. sustainable hydrocarbons and oxygenates).

Introduction:

ARPA-E is seeking information from diverse industries about technologies that could enable advanced nuclear reactors[1] to achieve operating cost profiles that approximate those of natural gas combined cycle plants. This entails reducing operating costs per megawatt of electricity (MWe) at nuclear power plants by more than one order of magnitude.

Attaining this vision requires semi-autonomous nuclear power plant operations, a radical departure from traditional nuclear power plant operations. Because autonomy is so unconventional for the nuclear sector, attacking the problem requires operational technologies and controls strategies that have limited or no technical precedent in the nuclear community. For this reason, ARPA-E is especially interested in perspectives from outside the traditional nuclear energy space.

Today’s nuclear plants are mostly conventional light water reactors (LWRs).[2] Their continued viability in the U.S. electricity mix is challenged in part by high operational and maintenance (O&M) costs compared to other electricity generation types.[3] The higher costs stem largely from the high staffing level required for nuclear power plant operation, maintenance, safety, and security. Advanced nuclear reactor systems that are anticipated to comprise the next generation of new reactor builds are likely to face costs that are similar to LWRs, should they not pursue new approaches to O&M. High O&M costs might be especially burdensome for small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors, which do not have the benefit of economy of scale. Much greater focus on achieving a radical reduction of O&M costs will likely prove necessary to assure the competitiveness of advanced nuclear systems.

Therefore, approaches in predictive maintenance, autonomous maintenance, fault detection and isolation algorithms, novel sensor systems, data analytics, dynamics modeling, and advanced control systems are of interest. Also of interest are advanced modeling and simulators that allow exploration of a full range of potential data streams, and can help identify/evaluate the most relevant control algorithms and sensor needs. Finally, test loops and experimental facilities that can be leveraged to investigate and validate approaches for autonomous controls, operations, and maintenance are of interest.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION DOCUMENT and GUIDELINES below. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on April 25^th, 2019.

ARPA-E is seeking information from diverse R&D communities, from both within and especially outside the fusion R&D community, about technological solutions and innovations that can enable commercially viable fusion power plants. While it is impossible to predict precisely what is needed for fusion to be commercially viable over the next few decades, fusion’s market entry may require that both the nameplate generation capacity and total construction cost be well below the assumed 1-GWe and >$5B (2019 dollars) scales described in prior fusion-power-plant studies.[1] As discussed further below, this RFI focuses specifically on the enabling technologies for potential fusion power plants at reduced nameplate capacity and cost. ARPA-E is particularly interested in transformational R&D opportunities that are not already being pursued by or included in the roadmaps of ongoing DOE fusion programs.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION DOCUMENT and GUIDELINES below. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

[1] See, e.g., F. Najmabadi et al., Fus. Eng. Des. 38, 3 (1997); F. Najmabadi et al., ibid 80, 3 (2006).

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support the discovery of plasma-facing and structural first wall materials that are suitable for fusion power plants. As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. The FOA terms are controlling.

For purposes of this Teaming Partner List, the program’s current overarching goal is to discover and test new candidate materials that can withstand high-dose irradiation up to 50 displacements per atom (dpa) while preserving ductility at room temperature. Current state-of-the-art materials such as tungsten and reduced-activation steels suffer from irradiation and helium embrittlement issues that can make fusion power systems prohibitively expensive to qualify and operate. New advancements in machine-learning-assisted material discovery, advanced manufacturing, material damage modeling, and irradiation testing provide the opportunity to discover new materials that can withstand the unique extreme environment required for sustained fusion reactions.

ARPA-E currently expects the FOA to focus on the research of materials with high thermal conductivity, low activation, low tritium retention, and low irradiation-induced swelling that maintain room temperature ductility after significant irradiation damage and helium generation. Two categories of materials will be assessed separately on the following characteristics:

1. Plasma-facing component materials will need to show better performance than tungsten, including plasma erosion performance.
2. Structural materials will need to show better performance than reduced-activation steels, including high temperature strength performance.

The FOA will also seek to establish capability teams to consolidate the materials discovery and performance data generated by the projects. The capability teams will support project performers on digitization, standardization, and storage of materials data as well as create the framework for systems and life-cycle analysis of fusion power system designs with varying materials of construction.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential FOA:

• Rapid material synthesis and screening
• Material design modeling
• Irradiation damage modeling
• Neutron activation calculations
• Advanced manufacturing
  
• Ion irradiation and helium implantation
• Materials mechanical testing and analysis
• Plasma erosion testing
• Tritium retention testing
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML)
• Materials database development and maintenance

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in October 2023. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. This list is completely voluntarily to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential FOA.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the FOA, expected to be issued by November 2023, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The FOA associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/FoaEditDetails.aspx?foaId=87c1d520-5e48-43d5-8424-2f15b09926e6

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering a program to prevent or abate anthropogenic methane emissions. Sources include coal mines, oil and gas wells, natural gas-fired engines, flares, uncontrolled emissions from landfills, and agriculture-related methane emissions from farming and ruminants. Successful teams would propose and validate integrated systems that will include a methane abatement/prevention technology, coupled with methane sensing/leakage detection system and associated controls. Abatement technologies of interest include, but are not limited to (1) biological remediation through methanotrophs and bio-filters, (2) chemistry based approaches including platinum group metals (PGM)/non-PGM based catalysis, plasma catalysis, electrochemical/electro catalysis, photo-catalysis, or a combination thereof, (3) innovative mechanical design techniques to prevent emissions, (4) novel material synthesis to improve the durability and reliability for sealing oil and gas wells. ARPA-E is seeking transformative and implementable solutions to abate/prevent emissions from such sources using the technologies mentioned above. ARPA-E anticipates that by the end of the project duration, the teams will be able to demonstrate a systems solution that meets the program objectives either in a field setting or an emulated field setting.

This potential program is focused on systems to prevent or abate methane emissions. Approaches not of interest include:

• Work focused on basic research aimed at discovery and fundamental knowledge generation. 
• Concepts that focus on methane detection and/or quantification without addressing prevention and/or abatement. 
• Solutions that focus on incremental improvements in commercial technologies, incremental improvements in control systems for commercial technologies, or incremental improvements in operation or maintenance procedures. 
• Large-scale demonstration projects of existing technologies.

ARPA–E held a workshop on these topics on October 20, 2020. Information from this workshop can be found at the event webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/preventing-abating-anthropogenic-methane-emissions-workshop).

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with teams, with the ultimate goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of a new risk-driven operational and planning paradigm.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in October 2020. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued by the end of December 2020, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering issuing a new Exploratory Topic under Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) DE‐ FOA‐0002784 and DE‐FOA‐0002785 to develop standardized evaluation(s) of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) efficiency technologies in support of projects supported under the ARPA-E NEXT-Generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated on-Road-vehicles (NEXTCAR) Program.

The ARPA-E NEXTCAR Program has funded the development of new and emerging vehicle dynamic and powertrain (VD&PT) control technologies that can reduce the energy consumption of future vehicles through the use of connectivity and vehicle automation. Vehicle energy improvement technologies include, but are not limited to, advanced technologies and concepts relating to full vehicle dynamic control, powertrain control, improved vehicle and powertrain operation through the automation of vehicle dynamics control functions, and improved control and optimization facilitated by connectivity. Phase II of the Program launched in 2021 and is funding a subset of the technologies developed in Phase I to improve the energy efficiency of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) evels 4 and 5 CAVs by 30%. These improvements will reduce the energy consumed by future individual vehicles undergoing automated operation, either in isolation or in cooperation with other vehicles. More information on the ARPA-E NEXTCAR program itself may be found here and details of the Phase II projects are available here.

To demonstrate and quantify these energy savings, innovation will be required to evaluate efficiency in the automated vehicle space and assign value to those savings for evaluation of the viability of these technologies for integration into the future CAV fleet. If issued, this Exploratory Topic will likely consist of two complementary tasks.

(1) CAV Testing Facility: Focused on developing the infrastructure needs and requirements to evaluate the energy efficiency of CAV technologies under development in normal driving conditions in a controlled environment.

(2) Real-World Driving Scenarios: Focused on developing driving routes utilizing augmented reality, which are representative of real-world driving scenarios, as well as maneuvers and conditions occurring on these routes to accurately assess and quantify the energy and emissions benefits of NEXTCAR Phase II technologies.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with these project teams, with the goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of the innovative technologies these projects teams develop.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E Exchange (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in May 2022. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted by any means other than via the link provided above will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final Exploratory Topic, expected to be issued in June 2022 under the FOAs noted at the beginning of this Teaming Partner List, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E), concurrently with this Teaming Partner List Announcement, is issuing a new Targeted Topic under Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) DE‐FOA‐0001953 and DE‐FOA‐0001954 to (1) focus attention of technical and research communities on the challenges and benefits of establishing "ground truth" sites in feedstock production environments as a means to validate emerging sensors and sensor systems capable of quantifying field-level emissions, (2) encourage dialogue amongst technology developers, feedstock producers and relevant agricultural stakeholders about leveraging these field sites, and (3) provide a timetable for the submission of Full Applications.

Ethanol and other bio-based fuels have the potential to provide an emissions-free source of energy on a net basis, but not without a shift in feedstock production practices. Current feedstock production practices are driven by yield, and low profit margins leave feedstock growers with limited options for increasing productivity; often, this comes in the form of over-fertilization, which produces unnecessary emissions, impacts water quality, and has uncertain returns (e.g. an estimated $267–702 million dollars of fertilizer value is lost each year ). While these impacts become clear when aggregated to the regional or national scale, field-level contributions remain unknown. This lack of visibility, combined with the absence of economic incentives beyond yield, leaves feedstock producers to estimate and assume the risk of new management practices to their primary revenue stream (i.e. yield). By establishing sites and protocols for measuring the impact of management practices on both yield and the environment, this funding opportunity aims to bridge the technology gap between feedstock producers and existing market incentives that can de-risk sustainable management practices and defray the cost of monitoring their impact.

ARPA-E will provide financial support to teams that include production farms that could market directly to ethanol and other biofuel producers to develop datasets of current production inputs (e.g. fertilizer, chemicals, fuel) and outcomes (e.g. yield, emissions, water quality) in a commercial production environment. In doing so, this funding opportunity aims to fund the creation of "gold-standard" datasets to (i) pilot data capture and transfer methods for supply-chain-wide LCA, (ii) validate new, low-cost technology approaches to measuring and improving feedstock production efficiency, and (iii) provide new high-resolution data to the R&D community for technology development (e.g. remote sensing to reduce physical footprint of high-resolution monitoring; new modeling, prediction and extrapolation techniques). ARPA–E held a workshop on this topic in February 2018; information on this workshop can be found at the webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=workshop/energy-smart-farm-distributed-intelligence-networks-highly-variable-and-resource).

ARPA-E seeks to fund the development of "ground truth" solutions that establish measurements and protocols for emissions monitoring at the field level and provide agronomic insight. The primary goal of this targeted topic is to fund project teams to establish publically available open-source, high-resolution datasets to support testing and validation of emerging biofuel production monitoring technologies.

In order to realize the goals of this program, expertise in the following areas may be useful:

(i) Establishing a data protocol for quantifying field-level emissions, including soil carbon storage; (ii) Developing clear methods for assessing commercial solutions for emissions quantification at the field level; (iii) Garnering stakeholder input and collaboration across the supply chain. (iv) Securing and sharing field-level datasets both during and after the period of performance; (v) Engaging community members across the energy-water-food nexus to share best practices, collaborate on technology challenges, and encourage data standardization and transparency.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with teams, with the ultimate goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of a new risk-driven operational and planning paradigm.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in September 2019. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a FOA. Applicants must refer to the final Targeted Topic issued under DE‐FOA‐0001953 and DE‐FOA‐0001954, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support investigating the feasibility of systems that use plants to extract nickel from soils and deliver a nickel-enriched bio-ore for purification. As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. The FOA terms are controlling.

For purposes of this Teaming Partner List, the overarching goal of PHYTOMINES would be to develop phytomining as a cost-competitive and low-carbon intensity alternative mining approach by extracting metal resources from soils that are too low in concentration for traditional mining. Additionally, phytomining can provide a clean energy mineral source that is procured and processed domestically. This program supports ARPA-E mission areas impacting energy security through reduction of imports, reduction of emissions involved in the mining of the energy-relevant minerals, and attainment of U.S. leadership in global competitions for locating clean sources of minerals.

ARPA-E has identified two major categories. Technical Category 1 is related to systemic approaches to improve the phytomining of nickel on U.S. marginal lands. Technical Category 2 deals with enhancement of the enabling knowledge base of U.S. phytomining. ARPA-E has identified several modeling, characterization, and risk management approaches that need to be associated with the technology development in Categories 1 & 2.

Category 1: Systemic approaches to improve the phytomining of nickel on U.S. marginal lands.

The focus of this category is the development of phytomining technologies that optimize nickel recovery by hyperaccumulator (HA) plants. Technologies could target any or multiple aspects of a phytomining system, for example:

• Soil biota, such as rhizobial, endophyte, or viral communities
• Plant traits to increase plant hyperaccumulation activity
• Technologies at the microbiome, organismal, or metagenomic scale

While research using model organisms/systems could be a complementary work stream, approaches that focus on non-model organisms or have potential to translate to non-model organisms with strong commercialization pathways are encouraged.

Category 2: Enhancing the enabling knowledge base of U.S. phytomining.

A priority outcome from this category is the creation of a unified, publicly available database to identify U.S. phytomining sites for:

• Nickel
• Rare earth elements
• Platinum group metals
• Other critical metals

As nickel is likely to be the near-term target, it will be acceptable to prioritize granularity on soil content of nickel over diversity of data expanding to rare earth/platinum group metals/other critical metals concentrations. The database would, at a minimum, unite currently separated geospatial data and a range of metadata including descriptions of:

• Geologic information
• Environmental information
• Ecological information
• Ownership status of the land

A potential FOA may also seek to support mapping and identifying new HA species of interest for scaling phytomining opportunities as well as facilitate technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and lifecycle analysis (LCA) of phytomining projects.

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in June 2023. Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/phytomining-workshop.

Expertise in the following non-exhaustive list of technical areas may be useful in responding to the potential FOA:

• Plant biology (physiology, genetics, systems and synthetic biology of hyperaccumulation);
• Microbial biology (expertise in the fungi, bacteria, and other biota that regulate the bioavailability of critical materials to HAs);
• Geology and soil sciences (distribution, mapping, availability and bioavailability of critical materials);
• Data science (acquisition and presentation of geologic, ecological, and economic information necessary for phytomining); and
• TEA/LCA.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams and will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. This list is completely voluntarily to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential FOA.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the FOA, if one is issued, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The FOA associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId521a7aa4-b255-4c3b-a211-b128d2a4a0e4

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in 2023 to solicit applications for financial assistance to support the scaling of promising ARPA-E-funded technologies into early commercial products.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate collaborations among performing teams to respond to the upcoming FOA. The FOA will provide specific Program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria and the FOA terms. For the purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2023 (SCALEUP 2023) solicitation provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. ARPA-E funds the R&D of technologies to build and maintain U.S. technological leadership in highly competitive global energy markets, thus supporting American jobs and economic growth. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to develop linkages between its sponsored applied research and the marketplace. These linkages are central to realizing the public’s return on technology investments.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years). ARPA-E-funded technologies typically face significant remaining technical and commercial risks upon completion of an award’s funding period. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and with a wide range of investors, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these very early-stage technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. (These projects are often termed “pre-pilot” development in different industries.) Success in these scaling projects would enable industry, investors, and partners to justify substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, production facilities, and materials to develop promising ARPA-E technologies into early commercial products.

The SCALEUP 2023 FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling those that have the potential for the greatest impact, consistent with ARPA-E's mission. Stranding promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s statutory direction to achieve the above goals by “accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is unlikely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”.

ARPA-E strongly encourages different organizations with outstanding entrepreneurial scientists and engineers along with commercialization and financial entities across different business sectors to participate in this Program. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

ARPA-E is compiling a Teaming Partner List for SCALEUP 2023 as an optional tool that potential applicants may choose to utilize to facilitate the formation of new project teams and identify potential collaborations. Teaming partners include organizations and individuals who can offer expertise, facilities, or other complementary resources toward a potential ARPA-E project. The teaming list identifies partners’ capabilities as well as their areas of interest, understanding that expertise and experience in one field can often be applied successfully to a new field. This list is completely voluntarily to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the SCALEUP 2023 FOA.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in May 2023. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name; Contact Name; Contact Address; Contact Email; Contact Phone; Organization Type; Area of Technical Expertise; and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating and publishing this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E reserves the right to remove any inappropriate responses to this Announcement (including lack of sufficient relevance to, or experience with, the technical topic of the Announcement). ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in 2023, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The FOA associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId3c87ba36-a1ba-4c4e-90ab-a5cce9c8a7b6

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on novel, potentially transformative technical opportunities, and approaches to increase the energy efficiency of data centers.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Depending on the responses to this RFI, ARPA‐E may consider the rapid initiation of one or more funded collaborative projects to accelerate along the path towards commercial deployment of the energy technologies described generally above.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on 4/30/2021.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on novel, potentially transformative technical opportunities and approaches to liberate minerals relevant to our energy infrastructure while concurrently mineralizing carbon dioxide.

ARPA-E requests responses focusing on how CO₂ from power plants, industrial sources, or the atmosphere can be leveraged to improve mining practices in order to successfully meet the growing domestic demand, economic feasibility, and environmental sustainability of critical materials (CMs). ARPA-E is predominantly (not exclusively) interested in approaches targeting the recovery of nickel, cobalt, and chromium deposits in mafic or ultramafic rock formations.

This is a request for information only. This notice does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 18, 2021.

The ARPA-E / SC-FES joint program, GAMOW, supports innovative research and development (R&D) in a range of enabling technologies (beyond confinement plasma physics), defined further below and in Section I.D, required for commercially attractive fusion energy. Key attributes for any commercially attractive energy include economics, safety, reliability/availability/maintainability/inspectability (RAMI), and environmental sustainability. This program prioritizes R&D that will help establish both the technical and commercial viability of a range of fusion enabling technologies (depicted generically in Fig. 1), particularly in (i) all the required technologies and subsystems between the fusion plasma and the balance of plant, and (ii) cost-effective, high-efficiency, high-duty-cycle driver technologies. Applicants should leverage and build on foundational research in fusion materials, fusion nuclear science (FNS), plasma-materials interactions (PMI), and other enabling technologies, and focus on potentially transformative fusion-energy R&D that is informed by market-aware techno-economic analysis (TEA).

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Program Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that would support used nuclear fuel (UNF) transmutation. Transmutation of UNF would promote nuclear energy by addressing significant challenges associated with the permanent disposal of UNF arising from current and future nuclear reactors. Transmutation research and development will focus on reducing the storage impact of UNF components, specifically minor actinides, intermediate-lived fission products, and long-lived fission products fated for a permanent geological repository.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to a potential future FOA. Any FOA issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. FOA terms would be controlling.

For purposes of this Teaming Partner List, overall goals for the potential program include:

• 30-year timeline to transmute key minor actinides, medium-lived fission products, and long-lived fission products in the U.S. UNF stockpile
• ≥ 99% reduction in storage time for UNF
• ≥ 60% reduction in decay heat in watts per metric ton of uranium of UNF
• ≥ 90% reduction in activity of UNF

The potential FOA would consider the following technical areas:

1. Resilient components of transmutation systems. This technology area includes specific components that improve the power, current, reliability, and efficiency, and reduce the operating power of particle beam production.
2. Increased transmutation throughput. This technology area includes methods and processes to incorporate UNF into transmutation systems that maximize transmutation of components into more manageable isotopes. Process chemistry for liquid or molten salt targets and spallation targets for accelerator-driven systems are also included in this area.
3. Capability teams. ARPA-E is seeking capability teams for testing component integration and system resiliency to support the assessment of technologies in the program. Additionally, capability teams will be tasked with the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) algorithms to apply to accelerator facilities and to reduce the magnitude and duration of beam trips. Capability teams will create and maintain a materials database and perform techno-economic analyses on transmutation systems concepts.

Other solutions that do not clearly fall under one of the previous categories will be considered. However, a compelling case must be made that the technology will deliver significant improvements to the enhanced throughput of transmutation.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential FOA:

• Radio frequency generation
• Laser systems
• Accelerators
• Cryogenics
• Material coatings technologies
• Power electronics
• AI/ML
• Nuclear chemistry
• Process chemistry
• Separations
• Radiological monitoring
• Materials analysis

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration, spanning organizational boundaries, enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. This list is completely voluntary to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential FOA.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the potential FOA, expected to be issued around June 2024, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Introduction:

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for a potential ARPA-E program focused on identifying transformative technologies across the helium-4 (“helium”) supply chain to decrease the delivered cost of helium from processes not dependent on natural gas production. ARPA-E is seeking information regarding alternative methods to safeguard future helium production in the United States and ensure helium availability for next-generation energy technologies. Specifically, ARPA-E is interested in identifying potentially disruptive concepts to: 1) develop innovative mapping technologies to locate new helium sources; and 2) produce helium using advanced separation technologies designed for novel sources and/or the enhancement of helium recovery and recycling.

ARPA-E is seeking input from analytical chemists, chemical engineers, geochemists, geophysicists, geologists, materials scientists, petroleum engineers, process engineers, subsurface engineers, and others with potentially relevant expertise. ARPA-E is also seeking input from prospective end-users of helium, including semiconductor manufacturers, welding technologists, and scientists and engineers working with superconducting materials (e.g., physicists, electrical engineers, biomedical engineers, aerospace engineers). This RFI is focused on soliciting input on methods that decouple helium production from natural gas production. The questions toward the end of this document are intended to assist relevant stakeholders in providing input on:

1. Advanced identification, mapping, and quantification of new sources of helium, including co-locating potential geologic sources of hydrogen, subsurface seeps, geothermal reservoirs, and engineering methods to increase helium recovery from geologic sources;
2. Potential separation methods for helium sources (e.g., membranes, electrochemical separations, and non-cryogenic methods); and
3. Approaches for recovery and recycling of helium that resolve technical or economic constraints.

Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:

Work focused on basic research aimed purely at discovery and fundamental knowledge generation is not of interest.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Friday, March 15.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to develop net-zero mineral beneficiation technologies that decrease comminution energy and increase yield of energy-relevant metals from CO2-reactive ore. The objectives of this program are: (1) transform the CO2-reactive gangue minerals into softer and insoluble carbonate to decrease comminution energy; (2) increase yield of metals, such as nickel, cobalt, chromium, lithium, copper, and rare earth elements from conventional critical minerals and surrounding CO2-reactive gangue minerals; (3) eliminate possible negative impact on metal yield from conventional critical minerals during the development of new mineral beneficiation technologies to carbonate gangue mineralogy ; and (4) maintain the stable carbonate from cradle-to-grave. The timing of this program coincides with the need for market-ready breakthrough negative emission technologies that can exploit unconventional energy-relevant minerals to secure domestic supply and decrease comminution energy.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate collaborations among performing teams. ARPA-E is open to team(s) interested in both subsurface in-situ and ex-situ carbonation and energy-relevant metal recovery approaches.

Five focus areas have been identified as necessary to achieve the program objectives:

(1) Mineral Comminution and Yield: A category focused on developing breakthrough technologies to decrease comminution energy and energy-relevant metal yields lost during mineral beneficiation of CO2-reactive ore. The technology must accomplish this objective by changing the mineral properties of the CO2-reactive ore to utilize preexisting mineral beneficiation processes. Preferably, the team should have expertise in current mineral beneficiation processes, carbonate chemistry, and carbonate mineralogy.

(2) Gangue Mineral Yield: A category focused on fundamental research into developing breakthrough technologies to exploit energy-relevant metals from CO2-reactive gangue minerals. The technology must accomplish this by not impacting conventional critical mineral yield or decarbonating the ore. Preferably, the team should have expertise in metallurgy, mafic-ultramafic petrology, carbonate chemistry, carbonate mineralogy, and catalysis.

(3) Carbon Negative Reactions: A category focused on fundamental research into carbon-negative reactions. The team's expertise should include laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and characterization of physico-chemical changes during rock carbonation. Preferably, the team should have expertise in CO2 sequestration, mafic-ultramafic petrology, carbonate chemistry, and catalysis.

(4) Sensing and Analyzing Carbonation Potential and Mineralization: The research category focuses on developing breakthrough technology to conduct geophysical and (or) geochemical surveys to produce models that develop exploratory vectors of CO2-reactive rock formations, quantify rock carbonation, and quantify energy-relevant metals leached and remineralized during carbonation of the CO2-reactive gangue minerals. Preferably, the team should have experience in geophysical, geochemical, and geostatistical modeling of ore bodies.

(5) Applied Research: A category focused on the proper scale-up of this technology from bench-scale demonstrations. The team should have expertise in field characterization and planning (e.g, geophysics, geology, mining engineering, drilling). The team should understand geochemical, mineralogical, structural, and petrological heterogeneity within CO2-reactive ore bodies. An understanding of the changes in petrophysical properties and alteration mineralogy during rock carbonation. The ability to provide proper reservoir characterization to optimize rock carbonation and metal capture from gangue minerals. Understanding reservoir fluid dynamics to mitigate injection fluid loss and maximize recovery of possible production fluids. Adequate experience operating and maintaining a drilling and injection site to perform successful rock carbonation and recovery of carbonated samples.

ARPA–E held a workshop on these topics on July 13 and 15, 2021. Information from this workshop can be found at the event webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/sequestering-carbon-hybrid-employment-mineral-assets-workshop).

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with these project teams, with the goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of the innovative technologies these project teams develop.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in December 2021. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link:

https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or by other means will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued January 2022, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering issuing a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to utilize atmospheric CO₂ in the manufacture of building materials and design of whole-buildings that are capable of storing carbon within the finished product. The objective of this program would be to nullify embodied emissions while driving the transformation of buildings into carbon sinks. The timing of this program coincides with the urgency in both achieving aggressive reductions in embodied emissions, particularly in new construction, as well as the need for market-ready negative emission technologies and practices for implementing carbon removal strategies.

Two categories have been identified as necessary to achieve these goals:

(1) Building Materials Teams: A category focused on the development and commercialization of novel building materials that both contain a minimum of 10 wt.% (and higher than the incumbent technology) atmospheric carbon in the chemical structure of their manufactured part and also store more carbon than emitted during manufacture (i.e. cradle-to-gate, A1-A3) with an aim towards cradle-to-grave negative emissions. Performance requirements for building construction and operational energy usage must also be satisfied and surpassed.

(2) Building Design Teams: A category focused on leveraging emerging carbon storing materials as a parameter in whole-building re-designs. These new designs will drive down both lifetime embodied and operational emissions while also incorporating carbon storing materials with the goal of cradle-to-grave carbon negative buildings. We anticipate reuse and design for deconstruction as critical strategies in achieving this emission reduction goal.

Of note, ARPA-E is considering funding a team (or teams) through a separate solicitation to perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in conjunction with the Building Materials and Design Teams for this FOA, to ensure that the technologies developed through this potential program are evaluated consistently and transparently.

ARPA–E held a workshop on these topics on March 23 and 25, 2021. Information from this workshop can be found at the event webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/carbon-negative-building-materials-workshop).

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with these project teams, with the goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of the innovative technologies these projects teams develop.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in July 2021. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued August 2021, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on the development of technologies that would enable the effective management of the Nation’s commercial used nuclear fuel (UNF). The goals of this RFI are to (1) solicit information about reactor fuel needs for both the current commercial light-water reactor (LWR) fleet and future advanced reactors, and (2) seek insights into technology gaps and/or cost drivers that may be hindering economical recycling of existing LWR UNF.¹ This information is needed to help ARPA-E identify ways in which the Nation’s roughly 86,000 MTU² inventory of UNF, which has been increasing by approximately 2,000 MTU per year, can best be recycled to support current and advanced reactor fuel needs. Such activities are consistent with ARPA-E’s statutory goals, which include supporting the development of transformative solutions for addressing UNF.³

ARPA-E is interested in information about technologies with the potential to make recycling UNF at least as economical, safe, and secure as the current once-through fuel cycle.⁴ Such technologies would enable a UNF treatment facility to be economically constructed, managed, and operated; yield an actinide product that is cost-competitive with natural uranium (U) obtained from traditional mining and milling; and generate significantly lower waste volumes than those generated from existing commercial UNF treatment facilities. Implementation of advanced nuclear material accounting technologies and incorporation of a safeguards-by-design philosophy would support this objective by enabling precise, remote, near-real-time monitoring and accounting of special nuclear material⁵; decreasing hands-on-inspection requirements; and minimizing operational downtime to verify accuracy of material accounting. In aggregate, these innovations could substantially reduce the volume, heat load, and radiotoxicity of high-level waste requiring permanent disposal while providing a valuable and sustainable fuel feedstock for advanced fast reactors and the existing LWR fleet.

The questions in this RFI are intended to allow relevant stakeholders a mechanism to provide input on (i) the nature of a potential UNF recycling facility, (ii) UNF recycling technology gaps, (iii) existing LWR and future advanced reactor feedstock and fuel needs, and (iv) cost drivers for UNF recycling facility capital and management and operations (M&O) costs. Responses to these questions will enable ARPA-E to refine its success metrics for a potential program aimed at supporting the development of economical, safe, secure, and safeguarded recycling technologies. The questions posed in this section are classified into several different groups as appropriate. ARPA-E does not expect any one respondent to answer all, or even many, of these prompts. Simply indicate the group and question number in your response. Appropriate citations are encouraged. Respondents are also welcome to address other relevant avenues/technologies that are not outlined below.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI @hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern time on June 14, 2021.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

[1] For the purposes of this RFI, recycling of UNF entails (1) fuel treatment to recover valuable actinides (and potentially fission products) from UNF and (2) subsequent reuse of the recovered materials for nuclear and other applications.

[2] MTU=metric tons of uranium. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, approximately 79,825 MTU were discharged between 1968 and 2017. Approximately 2,000 MTU UNF are discharged per year, meaning that approximately 86,000 MTU have been discharged as of 2020. https://www.eia.gov/nuclear/spent_fuel/

[3] ARPA-E was 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) (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 16538). ARPA-E’s statutory goals are found in 42 U.S.C. § 16538(c). The Energy Act of 2020 amended such goals to include “provid[ing] transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel”.

[4] International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 2011. “The nuclear fuel cycle”. https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/nfc0811.pdf

[5] U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Special nuclear material”. March 09, 2021. https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/special-nuclear-material.html

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for a new program entitled Converting UNF Radioisotopes Into Energy (CURIE). This new program will fund innovative technologies and approaches that will significantly improve the economics of commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, improve reprocessing material accountancy while decreasing materials attractiveness, and drastically reduce the volume of high-level waste (HLW) requiring permanent disposal. An ARPA-E workshop was held in July 2021 to help identify and refine metrics for this new program; presentations from that workshop can be found here. The following paragraphs summarize the motivation for CURIE and the current planning for the CURIE FOA.

The U.S. currently uses a once-through fuel cycle in which approximately 4% of the uranium in nuclear fuel is consumed in a nuclear reactor before it is disposed of as HLW. After decades of using a once-through fuel cycle, the U.S. has accumulated nearly 86,000 metric tons (MT) of used nuclear fuel (UNF), an amount that increases by approximately 2,000 MT per year.[1] However, the use of nuclear fuel reprocessing, which is the recovery of valuable actinides from UNF, could close the fuel cycle by enabling the recycle of valuable actinides as new fuel for advanced reactors. Recycling UNF in this manner could greatly improve resource utilization, particularly when used in fast-spectrum advanced reactors, while dramatically reducing the volume of HLW requiring disposal. Reprocessing facility construction costs are currently estimated to range from $250 million to $20 billion,[2] but advances in separations chemistry and material accountancy technologies, front-end UNF treatment, advanced manufacturing, modularization, machine learning, and other relevant technological advances could be leveraged to drastically reduce the costs of constructing and operating a modern reprocessing facility in a safe and secure manner. The CURIE program aims to achieve this timely goal. It is part of a nearly $90M ARPA-E strategy to manage and reduce the Nation’s HLW waste inventory and complements ARPA-E’s recently announced ONWARDS program, which focuses on minimizing the waste impact of advanced reactors.

The FOA will provide specific CURIE program goals, technical metrics and selection criteria; the terms of the FOA will be controlling but currently, ARPA-E anticipates that the CURIE FOA will target research and development in the following categories:

Category 1 – Reprocessing Technologies: This technical category includes front-end- and separations process improvements and innovative equipment designs that minimize waste volumes and streams, condense unit operations, improve intrinsic proliferation resistance of actinide separations, increase resource utilization efficiency, simplify off-gas management, and/or, enable repurposing and recovery of valuable products (e.g., noble metals, medical radioisotopes). Example technology improvements include, but are not limited to, process intensification, single-cycle solvent extraction, advanced voloxidation, and fluoride volatility.

Category 2 – Integrated Monitoring & Materials Accountancy: This technical category includes technologies that support online monitoring of UNF reprocessing operations and enable materials accountancy of fissile materials at accuracy and precision levels of <1% error. This could include improved sensor fusion, instrumentation to support automated collection of real-time monitoring training sets, or novel sensors.

Category 3 – Facility Design & Systems Analysis: This category is intended for proposals that focus on lowering construction and operations and maintenance costs for reprocessing facilities via approaches such as (but not limited to) modularization of unit operations, automation, development of digital twins, and the use of advanced manufacturing techniques. It also includes systems analysis proposals that optimize the footprint, throughput, and siting of reprocessing facilities; assess the impact of reprocessing on future repository disposal costs; evaluate risks associated with a reprocessing facility; and otherwise explore ways of dramatically improving the economics, licensing, and siting of reprocessing facilities.

Category 4 - Other: This category is provided for submissions which do not cleanly fall into the above three categories but can potentially meet overall programmatic objectives.

To meet the program metrics for these areas of research, expertise in the following Technical Areas may be useful in responding to the FOA:

• Separations Chemistry (e.g., solvent extraction, pyroprocessing, halide volatility, etc.)
• Head-End Processing (e.g.,voloxidation, Kr/Xe capture, etc.)
• Process Intensification
• Material Accountancy/Online Monitoring
• Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing and Safeguards Regulations
• Digital Engineering
• Techno-Economic Analyses
• Systems Analysis and Risk Assessment
• Advanced Manufacturing and Construction, Including Modular Fabrication
• Sensors, Instrumentation, Controls, Autonomous Operation, and Robotics
• Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Digital Twins
• Project Engineering

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Such collaboration is especially important for CURIE, as several of the technical and engineering advances (e.g., waste-minimizing separations processes, digital twins, and process intensification) that are crucial to the success of CURIE have been developed and optimized outside of the nuclear industry. To ensure a comprehensive, integrated approach to reaching CURIE’s program goals, ARPA-E is encouraging teams from the sectors such as

• National Laboratories
• Universities
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle Industry
• Oil and Gas Industry
• Chemical and Biochemical Industry
• Industrial Waste Management Companies
• Mineral Processing Industry
• AI/Robotics R&D/Industry
• Project Engineering and Construction Firms

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, in January 2022. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields at the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued February 2022 for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

[1] Government Accountability Office, Report No. GAO-21-603, “Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel: Congressional Action Needed to Break Impasse and Develop a Permanent Disposal Solution,” published September 2021, available online at https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-603. Accessed November 12, 2021.

[2] Idaho National Laboratory, Report No. NTRD-FCO-2017-000265, “Advanced Fuel Cycle Cost Basis – 2017 Edition,” Module F1: Spent Nuclear Fuel Aqueous Reprocessing Facility, published September 29, 2017.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E-funded research program focused on novel technical approaches to produce iron metal (Fe) from iron-containing ores, which can create new technology pathways to enable future net-zero GHG emissions steelmaking at global scale. ARPA--E is interested in targeting ironmaking processes that have both: (a) a clear near-term value proposition – the production of high- value steels or ferrous alloys – and (b) a credible path to long-term commodity iron and steel production.

ARPA-E is interested in current knowledge gaps and technological barriers to the successful development and/or deployment of ironmaking technology concept(s), including, but not limited to: electrometallurgical ironmaking routes, pyrometallurgical ironmaking routes, biomass-based ironmaking routes, thermochemical reductants, metallothermic reduction, drop-in approaches, and enabling technologies for novel ironmaking. ARPA-E is also interested in input about about processes upstream of ironmaking, including novel iron ores and ore processing.

Due to the potential initial cost premium of zero-emissions approaches, ARPA-E is interested in learning about high-value iron-based alloys/steel compositions that could provide a near-term value proposition on the path to ultimate bulk iron/steel production. Examples might include: electrical steels (i.e. silicon steels), magnetic steels, stainless steels, high-purity iron alloys, advanced high-strength steels, high- entropy alloys, and/or powder forms of such steels. ARPA-E is also interested in understanding what parameters of a lab-scale novel ironmaking technology are needed to make a compelling case for further investment.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI @hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern time on June 14, 2021.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for a potential ARPA-E program focused on the feasibility and impact of retrofitting an existing aircraft with electric powertrains developed under ARPA-E’s Aviation-class Synergistically Cooled Electric-motors with iNtegrated Drives (ASCEND) program for a full integration with the aircraft and to show full functionality of the electric powertrain. ARPA-E is interested in groundbreaking technologies needed for a full integration of an electric powertrain into the aircraft main electrical and propulsion systems, as well as opportunities in airport electrification. This RFI aims to identify potential participants and gather insights to inform the development of a future funding opportunity focused on this transformative technology.

Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:

Approaches not of interest include:

• Subcomponent (e.g., electric motors and power converters) development only
• Non-electric energy sources (e.g., hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel)

RFI Guidelines:

PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW ALL RFI GUIDELINES BELOW.

Please note that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support the development of advanced batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) that can achieve significantly faster charging as well as superior low temperature performance compared to state of the art commercial options. While EVs continue to gain market share, domestically, more work is required to make them accessible to all Americans. ARPA-E has identified three market needs that will require better and more affordable technologies than are available today if the mass market is to be appropriately served in the future.

In addition to the above, domestic/global availability of battery materials, safety, and affordability continue to be significant factors that must be considered in a new battery program. To address these challenges, ARPA-E is contemplating several areas for possible investment:

First, a high-power battery (cell ≥ 200 Wh/kg) that can be charged in 5 minutes to 80% of its capacity. Second, a high energy battery (cell: ≥ 400 Wh/kg) that can be charged in 15 minutes to 80% of its capacity. The next generation of high energy and high-power battery chemistries and components will present considerable safety challenges that require new safety testing protocols. A third focus area of this potential program is therefore being considered, specifically to explore this safety testing topic, with the intent to de-risk chemistries with commercial potential (developed under this program) by the early application of competent and intentional failure analysis, Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA), and deployment of new tests.

For the first and second areas of interest, ARPA-E expects that a “total cell” solution (i.e., combination of anode, cathode, and electrolyte in a commercially viable package) will be required to achieve the primary program objectives. In addition, both will require significant reductions in cycle life degradation and performance loss at low temperatures, as well as a focus on low cost and globally abundant materials.

ARPA–E held a virtual workshop entitled “High Energy, Fast Charging Batteries for EV Applications” on October 26 and 28, 2021. Information from this workshop can be found at the event webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/high-energy-fast-charging-batteries-for-ev-applications-workshop).

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to a potential FOA for development of advanced cell chemistries and battery designs for EVs. Expertise in the following Technical Areas may be useful in responding to a potential future FOA: advanced battery materials/components research and development, computational modeling, cell and battery design, battery cell manufacturing, battery safety and testing, etc.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, in March 2022. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields at the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued by April 2022, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 05/03/2022: The FOAs associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId48756d42-40a6-4240-8f0f-986c81d670b3 and https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId610cce04-3efb-40f4-8442-a5d031195959.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”), “Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2021 (SCALEUP 2021),” expected to be issued in 2021, to solicit applications for financial assistance to support the scaling of promising ARPA-E-funded technologies into early commercial products.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate collaborations among performing teams to respond to the upcoming FOA. The FOA will provide specific Program goals, technical metrics, selection criteria, and FOA terms. For the purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2021 (SCALEUP 2021) solicitation provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. ARPA-E funds the R&D of technologies to build and maintain U.S. technological leadership in highly competitive global energy markets, thus supporting American jobs and economic growth. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to develop linkages between its sponsored applied research and the marketplace[1]. These linkages are central to realizing the public’s return on technology investments.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends (averaging $2.5M over three years). ARPA-E-funded technologies typically face significant remaining technical risks upon completion of an award’s funding period. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and with a wide range of investors, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these very early-stage technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. (These projects are often termed “pre-pilot” development in different industries.) Success in these scaling projects would enable industry, investors, and partners to justify substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, production facilities, and materials to develop promising ARPA-E technologies into early commercial products.

The SCALEUP 2021 FOA builds upon ARPA-E-funded technologies by scaling the most promising. Stranding promising ARPA-E-funded technologies in their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who can and do capture it for continued development – and economic benefit – overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often lose the lead on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. These scaling energy technology projects will meet ARPA-E’s its statutory goal of “accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty”[2].

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages different organizations with outstanding scientists and engineers across different scientific disciplines and technology sectors to participate in this Program. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

ARPA-E is compiling a Teaming Partner List for SCALEUP 2021 as an optional tool that potential applicants may choose to utilize to facilitate the formation of new project teams and identify potential collaborations. Teaming partners include organizations and individuals who can offer expertise, facilities, or other complementary resources toward a potential ARPA-E project. The teaming list identifies partners’ capabilities as well as their areas of interest, understanding that expertise and experience in one field can often be applied successfully to a new field. This list is completely voluntarily to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the SCALEUP 2021 FOA.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled solely to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (http://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, starting in October 2021. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name; Contact Name; Contact Address; Contact Email; Contact Phone; Organization Type; Area of Technical Expertise; and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in 2021, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

[1] America COMPETES Act, Pub. L. No. 110-69, § 5012 (2007), as amended (codified at 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(A-C)).

[2] 42 U.S.C. §16538(c)(2)(C)

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for potential future ARPA-E supported research efforts focused on novel, unconventional ideas, approaches, and enabling technologies to reduce electrical conductor resistivity.

This is a new “hybrid” RFI format where you may choose to (1) provide a written response, as with past ARPA-E RFI’s, and/or (2) participate in a related online “incubator” and “ask me anything” (AMA) discussion session hosted on a platform developed by Polyplexus, LLC. Guidance for (1) is provided at the end of this document. For (2), please follow this weblink: https://polyplexus.com/incubator?idIncubator=606&initialTab=overview.The incubator and AMA, which are scheduled from 6/11/2021 to 6/25/2021 and 6/18/2021 3:30pm-5:00pm, respectively, are like an online chat forum that allows for dynamic, evidence-based discussions moderated by an ARPA-E Program Director, providing an opportunity for interested parties to actively influence the discussion and interact with the Program Director. The incubator discussions and AMA will be visible to any registered Polyplexus user; registration is free and available to anyone according to the terms available at the site linked above. Your participation in the incubator and AMA are not required in order to provide feedback on this potential future program, but encouraged.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI @hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern time on July 31, 2021.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for potential future ARPA-E research programs focused on innovative technologies and approaches for resource exploration, discovery, appraisal, mining, and processing of critical minerals. Goals of the potential programs could include:

ARPA-E is seeking information from universities, non-governmental organizations, small businesses, large businesses, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and government-owned/government-operated (GOGO) organizations regarding such transformative and implementable technologies not currently deployed for mineral extraction to facilitate the future mining of critical minerals.

Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:

Any potential program would be focused on future resource discovery, appraisal, mining, and processing of critical minerals. Approaches not of interest include:

• Incremental improvements to existing technology;
• Electrification of existing mineral handling and beneficiation systems/circuits;
• Recycling of critical metals from waste sources that are not related to mining processes; and
• Topics directly related to the extraction of hydrocarbons (e.g., coal, oil, and gas).

RFI Guidelines:

PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW ALL RFI GUIDELINES BELOW.

Please note that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Introduction:

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for a potential ARPA-E program focused on the development of technologies to reduce nitrogen inputs and soil-based greenhouse gas emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) from the cultivation of bioenergy crops (i.e., corn, soybean, and sorghum). The goals for this programmatic concept include the evaluation of technologies capable of: 1) providing high-efficacy, low energy-intensive alternatives to synthetic fertilizer in agricultural production by advancing microbial fertilization approaches, enhancing plant nitrogen (N) use efficiency-related traits, and developing enabling tools for autogenic N₂ fixation; and 2) reducing soil-based N₂O emissions in growing these crops by altering the microbial N-cycle either through microbial and/or plant approaches.

ARPA-E seeks input from molecular biologists, biochemists, microbiologists, bioengineers, soil scientists, crop breeders, crop geneticists, plant scientists, and others with potentially relevant expertise. Additionally, ARPA-E is seeking input from prospective end-users of such technologies, including corn/soybean/sorghum growers, seed producers, farm monitoring and equipment companies, agronomists, biofuel stakeholders, and nitrogen fertilizer supply chains. This RFI is focused on soliciting input about biological approaches, rather than management-based approaches, to reduce N-inputs and soil-based emissions of N₂O. The questions at the end of this RFI are intended to assist relevant stakeholders in providing input on:­

1. Biological approaches to reducing synthetic N fertilizer and mitigating N₂O emissions, including approaches to genetic modifications of microbes and crops as well as methods to predict and control the activities of soil and root microbiomes.
2. Success metrics to quantify the impact of alternative technological approaches compared to synthetic nitrogen supply or mitigating N₂O emissions from the cultivation of bioenergy crops.
3. Approaches to evaluating technical and technology-to-market feasibility of these strategies.
4. Economic factors for large-scale adoption of these new technologies.

Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:

• Work focused on basic research aimed purely at discovery and fundamental knowledge generation.
• Efforts to use microbial fertilization and alter plant nitrogen use efficiency to improve crop yields at current applied N-levels.
• Land management or agronomic practices that can reduce N-inputs and field greenhouse gas emissions.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Monday, November 27.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to develop transformational cooling systems for data centers. Data centers are estimated to consume around 3% of all generated electricity with up to 40% of that power used for cooling. Currently the cooling power and use of water for evaporation cooling used by data centers varies greatly depending on local climate.

ARPA-E seeks to dramatically increase the efficiency of cooling for current and future compute systems in data centers and edge computing systems by greatly lowering the thermal resistance between the chip and the coolant. This will allow heat rejection at a temperature much closer to the chip operating temperature, enabling cooling solutions with transformational lower energy usage that can operate efficiently at any location in the United States at any time of the year. This will have many benefits: increased cooling capacity to meet future high-powered computing demands, increased potential for waste heat recovery and reuse, reduced or eliminated water consumption for cooling of data centers, potential for increased chip efficiency, location independence, improved performance in hot humid climates, potential for a compact modular cooling system, and enabling current and future edge computing needs.

Integrating advanced cooling solutions in power dense electrical environment like data centers has traditionally been a challenge due to reliability concerns of the cooling system and components. Reliability of complex systems has been achieved in other technical areas such as aerospace, automotive and renewable energy platforms through dedicated system engineering approaches and reliability and controls network modeling. ARPA-E would be interested to explore advanced integrations of electronics and cooling systems that can reach high levels of reliability and performance.

To achieve these goals ARPA-E is considering a potential program to develop disruptive cooling technologies that would consume less than 5% of data center power in any geographic location at any time of the year for a very high power density compute system. In addition, these technologies would be required to demonstrate the potential to be highly reliable as a system to allow data centers to maintain industry standard uptime levels. These technologies will also need to be cost competitive, environmentally friendly, and are encouraged to minimize or eliminate the need for water consumption for cooling. ARPA–E held a virtual workshop on this topic entitled “Cooling Compute Systems Efficiently, Anytime, Anywhere” on December 13 and 14, 2021. Information from this workshop can be found here: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/cooling-compute-systems-efficiently-anytime-anywhere-workshop.

In pursuit of this objective, the potential program envisions four different research tracks, each with specific scope of research and development, and metrics. One of the tracks will focus specifically on the component development for secondary cooling loop that transfers heat from the chips and electronics in the data hall to the facility. A second track will focus on technology and system development that encompasses both the secondary loop and the primary loop that transfers heat from the facility water to the environment, with an emphasis on novel modular data centers.

Two other tracks will be support tracks, with one focusing on development of a modelling capability that can assess impact at the datacenter center level, and allow future operators and data center designers to analyze and design for cooling system reliability, energy consumption, carbon footprint and total cost of ownership, while the other support track is intended to focus on facilities for testing the new technologies developed under the first two tracks.

Historically, the industry has been operating in a siloed approach. ARPA-e seeks new and transformative solutions that can only be achieved by interdisciplinary teaming. Expertise in the following technical areas may be useful in responding to the potential FOA: heat transfer, fluid mechanics, material science, electronics cooling, reliability engineering, control theory, chemical engineering, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, environmental engineering, cost analysis, industrial engineering, architecture, bio-heat transfer, expertise in data center operation, design and ownership.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in May 2022. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued by August 2022, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 09/22/2022: The FOAs associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId14cbba61-e007-42b7-8cef-3724d1e66387 and https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdfab12a1e-cf62-4097-81fa-fbedf0447e6a.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in September 2019 to solicit applications for financial assistance to develop innovative technologies for the optimization of operations and maintenance (O&M) of advanced nuclear reactors.[1] As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the upcoming FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria and the FOA terms are controlling. For the purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

Advances in autonomous, efficient, and low-cost operations and maintenance are happening in many industrial sectors, largely powered by artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data analytics, distributed computing, powerful physics simulation tools, and other breakthroughs. To date, little of this advancement has been adopted by the nuclear energy industry. There is a crucial need to design and execute extremely robust and low-cost operations and maintenance procedures (O&M) for advanced reactors (AR).[2] The aim of this ARPA-E program is to make a transformational change to the current state-of-the-art in operating nuclear reactor plants, and improve AR designs with O&M in mind. ARPA-E is interested in solutions focusing on operating and maintaining the reactor core, the balance of plant (BOP), or the entire reactor plant system (including both the reactor core and BOP).

To accomplish this goal, ARPA-E is looking for interdisciplinary teams to develop digital twins (DTs),^[3] or a technology with similar capability, for an AR design as the foundation of their O&M strategy. The digital twins (or equivalent) the teams will develop will include diverse technologies that are driving efficiencies in other industries, such as AI, advanced control systems, predictive maintenance, and model-based fault detection. Teams will use the DTs to assess, diagnose, and prescribe O&M activities and needs. Because ARs are still in design phases, with no physical units operating, teams working on core operations will also develop cyber-physical systems (CPS)[4] that simulate advanced reactor core operating dynamics using a combination of non-nuclear experimental facilities (e.g., flow loops) and software. Teams will use these systems as the “real asset,” a surrogate upon which developers can test their DT platforms for operations and maintenance. CPS may also provide validation data for regimes or conditions with high uncertainty. ARPA-E will also support research for filling specific technical gaps to enable the O&M strategies. This program lays the basis for a future where ARs operate with a staffing plan and fixed O&M costs more akin to that of a combined cycle natural gas plant than that of the legacy light-water reactor fleet.

Beyond providing lower fixed O&M costs, development of DTs for ARs has multiple other benefits. In particular, ARPA-E sees DT development contributing to the following areas: generating timely reactor design feedback, enhancing regulatory efficiency, de-risking market adoption challenges, informing new quality assurance standards, and laying the basis for future personnel training.

Currently, ARPA–E anticipates that this program will have two research categories.

In order to realize the goals of the proposed ARPA-E program, expertise in the following areas may be useful: (i) artificial intelligence; (ii) industrial condition monitoring/asset performance management/predictive maintenance; (iii) advanced, autonomous control systems; (iv) multi-fidelity modeling and simulations; (v) robotics and remote maintenance systems; (vi) advanced reactor design; (vii) nuclear plant O&M activities; and (viii) harsh environment sensors and instrumentation.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov) ARPA–E’s online application portal, starting in September 2019.The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided the information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields inthe following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name; Contact Name; Contact Address; Contact Email; Contact Phone; Organization Type; Area of Technical Expertise; and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List.ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in September 2019, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on technologies that enable high-resolution, wide-area subsurface mapping in order to identify opportunities for renewable energy technologies and the future low-carbon economy. Examples where advances in subsurface imaging will be critical include, but are not limited to, locating reservoirs for carbon capture and storage (CCS), identifying new geothermal sites, mapping natural accumulations of energy-relevant minerals, and assessing potential resources of geologic hydrogen. The goal is to better understand how subsurface imaging technologies today may need to expand, adapt, or improve beyond technologies which have been optimized for oil and gas exploration. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding the state of the art in subsurface imaging technologies and transformative and implementable technologies that could:

1. Reduce frontier exploration costs for renewable energy or carbon storage projects by an order of magnitude or more, leveraging advancements in subsurface imaging, data collection, and data processing. For new renewable technologies or CCS projects, identifying potential geologic sites with the requisite properties requires honing in on sites from a much larger region, often in areas that have not been traditionally explored by oil and gas interests and where there is little prior high-quality imaging data. Isolating regions of interest could mean developing new, cost-effective wide-area subsurface exploration technologies, using a combination of imaging techniques paired with multi-physics models, using data processing or novel geostatistical methods to upgrade or augment existing datasets, and/or developing machine learning algorithms which can fill in data gaps.

2. Advance data processing to accommodate larger amounts of data and reduce processing time by orders of magnitude for wide-area and/or nationwide subsurface imaging surveys.

3. Dramatically improve project success rates. Successful technologies would result in outcomes such as reduced incidence of dry wells in geothermal energy projects or identification of new energy-relevant mineral deposits. These outcomes can be facilitated by acquiring higher-quality and/or more comprehensive data in order to discern sites with high probability factors.

4. Monitor dynamic changes in the subsurface over time (4D mapping) with more sensitive surveys techniques, more comprehensive models, and/or algorithms. ARPA-E expects that subsurface changes of interest to renewable energy or CCS projects (e.g. changes in rock morphology, active water-rock chemical reactions, fluid migration, fracture network development, biological processes) may be different than those typically modelled for the oil and gas industry and that current models may need to be expanded to include these processes.

5. Reveal opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, combining the expertise of groups that traditionally do not interact, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of dynamic geologic processes.

Note that some approaches may accomplish several of the listed items above. For example, reducing frontier exploration costs could help de-risk new energy projects. Likewise, interdisciplinary collaboration could result in a paradigm shift that would introduce new technologies or methodologies for subsurface exploration.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI @hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern time on December 1, 2021.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that seeks to enable the accurate, spatially scaled and temporally persistent measurement and validation of marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) techniques (which includes “direct ocean capture” or “DOC”), in which CO₂ is captured from the atmosphere and surface oceans before sequestration at depth. While direct air capture (or “DAC”) approaches can be validated easily through direct measurement of CO₂ collected, the same cannot be said for mCDR techniques, which may involve complex reactions over a very large surface or volume of the ocean over comparatively long periods of time, during which a fraction of the carbon drawn down may be re-emitted to the atmosphere. The envisioned program aims to vastly expand our ability to measure carbon flux parameters in the ocean, enabling comprehensive Measurement, Reporting and Validation (MRV) of mCDR and the creation of a data-driven, model-based marine carbon accounting framework. This program effort would consist of a primary technical area focused on new sensor development and a supporting technical area focused on the development of targeted regional-scale marine CDR models and accompanying carbon accounting processes. Scalable, cost-effective technologies that perform MRV for various mCDR approaches are a critical need in this highly active space where claims of efficacy and permanence cannot yet be rigorously substantiated. Such technologies could also ensure that the quantity and quality of removals are correctly valued in carbon markets and support any economic incentive to accelerate the adoption of mCDR to remove historic emissions. Validation of sequestered carbon will promote the commercialization of mCDR techniques that are most effective and energy efficient in carbon removal rather than those that are merely easiest to implement but may not actually be as effective or may be so energy intensive themselves that they result in poor overall net lifetime carbon removal.

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ARPA–E held a workshop on these topics on June 15-16, 2022. Information from this workshop can be found at the event webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/marine-carbon-sensing-workshop). The component information remains consistent, but the scope and structure of the program have been updated from that presented in the workshop slides.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting November 18, 2022. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in February 2023, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 02/16/2023: The FOA associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdb1b3992f-760d-4e21-a6c3-77e81de98cd3

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering issuing a new Exploratory Topic under Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) DE‐FOA‐0002784 and DE‐FOA‐0002785 to solicit applications for financial assistance in pursuit of hypotheses-driven approaches toward realizing diagnostic evidence of Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) that are convincing to the wider scientific community. A goal of this Exploratory Topic will be to establish clear practices to rigorously answer the question, “should this field move forward given that LENR could be a potentially transformative carbon-free energy source, or does it conclusively not show promise?”

ARPA-E acknowledges the complex, controversial history of LENR beginning with the announcement by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons in 1989 that they had achieved deuterium-deuterium (D-D) “cold fusion” in an electrochemical cell.[1] DOE reviews in 1989 and 2004 both concluded that the body of evidence to date did not support the claim of D-D fusion, but that research proposals on deuterated heavy metals should be evaluated under the standard peer-review process. This has not happened, in part because LENR was largely dismissed by the scientific research community by 1990.[2] Nevertheless, many groups from around the world continued to conduct varied LENR experiments on minimal budgets and to report evidence of excess heat and nuclear reactions (including neutrons, tritium, ³He, ⁴He, transmutation products, and isotopic shifts) in hundreds of reports/papers.[3] However, repeatability of the key evidence over multiple trials of seemingly the same experiment remains elusive to this day.[4] This may be due to limitations in experimental or diagnostic techniques, lack of awareness and/or control of the key triggers and independent variables of LENR experiments, or other reasons. Furthermore, results were typically not reported with the level of scientific rigor required by top-tier research journals. As a result, LENR as a field remains in a stalemate where lack of adequate funding inhibits the rigorous results that would engender additional funding and more rigorous studies.

For these reasons, ARPA-E has over the past 2+ years revisited the history of LENR as a field, studied the literature, released a general RFI[5] on nonconventional fusion approaches (that received many LENR-related responses), and held a LENR workshop.[6] The workshop was attended by 100+ people, including long-time and newer LENR researchers, non-LENR researchers from adjacent research disciplines, and other interested stakeholders. Institutions represented at the workshop included government laboratories/FFRDCs, top research universities, and private companies. The information gathered and received by ARPA-E, including from reputable experts at prestigious U.S. academic institutions, laboratories, and private corporations, supports the decision to proceed with the announcement of this Teaming Partner List.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate multi-disciplinary teaming, especially among but not limited to LENR researchers and nuclear diagnostic experts. ARPA-E believes that such teaming will improve the chances of advancing the field of LENR. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. The FOA terms will be controlling. For the purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

Based on its claimed characteristics, LENR may be an ideal form of nuclear energy with potentially low capital cost, high specific power and energy, and little-to-no radioactive byproducts. If LENR can be irrefutably demonstrated and scaled, it could potentially become a disruptive technology with myriad energy, defense, transportation, and space applications, all with strong implications for U.S. technological leadership. For energy applications, LENR could potentially contribute to decarbonizing sectors such as industrial heat and transportation (~50% of U.S. and global CO₂-equivalent emissions).

This forthcoming ARPA-E Exploratory Topic program aims to build on recent progress in the field,[7] with strong emphases on testing/confirming specific hypotheses (rather than focusing only on replication), identification and verifiable control of experimental variables and triggers, more comprehensive diagnostics and analysis, access to broader expertise and capabilities on research teams, and an insistence on peer review and publication in top-tier journals. To accomplish this goal, ARPA-E is looking for diverse interdisciplinary teams to obtain convincing empirical evidence of nuclear reactions in an LENR experiment through two possible categories:

A) LENR Experiments: The goal of this potential category would be to conduct LENR experiments through careful selection of specific, testable hypotheses that can be supported or retired upon the collection of correlated, multi-messenger nuclear diagnostics. Proposed LENR experiments would have a well-articulated connection to prior published LENR evidence. Principal Investigators would be expected to have a strong publication record of experimental work in leading journals, and at least one seasoned LENR practitioner (e.g., someone who has conducted and published results on LENR experiments) should be included on the team. Organizations and project teams interested in this potential category would either directly incorporate specialist capabilities described below or anticipate collaborating with one or more Capability Teams.

B) Capability Teams: The goal of this potential category would be to provide specialist support to LENR experiments, including but not limited to nuclear diagnostic detectors and capabilities, materials fabrication, elemental/isotopic sample analysis, statistical analysis, experimental design and related modeling, and calorimetry (note, however, that calorimetry would likely not be acceptable as a sole or primary diagnostic).

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organization, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to participate in this Exploratory Topic. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, starting in July 2022. Once posted, The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name; Contact Name; Contact Address; Contact Email; Contact Phone; Organization Type; and brief description of your Background, Interest, and Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information By facilitating and publishing this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E reserves the right to remove any inappropriate responses to this Announcement (including lack of sufficient relevance to, or experience with, the technical topic of the Announcement). ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final Exploratory Topic, expected to be issued in August 2022 under the FOAs noted at the beginning of this Teaming Partner List, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

[1] M. Fleischmann and S. Pons, “Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium,” J. Electroanal. Chem. Int. Electrochem. 261, 201 (1989); https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0728(89)80006-3.

[2] For historical accounts of LENR, see, e.g. J. R. Huizenga, Cold Fusion: The Scientific Fiasco of the Century (University of Rochester Press, Rochester, NY, 1993); E. Storms, The Science of Low Energy Nuclear Reaction (World Scientific, Singapore, 2007); S. B. Krivit, Hacking the Atom (Pacific Oaks Press, San Rafael, CA, 2016); and S. B. Krivit, Fusion Fiasco (Pacific Oaks Press, San Rafael, CA, 2016).

[3] See, e.g., https://lenr-canr.org and the bibliographies of the books by Storms and Krivit in footnote 2.

[4] See, e.g., the books by Huizenga and Krivit in footnote 2 for critical discussions of LENR evidence.

[5] https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx?Search=nonconventional%20fusion&SearchType=.

[6] https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/low-energy-nuclear-reactions-workshop.

[7] See C.P. Berlinguette et. al., “Revisiting the cold case of cold fusion,” Nature 570, 45 (2019) and references therein, and presentations at the ARPA-E LENR Workshop: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/low-energy-nuclear-reactions-workshop.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in late October 2019 for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies applied to fossil-fueled power generators, with a focus on the implications of changing patterns in the time-dependent value of electricity – as represented by a locational marginal price (LMP) – brought about by the increasing penetration of variable renewables such as wind and solar power. ARPA-E is interested in developing CCS technologies with cost and performance attributes that could enable a net-zero carbon electricity grid at a system levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of $75/MWh. The technology focus would be to develop CCS processes that enable fossil-fueled power plants to be responsive to a grid with a large share of renewables; this includes retrofits to existing power plants as well as greenfield systems with a fossil fuel input and low-carbon electricity as an output (i.e. a “black box” in which the nature of the fuel-to-electricity conversion process is not prescribed).

Based on trends in the electricity grid, especially the falling cost of variable renewable generators and energy storage, ARPA-E expects that compelling process attributes could include, but are not limited to:

• Lower CCS capital costs, even if that entails some increase in marginal cost including parasitic load (given general trends towards lower capacity factors for fossil fuel plants)
• CCS processes that enable maximal power plant flexibility such as ramp rate, turndown, and startup and shutdown time
• CCS systems that include additional processes that enable a power plant to shift the export of electricity to the grid, thereby allowing the power plant and CCS plant to operate under more steady-state conditions even when subjected to fluctuating LMPs. Examples include but are not limited to energy storage and hydrogen production; the latter would be constrained to a scale compatible with current combustion turbine and pipeline infrastructure
• CCS processes that can cost-effectively achieve high CO₂ capture rates from flue gas (e.g. greater than 90% removal) and/or vary their capture rate based on market conditions
• Designs that increase the utilization of a point-source CCS process, such as integration with direct air capture (DAC) systems
• Processes that are designed primarily to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere, but can change modes to export electricity to the grid in times of high demand

ARPA-E anticipates a two-phased program. Phase I would focus on designing innovative CCS processes that maximize the net present value (NPV) of a fossil-fueled power generator with CCS across several carbon pricing scenarios (e.g. $100-300 per ton), given LMP price signals that reflect a grid with a deep penetration of renewables. These LMP signals would be provided as an input from ARPA-E.

Teams would develop steady-state and dynamic models of the power generator, CO₂ capture plant, and CO₂ compression system; validate those models; vary the process configuration and design and operational variables to optimize the NPV; and provide estimates for the capital cost, marginal cost, and fixed operations & maintenance costs. Teams would use LMP signals and carbon prices provided by ARPA-E and propose the dispatch of the power plant, thereby defining the capacity factor. Phase I would thus focus on process designs and computational modeling; experimental validation would be encouraged but not required.

At the end of Phase I, ARPA-E plans to hold an engineering design review with third-party reviewers to analyze the processes designed by awardees. In addition, ARPA-E intends to analyze the market potential of the proposed technologies with a capacity expansion modeling tool that estimates the build-out and utilization of each technology under a range of possible scenarios.

Based on the results of the capacity expansion modeling analysis and engineering design review, ARPA-E anticipates a Phase II that would build components, unit operations, and small systems to reduce the technical risk and cost associated with these CCS systems. Phase II projects would have a longer period of performance and larger budget than Phase I.

ARPA–E held a workshop on this topic in July 2019; information on this workshop can be found at the webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=workshop/flexible-carbon-capture-workshop)

In order to realize the goals of this program, expertise in the following areas may be useful:

• CCS technology development 
• Innovative fuel-to-electricity conversion technologies that are inherently amenable to CCS
• Process modeling of power plants, CO₂ capture processes, and CO₂ compression systems
• System dynamics and controls
• Engineering cost modeling of capital and operational costs
• Advanced optimization techniques that allow for a wide range of process configurations and design and operational variables to be considered in a computationally-efficient manner
• Processes that enable a power plant to shift output with minimal capital expense, such as energy storage or hydrogen production at a scale compatible with existing power plant and pipeline infrastructure
• DAC systems that could be integrated with point-source CCS plants and/or export power to the grid

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists, engineers and innovators from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in October 2019. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List.  ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in late October 2019, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency –Energy (ARPA‐E) in the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking comments on the draft technical section of a potential future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the CURIE program. This new program would focus on innovative technologies and approaches that will significantly improve the economics of commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, improve reprocessing material accountancy while decreasing materials attractiveness, and drastically reduce the volume of high-level waste (HLW) requiring permanent disposal. An ARPA-E workshop was held in July 2021 to help identify and refine metrics for this contemplated program; presentations can be found here. Such technological advancements would enable a 1¢/kWh fuel cost for a secure 200 MTHM/yr facility that does not generate pure plutonium streams while significantly reducing the volume of high-level waste requiring disposal. ARPA‐E seeks input from experts in the fields of separations chemistry (e.g., solvent extraction, pyroprocessing, halide volatility, etc.); head-end processing (e.g., voloxidation, Kr/Xe capture, etc.); process intensification; material accountancy/online monitoring; project engineering; techno-economic analysis; digital engineering; systems analysis and risk assessment; advanced manufacturing and construction (including modular fabrication); artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital twins; and sensors, instrumentation, autonomous operation, and robotics.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below and note in particular: the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME. Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Purpose and Need for Information:

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input about the scope of the draft technical section of the CURIE FOA for ARPA-E consideration. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broader research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions regarding the technology and economics of reprocessing facilities.

This RFI previews only the draft technical section for a possible future program solicitation. If respondents are interested in other sections, including general format and requirements of an ARPA-E FOA, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/. DE-FOA-0002212: Breakthroughs Enabling Thermonuclear-fusion Energy (BETHE) is a sample FOA to reference. A few common sections include but are not limited to:

• III.A: Eligible Applicants (e.g., domestic entities)
• III.B: Cost-Sharing IV.C: Content and Form of full applications
• VI.C: Reporting (e.g., cost)
• VIII.B: Government Rights in Subject Inventions
• VIII.C: Rights in Technical Data

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES:

A summary of RFI responses will be presented by Program Director Jenifer Shafer on February 23-24, 2022, at ARPA-E’s CURIE Industry Day. Individuals interested in attending the CURIE Industry Day event should indicate this in the RFI response.

ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM eastern time on February 21,2022. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

Please insert “Responses for CURIE” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g., university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email. Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 5 pages in length (12-point font size). Respondents are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential methodologies.

Questions: ARPA-E encourages responses that address any subset of the following questions and encourages the inclusion of references to important supplementary information.

1. For elements/radioisotopes present in used nuclear fuel that could be valuable for recovery, what are the estimated potential demand and prices for these elements/radioisotopes?

2. Are there specific technical research topics being considered that may fall under the “other” category of the draft technical section?

3. What is an envisioned timeline for gaining the requisite approvals and materials access necessary to use actual used nuclear fuel (UNF) for research experiments?

4. What other considerations (e.g., site use or transportation restrictions) should ARPA-E be aware of regarding the use of actual UNF in CURIE project proposals?

5. Any other issues, questions, or feedback regarding the draft FOA.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in December, 2019 to support the development of novel energy conversion technologies with extremely high power density and conversion efficiency. The envisioned FOA represents part of a wider ARPA-E effort in developing high efficiency and power density systems that could enable electrified, low- or zero-emissions, long-range aviation. There is a separate and complementary announcement targeting high power density, efficient electric motors and power electronics (see link for separate teaming partner list for that program). The overarching goal of the set of proposed programs is to reduce emissions from and increase the efficiency of commercial aviation by developing cost competitive systems for the efficient conversion of the chemical energy of carbon neutral liquid fuels (CNLFs) to delivered electric energy, which is further converted to thrust using power electronics, electric motors and propulsors—the former being the specific focus of this thrust.

Current battery energy storage options for electric aviation technologies are expensive, have low energy density and can only support the power and energy requirements for short range, few passenger aircrafts. The proposed program approach of combining a relatively small high power density energy storage device to provide power for takeoff/climb with a high efficiency CNLFs conversion engine(s) (e.g., different types of fuel cells, advanced combustion engine such as gas turbines, reciprocating internal combustion engines, etc.) to provide cruise power. Charging the battery during the flight at the peak efficiency will further enable long distance all-electric, net zero carbon aviation. To achieve the intended goal, new cost- effective and energy-efficient technologies for conversion of sustainable fuels to electric power must be developed and successfully hybridized with commercial high power energy storage devices while running on a commercially viable, technically feasible CNLF (e.g. bio fuels, ethanol, etc.); this could enable long range zero-carbon aviation for a narrow-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 family, at analogous missions, while ensuring commercial viability. This program will likely operate at the intersection of electrochemistry, catalysis, engine development, advanced combustion, materials development, chemical engineering, computational modeling and device integration. ARPA–E held a related workshop on fuel cell and engine hybridization technologies for ground transportation in December 2017; information on this workshop can be found at the webpage: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=workshop/high-efficiency-hybrid-vehicles.

Currently, ARPA–E anticipates that this program will have two major focus areas:

1. Hybrid energy storage and conversion system based on fuel cells

2. Hybrid energy storage and conversion system based on advanced combustion engines

In order to realize the goals of this program, expertise in the following areas may be useful: (i) fuel cells and electrocatalysis, (ii) heterogeneous catalysis, (iii) gas turbine and/or reciprocating internal engine combustion operating with alternative fuels, (iv) chemical engineering with emphasis on catalytic reactor design, (v) electrochemical cell and stack design and manufacturing, (vi) material chemistry including ion-conducting, sealing and multi-functional materials, (vii) process engineering, (viii) batteries and supercapacitors, (ix) system integration and scale up, etc.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, October 25, 2019. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in December 2019, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering issuing a new Exploratory Topic under Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) DE‐ FOA‐0002784 and DE‐FOA‐0002785 to develop transformational technologies enabling real-time monitoring and predictive modeling of aviation condensation trail (contrails) that lead to the development of persistent cirrus clouds.[1] At cruise, jet engines from commercial aircraft may produce ice water contrails. Recent studies have indicated that contrail emissions may contribute to the creation of anthropogenic cirrus clouds that can be barriers to heat leaving the earth and contribute to global warming.[2] Proposals funded under this ET FOA will focus on ARPA-E’s mission areas:

1. Emissions Reduction: Projects will develop the diagnostics and predictive tools needed to explore further mitigation of contrail-related global warming. If successful, a total radiative forcing emission equivalent to all CO₂ emissions from aviation can potentially be mitigated².

2. Increase Efficiency: As we consider potential future programs that explore the use and production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), this program will be important in increasing our understanding of water emissions from aviation jet engines.

Most contrails dissipate in a period of under 10 minutes and are of no concern. In rare occasions, when nucleation sites and specific atmospheric conditions exist (in particular ice super-saturated regions (ISSR)), the introduction of engine exhaust can result in persistent contrails, and further result in persistent cirrus clouds known as aircraft-induced cirrus (AIC).[3] These upper atmospheric clouds can last for hours and grow to span several hundreds of kilometers and are of specific interest.

ARPA-E envisions that an Aviation Contrail Predictive System, or Systems, capable of detecting and informing in real-time pilots and flight planning ground control whether an airplane is likely to produce persistent AIC could lead to R&D of a) future avoidance strategies – allowing re-direction of airplanes by ground control to more favorable (non-contrail) flight trajectories – and/or b) mitigation technologies to enable pilots to engage on-board contrail mitigation technologies. An Aviation Contrail Predictive System is particularly challenging, as AIC can form several hours after an aircraft has passed through a region.

The aim of this new Exploratory Topic is to develop a predictive model that in “real-time” and with high confidence could inform a pilot or flight operator whether an aircraft is producing an aircraft induced cirrus cloud, even hours before it is fully developed. It is anticipated that three technology areas need to come together to develop an Aviation Contrail Predictive System:

1. Aircraft and environmental data and sensor development: relevant data factors need to be identified and measured with sufficient accuracy. This might be a combination of aircraft speed, altitude, aircraft/engine model, fuel type, aerodynamic, humidity, pressure, weather forecast, or other relevant atmospheric data. If current sensors are insufficient, new sensors might need to be explored.

2. Predictive modeling approaches: It is anticipated that advanced predictive analytical methods are required or need to be developed to identify relevant parameters and develop correlations which can target a reasonably high accuracy, e.g., F₁-score > 0.8, strongly reducing the amount of false positives and false negatives.

3. Observer data to validate and train the predictive model: relevant observer methods need to be deployed, developed, or invented to provide feedback on whether aircraft contrails lead to AIC. This can be a set of ground observer systems near relevant flight corridors, aircraft mounted observing sensors, or space-based observer data. For the purposes of this new Exploratory Topic, limited relevant test flights for data gathering and model validation might be required.

Aircraft, Environmental Data and Sensor Development

New sensors or environmental data sources may be needed to provide sufficient training and validation data for the envisioned predictive capabilities. Contrail forming conditions are identified by the Schmidt-Appleman criterion: where water vapor content reaches liquid saturation under specific temperature and saturation conditions in the presence of nucleation sites.[4]^,[5],[6] Especially important are persistent contrails formed when airplanes travel through atmospheric ice super saturated regions (ISSR), leading to persistent aircraft induced cirrus (AIC) clouds.³ As the persistent contrail formation regime is a combination of Schmidt-Appleman and ISSR criteria, sensors capable of identifying these parameters are of particular interest, e.g. sensor systems capable of measuring upper atmospheric humidity at or below 10 ppm.

Predictive Modeling

Advanced machine learning computational methods developed in the past decade allow the exploration of larger sets of input data and explore more complex multivariate correlations to solve complex problems than ever before. ARPA-E plans to explore if such methods can be used to develop a real-time predictive system for AIC development. To inform avoidance and mitigation strategies, it is important that developed predictive models give reasonably accurate results, minimizing false positive (type I) and false negative (type II) errors. This can be captured in the balanced F-score (F₁-score) which is the harmonic mean of precision and recall. A target for an F₁-score for AIC prediction system might be greater than 0.8 such that sufficient confidence exists to inform avoidance and mitigation solutions.

Observer Data

A predictive model needs to be trained and validated. For an Aircraft Contrail Predictive System this will likely require observers and additional sensors. It is anticipated that teams will need to obtain sufficient relevant flight and observer data from publicly available sources or dedicated flight observer tests to provide true AIC observations and validation rather than theoretical studies alone. Additionally, ARPA-E envisions a contrail reporting and observational data aggregation mechanism that mimics current tools for turbulence reporting and could further serve to continuously refine and improve AIC predictive modeling capabilities going forward.

ARPA-E seeks new and transformative solutions that can only be achieved by interdisciplinary teaming. Expertise in the following technical areas may be useful in responding to the potential Exploratory Topic FOA: Aerospace design, Aerospace Operations, Atmospheric Science, Sensing Technologies, Radar/Lidar systems, Flight Test capability, Aviation Propulsion, Aerosol Sciences, Combustion Sciences, Atmospheric Sciences, Observation Technologies, Machine Vision, Satellite Observation Systems, Machine Learning, Data Sciences, Predictive Modeling.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with these project teams, with the goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of the innovative technologies these projects teams develop.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E Exchange (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in December 2022. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating and publishing this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E reserves the right to remove any inappropriate responses to this Announcement (including lack of sufficient relevance to, or experience with, the technical topic of the Announcement.) ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted by any means other than via the link provided above will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final Exploratory Topic, expected to be issued in February 2023 under the FOAs noted at the beginning of this Teaming Partner List, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 2/23: The FOAs associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId521a7aa4-b255-4c3b-a211-b128d2a4a0e4 and https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId440dd93d-dd8d-48e9-bbc6-7112453728c2.

[1] De Bock, P, “Leave No Trace!.… ….In the Sky”, ARPA-E Innovation Summit 2022, https://youtu.be/lZ6iQHolab0?t=1487

[2] Lee, D.S., Fahey, D.W., Skowron, A., Allen, M.R., Burkhardt, U., Chen, Q., Doherty, S.J., Freeman, S., Forster, P.M., Fuglestvedt, J. and Gettelman, A.The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018. Atmospheric Environment, 244, p.117834 (2021).

[3] Kärcher, B. Formation and radiative forcing of contrail cirrus. Nat Commun 9, 1824 (2018).

[4] Appleman, H., 1953: The formation of exhaust condensation trails by jet aircraft. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 34, 14–20.

[5] Schumann, U., 1996. On conditions for contrail formation from aircraft exhausts. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 5, pp.4-23.

[6] Teoh, R., Schumann, U., Majumdar, A. and Stettler, M.E., 2020. Mitigating the climate forcing of aircraft contrails by small-scale diversions and technology adoption. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(5), pp.2941-2950.

Introduction

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on technologies related to harvesting high value metals essential for the clean energy transition from terrestrial environments using metal hyperaccumulators (HAs). The goal is to establish economic, sustainable, and low carbon-footprint domestic supply chains of high value metals to promote an accelerated clean energy transition without supply chain constraints. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative and implementable technologies that could:

(a) Identify or develop hyperaccumulators suitable for economically viable phytomining in the United States. Examples include agronomic techniques to domesticate hyperaccumulating species, yield higher biomass, and to control the seed dispersal; systems biology approaches to gain desired phenotypes such as high rates of growth, fast metal uptake, and accumulation of optimal metal compounds in parts of the plant that are optimal for extraction with low carbon-footprint approaches. ARPA-E's interest includes perennial species with high biomass and high metal uptake, including tree species, and any hyperaccumulators that could be grown on high-metal, nonarable lands in the US such as ultramafic serpentine soil and mine tailings.

(b) Increase total metal uptake in hyperaccumulators that can be grown at large commercial scales in the United States. Examples include microbiome engineering to dissolve metals and engineering hyperaccumulators to grow deeper roots to expand the pool of metals available without strip mining. System-level approaches are encouraged to address the questions in this RFI. For example, employing integrated rhizosphere engineering, metal transport, and accumulation to desired locations in the plants such as saps, accumulation of metals in desired chemical forms, and monitoring/analysis tools.

(c) Extract metal from hyperaccumulators using processes that produce the lowest possible carbon emissions, ideally even carbon-negative. Examples include pre-treatment of biomass before or after drying to increase the yield, new metallurgical routes to extract metals with high yields and low impurities, and novel approaches to extract metals in desired chemical forms. ARPA-E is seeking information regarding extraction strategies without emitting carbon accumulated in the biomass back into the atmosphere. System-level approaches are encouraged to address the questions in this RFI. For example, employing integrated treatment of biomass to utilize accumulated carbon while extracting metals, co-processing of more than one type of biomass, integration with existing biomass processing routes, and recycling and recovery towards circular processes and economy.

(d) Produce high-value, high-purity chemical forms of metals directly from phytomining, which can enter the value chain of battery manufacturing and other clean-energy technologies without further processing. ARPA-E is seeking information for shortening the routes to clean energy-relevant mineral forms that can be used with minimal additional cost (CAPEX, energy, processing).

Note that some approaches may fit several of the technology categories described above. For instance, systems biology optimization of hyperaccumulators could be used to develop hyperaccumulators that are suitable for the climate and soil in the United States, while also increasing biomass, increasing metal uptake, and yielding the desired physical or chemical form of the metals of interest. Using nickel as an example target metal, ARPA-E is seeking information for new approaches that could reach at least 500 kg Ni/ha per year and >90% net greenhouse gas reduction compared to the state-of-the-art HPAL (high pressure acid leaching) process based on a lifecycle analysis.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential..

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on May 26, 2022. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Response to <insert RFI name> - <your organization name>” in the subject line of your email.
• In the body of your email, include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 12 pages in length (12-point font size).
• Responders are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential processes.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on technologies to improve the resilience, reliability, and security of the medium voltage (MV) electric power distribution system by undergrounding power lines. The goals of this research effort would be to develop 1) reliable and safe construction and installation technologies for underground MV distribution systems that are cost-competitive to constructing overhead systems, 2) technologies for robust health monitoring and predictive maintenance of existing and new underground power distribution systems, and 3) approaches to enable rapid repair with minimal surface disruptions. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative, scalable, and rapidly deployable technologies that could:

a) Reduce the cost of civil works associated with overhead-to-underground conversion or the construction of new underground power lines close to existing buildings and active surface use (e.g. road traffic) while minimizing surface disruption.

b) Construct underground vaults and install conduits in various terrain types and geologic conditions cost-effectively while avoiding damage to existing underground infrastructure such as subways, gas pipes, potable water and sewer pipes, and telecommunication wires.

c) Dramatically reduce errors in the underground cable installation processes where failures are prone to occur (e.g. cable splices, installation of cables).

d) Improve the performance of installed systems with advanced sensing and data tools (e.g. monitoring and analyzing system health, locating point of failure quickly and precisely, detecting and categorizing incipient failures before they cause a catastrophic failure).

e) Repair a point of failure quickly and safely with minimal surface disruption for prompt power restoration in the event of a failure.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Purpose and Need for Information

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on March 31, 2022 Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in December, 2019 to support the development of novel high power density and efficiency electric motors and power electronics (electric powertrains). The envisioned FOA represents part of a wider ARPA-E effort in developing high efficiency and power density systems that could enable electrified, low- or zero-emissions, long-range aviation. There is a separate and complementary announcement targeting high power density, energy storage and conversion to power system (see link for separate teaming partner list for that program). The overarching goal of the set of proposed programs is to reduce emissions from and increase the efficiency of commercial aviation by developing cost competitive systems for the efficient conversion of the chemical energy of carbon neutral liquid fuels to delivered electric energy, which is further converted to thrust using power electronics, electric motors and propulsors—the latter being the specific focus of this thrust.

Currently the electric powertrain machines suffer from low power densities and low overall efficiency that are necessary to enable a competitive and fully decarbonized aviation for a representative narrow-body class of aircraft. Furthermore, existing electric powertrains are not fully or optimally integrated systems, which lowers the system level performance.

The specific goal of the envisioned FOA is to develop novel and enabling electric powertrain technologies that benefit from novel design topologies, advanced thermal management and co-design of the thermal, electromagnetics, and power electronics as key enablers. Such powertrain technologies developed under the envisioned program will require specific power density, efficiency, voltage, and operational reliability metrics, among others, to enable long range zero-carbon aviation for a narrow-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 family, at analogous missions, while ensuring commercial viability.

ARPA–E held a workshop on electric powertrain for aviation in August 2019. Information on this workshop can be found here: https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=workshop/electric-motors-aviation.

Currently, ARPA–E anticipates that this potential FOA will have two major focus areas:

1. Development of high specific power density and efficiency electric motors that meet prescribed operational and reliability metrics.

2. Development of associated high specific power density and efficiency power electronics that can be integrated with the electric motor and deliver the system level operational and reliability metrics.

In order to realize the envisioned program goals, expertise in the following areas may be useful: (i) advanced materials and manufacturing, (ii) thermal management, (iii) electric machinery, (iv) electromagnetics, (v) power electronics, (vi) design optimization, (vii) system integration and scale up, (viii) testing at relevant operating conditions, (ix) and techno-economics and technology to market analysis, among others.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E eXCHANGE (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, October 25, 2019. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information. A separate and concurrent Teaming list will be posted for the energy storage and conversion portion of the broader zero-carbon aviation initiative.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA–E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in December 2019, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) is considering issuing a new Exploratory Topic under Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) DE‐ FOA‐0002784 and DE‐FOA‐0002785 to evaluate the feasibility of extracting rare-earth and other high-value trace critical minerals from macroalgae cultivated in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) are critical to the manufacture of modern energy and national security technologies, such as electric vehicles, high-efficiency lighting, and wind turbines. While demand for these elements and metals continues to increase, economically and environmentally viable deposits are difficult to realize, and especially within the US. Research suggests that macroalgae may be an effective bioaccumulator of critical minerals.[1][2][3][4] However, the environmental and biological variables influencing the capacity of macroalgae as a bioaccumulator are poorly understood. In addition, while extraction methods exist, the ability to extract minerals efficiently and selectively from macroalgae in an environmentally sustainable manner (e.g., reduced carbon generation and/or water use) alongside the valorization of other macroalgal components is limited.

To quantify the efficacy of macroalgae as a critical mineral source, exploration and innovation are needed to evaluate the influencing factors and ultimate capabilities of macroalgal varieties to accumulate these minerals and the ability to efficiently extract these minerals in an economically viable form. If issued, this Exploratory Topic will likely consist of two complementary tasks.

(1) Macroalgal Composition: Focused on identifying mechanisms and maximizing the bioaccumulation of REE/PGM elements in brown or red marine macroalgal species with examination of the influence of environmental inputs, seasonal effect and macroalgal species type, and with expectation to provide 10kg of optimized macroalgal biomass containing the targeted hyperaccumulated REE/PGM for efforts under Task 2.

(2) Element Extraction: Focused on the development of new processes for the efficient extraction and processing of REE/PGM elements into usable forms for energy applications from macroalgal biomass alongside valorization of other macroalgal components (i.e., carbon content, nitrates, etc.), demonstrated with macroalgal biomass samples developed under Task 1.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Multidisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, ARPA-E strongly encourages involving industry partners to advise and collaborate with these project teams, with the goal of achieving successful industry adoption and integration of the innovative technologies these projects teams develop.

A Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA–E Exchange (https://ARPA–E-foa.energy.gov), ARPA–E’s online application portal, in December 2022. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ApplicantProfile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Announcement, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating and publishing this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E reserves the right to remove any inappropriate responses to this Announcement (including lack of sufficient relevance to, or experience with, the technical topic of the Announcement). ARPA–E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted by any means other than via the link provided above will not be considered.

This Announcement does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final Exploratory Topic, expected to be issued in January 2023 under the FOAs noted at the beginning of this Teaming Partner List, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 4/28/2023: The FOA associated with this ET Teaming List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId521a7aa4-b255-4c3b-a211-b128d2a4a0e4.

[1] Nora Shenouda Gad, Biosorption of rare earth elements using biomass of Sargassum on El-Atshan Trachytic sill, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt, Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, Volume 25, Issue 4, 2016, Pages 445-451, ISSN 1110-0621, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.10.013.

[2] Jéssica Jacinto, Bruno Henriques, A.C. Duarte, Carlos Vale, E. Pereira, Removal and recovery of Critical Rare Elements from contaminated waters by living Gracilaria gracilis, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Volume 344, 2018, Pages 531-538, ISSN 0304-3894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.054.

[3] João Pinto, Bruno Henriques, José Soares, Marcelo Costa, Mariana Dias, Elaine Fabre, Cláudia B. Lopes, Carlos Vale, José Pinheiro-Torres, Eduarda Pereira, A green method based on living macroalgae for the removal of rare earth elements from contaminated waters, Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 263, 2020, 110376, ISSN 0301-4797, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110376.

[4] Thainara Viana, Bruno Henriques, Nicole Ferreira, Cláudia Lopes, Daniela Tavares, Elaine Fabre, Lina Carvalho, José Pinheiro-Torres, Eduarda Pereira, Sustainable recovery of neodymium and dysprosium from waters through seaweeds: Influence of operational parameters, Chemosphere, Volume 280, 2021, 130600, ISSN 0045-6535, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130600.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on enabling technical advances which could lead to subsurface chemical reactors and gas separations. ARPA-E is seeking information to test the hypothesis that the subsurface can be used as a reactive environment to produce hydrogen at $1/kg, per DOE’s Hydrogen Shot target[1], and helium with no carbon emissions.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on July 11, 2022. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Response to Hydrogen-Helium Geochemistry - <your organization name>” in the subject line of your email.
• In the body of your email, include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12-point font size).
• Respondents are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential processes.

[1] Hydrogen Shot | Department of Energy

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research and development program focused on supporting new technologies to measure, report, and verify distributed carbon dioxide removal (CDR) processes in the deep ocean. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative and implementable technologies that could:

• Enable physics-based or reagent-less carbon sensing rapidly and/or in wide swaths to track the formation of carbon-rich plumes in the water column created through one or more CDR processes, as well as its journey to and deposition/fate on the seafloor, if applicable. Technologies could be applicable to both in-water and seabed sensing.
• Facilitate full-ocean-depth carbon flux sensing by enabling inexpensive, scalable, depth-agnostic, autonomous sensor platforms that can operationally persist via energy harvesting in the pelagic deep ocean environment.
• Provide regional ocean modeling to incorporate new sensor data streams for improved estimation accuracy in tracking carbon fates and other environmental effects.

The goal of this potential program is to support the nascent marine CDR industry by developing sensor technologies and approaches to quantify and verify the full-ocean-depth carbon flux from marine CDR systems. This validation is critical to assign certifiable value to CDR technologies, which would otherwise have no quantifiable financial value and be unable to participate in a carbon market.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential..

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on April 14, 2022. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Responses for Marine Carbon Sensing RFI” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g., university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email.

• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12-point font size).

• Responders are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential processes.

ARPA-E is interested in surveying bio-based ideas across the entire supply chain of critical materials and other metals (Ni, Cu), including exploration, mining, extraction, processing, refining and recycling/recovery of such materials. ARPA-E requests responses focusing on the feedstock supply for successfully meeting the domestic demand, economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of critical materials.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Purpose and Need for Information

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents should clearly mark any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential. Information labeled proprietary or confidential will not be released by DOE, but may be used to inform ARPA-E’s planning.

Depending on the responses to this RFI, ARPA‐E may consider the rapid initiation of one or more funded collaborative projects to accelerate along the path towards commercial deployment of the energy technologies described generally above.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on December 17, 2019. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Responses for Critical Minerals RFI” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12 point font size).
• Responders are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential methodologies.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E program focused on energy storage technologies that can deliver a specific energy equivalent to, or exceeding, 1000 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). Of particular interest are technologies that are not extensions of current mainstream electrochemical device thinking or short-term technology road maps. The goal is to gauge the potential to realize exceptionally high-energy storage solutions that would be capable of catalyzing broad electrification of the aviation, railroad, and maritime transport sectors. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative and implementable technologies that could accelerate electrification of transport including the following industries:

• Aviation: “Battery 1K” can enable regional flight on aircraft transporting up to 100 people.
• Railways: “Battery 1K” can enable cross-country travel in the United States (U.S.) with fewer stops while also reducing the amount of infrastructure needed for charging/refueling.
• Maritime: This is a diverse category, but higher energy density options will open up additional electrification possibilities.
• Trucks: Strategies and plans to electrify this sector are in place, however, “Battery 1K” would enable longer range and higher freight loads.

Upon consideration of metrics discussed in the RFI, the traditional energy storage device “playbook” must be cast aside. An overwhelming majority of batteries “live” in boxes, are “plugged-in” to charge, and in the case of personal passenger electric vehicles (EVs) are used only 5% of the time. For the remaining 95%, EVs are typically parked with a battery that is either idle or charging slowly. In sharp contrast, for the transportation sectors of interest to this RFI, the energy storage device may be required to (1) operate continuously over extended periods of time, (2) refuel/recharge/reset rapidly, and (3) achieve exceptional longevity. It is also worth noting that constraints on volumetric energy density are reasonably anticipated to be dependent on the specific application, although perhaps less important than gravimetric energy density in the case of aviation, for example. Certainly, an energy storage technology that can deliver ≥ 1000 Wh/kg and ≥ 2000 Watt-hours per liter (Wh/L) would represent a >3x improvement relative to today’s state-of-the-art (SoA) lithium-ion battery (LiB) solutions, and which may be necessary for electrifying the sectors of interest identified in this RFI. As the constraints of classical energy storage thinking are reconsidered, operating temperature, fuels versus oxidizers and the physical boundaries of the energy storage system are all up for grabs. Think less “out of the box”, and more that there is no box.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Objective:

The chemical process to synthesize ammonia – produced in huge amounts for its vital role in world agriculture – needs mitigation of its substantial negative energy and environmental consequences. To address these consequences, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) of the US Department of Energy seeks information that could inform ARPA-E’s potential research and development (R&D) funding of a pre-production, integrated system involving a skid-mounted ammonia synthesis system connected to an intermittent renewable energy source at a production scale of several hundred kg to 1 metric ton of ammonia per day.

For this targeted application, ARPA-E is interested in addressing key challenges of integrating various technologies emerging from the ARPA-E REFUEL program - and related awards from other ARPA-E programs (both prior and ongoing) - that are ready for scaling and would comprise a system for the production of ammonia as described above. Specifically, ARPA-E seeks information about:

• Capabilities and needs of organizations to provide or evaluate such ARPA-E funded technologies (e.g. advanced catalysts for low pressure and temperature synthesis, novel ammonia separation methods, etc.);
• Capabilities and needs of organizations to integrate, build and test the ammonia synthesis system describe above;
• Ability of organizations – on their own, or by forming and leading a consortium of research teams - with investors and private sector partners to advance promising ammonia synthesis and related technologies to market.

The goal is to integrate developed technologies and validate their reliability under variable load and start/stop operations, manufacturability, and favorable economics at scale. Successful integration of ammonia synthesis technologies would establish a path forward to continued private sector development, scaling and deployment of these distributed ammonia synthesis technologies. Ideally, the designed and constructed ammonia synthesis unit would serve as a test site for future improved subsystems for the ammonia synthesis process.

This research effort, if successful, would reduce the energy intensity and carbon emissions of ammonia synthesis and establish a new manufacturing base for energy technology in the U.S.

More detailed information on the background of the technology and competitiveness challenges ARPA-E seeks to address can be found in the REFUEL FOA. The REFUEL program is supporting projects focused on specific components of ammonia synthesis, e.g. improved catalysts or separation technologies, at scales up to 1 kg/day of ammonia. To prove that these technologies are viable, further work is required, including combining individual technologies, testing them at a larger scale, and subjecting them to intermittent power.

This RFI focuses only on integration R&D of promising ammonia-synthesis technologies that ARPA-E has funded for which technology verification and integration at a relevant scale would substantially build upon innovations achieved under the ARPA-E awards. Potential new research would be based upon inventions/technologies resulting from those ARPA-E awards, with the intent to advance the innovation to practical application. Cooperation between existing and former ARPA-E awardees is highly encouraged in responses to this RFI and any subsequent R&D work.

ARPA-E recognizes that new business and research arrangements may be needed to fund larger-scale research than the smaller proof of concept efforts supported under REFUEL. If sufficient interest and capability to integrate and test REFUEL technologies exist, ARPA-E may consider funding a public-private innovation collaboration or consortium to that end. For such a project, ARPA-E would expect significant industry participation, as well as an increased cost share (compared to the 5%-20% cost share typical of ARPA-E awards.)

In addition to greater financial commitments, ARPA-E seeks information that also addresses:

• Requiring substantial US manufacturing of resulting technologies for use/sale worldwide, subject to reasonable waiver requests that may be submitted before, during, or after completion of the pilot effort.
• Forming teams with more diversified professional engineering and management capabilities needed for large projects, in contrast to typical ARPA-E projects that tend to focus heavily on bench-scale research or early, small-scale proof-of-concept prototypes.
• Encouraging engagement with industry stakeholders providing in-kind support to the system integration effort. These stakeholders could be state development agencies, potential customers, investment diligence organizations, project financiers, or others with the ability and interest to facilitate the eventual translation of technology from the bench to commercial scale.

Purpose and Need for Information:

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E’s consideration, and to inform the possible initiation of the next generation ammonia synthesis research described above.

ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broader research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions regarding the current state of the art of ammonia synthesis research and development.

Carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below. In particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Request for Information Guidelines:

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on April 6^th, 2020. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Insert “Response to Ammonia RFI 2307 - <your organization name>” in the subject line of your email.
• In the body of your email, include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12 point font size).

Responders should provide the following information though a response to each item on the list is not required:

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

1. What is the optimal size (kg/day ammonia and related total power and material requirement) for a system validation that would adequately address technical and market risks? Is in-field testing (i.e., on or near agricultural sites or other ammonia consumer) required, and if so, what integration, ruggedness, transportability, and infrastructure requirements does this impose on a test system?
2. Describe the current state of the art in electrolyzer systems (available size, power consumption, reliability, unit cost) that could be provided under commercial terms. Also describe any breakpoints associated with cost.
3. Describe the current state of the art in air separation systems (size, nitrogen purity, power consumption, reliability, unit cost) that could be provided under commercial terms. Also describe any break points associated with cost.
4. Describe what you view as the major technical risks associated with integration of multiple technologies to produce ammonia from air, water and renewable energy?
5. What are the major challenges in industrial production using intermittent power and how can they be overcome? What duty cycles are appropriate for different regions, use cases, or customers? How do these transients affect the performance requirements for the individual components (e.g., ASU, reactor, and separations train)?
6. What are ranges of capacity factors for renewable sources of power? Provide duty cycle details by source and geography.

ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION

1. Describe your organization’s ability to evaluate and integrate different chemical processing technologies (both established and emerging) including access to appropriate manufacturing and/or testing facilities.
2. Describe your organization’s ability and experience to perform or supervise the construction of modular, flexible chemical systems.
3. Describe your organization’s ability to perform preliminary and detailed design of skid-mounted chemical systems and working with 3^rd parties as required.
4. Describe your organization’s ability to secure a site for field testing of the system. The site should be capable of housing a skid-mounted system that produces ammonia at a rate of up to 1 ton per day from air and water. The site should have access to a source of intermittent renewable energy with enough power to support the target ammonia productivity. Data on power generation daily/seasonal variability should be available for modeling purposes. Experience in ammonia handling is highly desirable.
5. Describe your organization’s experience with field testing of new technologies, including securing permits from relevant authorities and managing on-site construction/commissioning, operation and decommissioning.
6. Describe your organization’s experience in developing and packaging new technologies, particularly from multiple sources, for licensing.
7. Assess the ability of potential research organizations to secure or provide 30% -50% cost share on a project for the above-described research that may cost up to $15 million total. It is reasonable to expect that all team members would contribute to the cost share.
8. Describe your organization’s plans, if any, for the utilization of ammonia produced from a project of this nature (e.g. use as a fertilizer, generation of heat or electricity). Multiple uses at different scales can be proposed.
9. Describe your organization’s experience in managing of multi-partner projects including IP management (e.g. building and running a consortium).

Topics not of interest:

ARPA-E is not interested in integrators seeking to deploy established technologies that are already available for license.

ARPA-E intends to issue a FOA focused on developing technology for the exploitation of Geologic Hydrogen as a sustainable source of hydrogen. The goal of this program is production at the lowest cost and emissions through the stimulation and extraction of hydrogen from subsurface mineral deposits.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the upcoming Geologic Hydrogen program. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria; and the FOA terms are controlling. For purposes of the Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the program.

ARPA-E has identified two major technical categories and two supporting categories. Technical Category 1 is related to the investigation of stimulation methods to rapidly enhance the natural rate of hydrogen production from mineral sources. Technical Category 2 deals with the technologies in subsurface engineering, including the ways to contain, concentrate, and economically transport hydrogen to the well-head. Among these categories, ARPA-E has identified several modeling, characterization, and risk management needs that need to be associated with the technology development in Categories 1 and 2. Supporting these needs are categories focused on developing new ways to model and characterize the subsurface for the purposes of geologic hydrogen production (Category 3), and technologies to understand, predict and mitigate risks associated with the exploitation of geologic hydrogen as a resource (Category 4).

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in April 2023; information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/geologic-h2-workshop. An Industry Day was held by ARPA-E Program Director Douglas Wicks on June 29, 2023.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the technologies that will be of interest for the Geologic Hydrogen program. Within this list includes possible risk management, modeling, and characterization needs which should be addressed.

• Stimulation and generation: Technologies which enhance the natural rate of serpentinization or other equivalent hydrogen producing geochemical reactions (e.g., reduction of iron bearing minerals in banded iron formations, etc.).
• Subsurface engineering: Technologies which are related to engineering or creating subsurface hydrogen reservoirs, or technologies which can achieve a higher concentration/pressure of hydrogen prior to the well-head.
• Down-hole gas separation: Down-hole/upstream of well-head systems capable of separating subsurface gases to enable transport of higher purity hydrogen (in the case of production of coevolved or liberated gases). An example includes low cost, high flux, high selectivity membrane systems.
• Risk mitigation methods: Technologies that can predict, model, or prevent harmful side effects associated with enhanced stimulation of hydrogen generating mineralogical processes (e.g., serpentinization of ultramafic rocks). Focus should be given to understanding and addressing volumetric expansion, seismicity, hydrogen leakage and associated impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biological effects, and subsurface contamination.
• Modeling approaches: Methods to predict the viability of subsurface resources for stimulated hydrogen generation, inform reservoir management, or assist with stimulation efforts.
• Characterization: Methods to map subsurface and ocean floor resources (ultramafic formations or other candidate formations) and quantify physiochemical properties of interest, specifically total Fe content, Fe(II) concentration, Fe(II)/Fe(III) ratio, specific surface area, permeability, or other parameters relevant to stimulated hydrogen generation.

The scope of the Geologic Hydrogen program is to uncover how underutilized mineral resources in the subsurface can be used as a new source of hydrogen with the lowest cost and emissions. Several other methods of subsurface hydrogen production or extraction are not in the scope of this program, such as:

• Gasification of existing hydrocarbon storages in the subsurface (e.g., coal, oil reserves).
• Subsurface conversion of methane into hydrogen.
• Technologies focused solely on extraction of naturally occurring/accumulating hydrogen.
• Methods of producing hydrogen that require carbon sequestration to meet program wide metric of GHG.
• Proposals focused on generating subsurface hydrogen through electrolysis of water.
• Technologies that are fully mature in other sectors (e.g., geothermal or oil & gas) and do not require substantial innovation to support subsurface hydrogen production.

The Geologic Hydrogen program goals are the development of technologies that can lead to hydrogen at the well-head of $1/kg H₂ with emissions <1 kg CO₂e/kg H₂ and deposit potential >1 million m³ of H₂ (per deposit). To achieve the program goals, performance metrics include enhancing the natural hydrogen producing reactions and producing downhole hydrogen that is sufficiently pure and concentrated. Technologies will also have to perform sufficient modeling, characterization, and risk management approaches that result from their stimulation or extraction methods.

ARPA-E project teams will be required to construct and execute a commercialization strategy that is unique to their technology.

Due to the complex cross-disciplinary nature of the intended program, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors with expertise in catalysis, subsurface engineering, geophysics, and other related fields. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, respondents consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating and publishing this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E reserves the right to remove any inappropriate responses to this Announcement (including lack of sufficient relevance to, or experience with, the technical topic of the Announcement). ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in August 2023, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

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.

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 (such as those in oil and gas, petrochemicals, and steel and aluminum production) offers a potential pathway to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from this sector.

This request for information aims to gather information from interested and relevant stakeholders on general, technical, technology-to-market, and regulatory issues related to the coupling of nuclear heat and power to industrial processes beyond pure power production.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, March 30, 2023.

The 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.

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:

• 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,
• Develop designs and manufacturing processes for cells, modules and packs that can be easily disassembled to enable servicing, reuse, refurbishing, or remanufacturing, and
• 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).

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Monday, April 3, 2023.

Introduction

ARPA-E has as one of its goals the development of energy technologies that improve the management, cleanup, and disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. To meet this goal, ARPA-E has established a suite of programs (GEMINI, MEITNER, ONWARDS, CURIE) that have the potential to reduce the volume of radioactive waste by a factor of 10 or more and the needed time for storage by a comparable amount. Nuclear transmutation of key fission products and actinides in the remaining radioactive waste has the potential to reduce the volume and storage time by additional orders of magnitude. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E program focused on the development of technologies to support advances in nuclear transmutation with the desired goal to reduce the volume, radiotoxicity, and storage time of spent nuclear fuel. Generation of valuable isotopes, semiconductor production, and radioisotopes are also of interest to this RFI.

Consistent with the agency’s mission, ARPA-E is seeking novel and disruptive technologies that are early in the R&D cycle. ARPA-E seeks to include input from the developers and end-users of such technologies, including national laboratories, universities, private industry, and the medical community. ARPA-E is particularly interested in transmutation enabling technologies, and it is specifically interested in how such technologies can improve the reliability and duty cycles of transmutation systems while reducing capital and operating costs.

Understanding the economic factors that would lead to a transmutation facility are invaluable to a potential program. Reprocessing of waste may be needed for efficient transmutation. The location of this reprocessing facility, whether located at the waste generating sites, or at the transmutation location will impact the economics. Additionally, depending on the size of the transmutation facility, there may be several facilities constructed in order to reduce quantities of waste to the desired metric. Funds for the decommissioning of reactors as well as the nuclear waste fund may be available for these types of activities.

The questions below are intended to allow relevant stakeholders a mechanism to provide input on:

(i) metrics to gauge the success of transmutation of spent nuclear fuel;

(ii) advancements in transmutation enabling technologies, including accelerator-driven systems and current and advanced generation reactors, and non-neutron sources; and

(iii) economic factors for the operation of transmutation facilities.

Responses to the questions below will help ARPA-E to refine its success metrics for a potential program aimed at the reduction of radiotoxicity, volume, and storage time of spent nuclear fuel through the use of transmutation. ARPA-E does not expect any one respondent to answer all, or even many, of these prompts. Simply indicate the group and question number in your response. Appropriate citations are encouraged. Respondents are also welcome to address other relevant avenues/technologies that are not outlined below.

Areas that are not Considered for this RFI:

• General discourse on nuclear energy and waste disposal strategies
• Transmutation initiated by fusion processes
• Fission-fusion hybrid devices
• Separations of minor actinides from used nuclear fuel
• The use of transmutation to produce medical radioisotopes

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on June 12, 2023.

Fusion energy has the potential to provide a safe, abundant, firm, zero-carbon-emitting source of primary energy, electricity, and heat. In order to achieve its potential and meaningfully contribute to the target of global net-zero emissions, fusion must demonstrate competitive economics on a short timeline. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a technological pathway to economical fusion power plants (FPP).

This RFI seeks broad input on two overarching themes: (A) Improving fusion power plant performance and (B) Increasing fusion power plant availability. While power plant performance and availability are intertwined in determining the cost of electricity, theme (A) includes technologies targeting the efficiency of plasma heating schemes, and advanced laser driver technologies, as well as economic and high-gain targets for inertial fusion energy (IFE). Theme (B) focuses on “designer” materials for plasma-facing and structural components. Candidate materials (solid and self-healing) should include, but not be limited to, the following features: minimized half-lives of materials, reduced dust formation, minimized fuel retention (e.g., hydrogen), minimized displacement per atom due to neutron irradiations, and high heat resistance (> 600 °C). Specifically, this RFI focuses on three technology areas for developing this pathway towards economically competitive fusion energy. The areas are:

• Efficient and low-cost drivers for plasma heating and assembly
• Novel first-wall and structural materials
• Low-cost, high-performance targets for inertial fusion energy (IFE)

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the US Department of Energy seeks information that could inform ARPA-E's potential research and development (R&D) funding for these three areas.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on 11/28/2022.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research and development program focused on development of materials and device technologies to support advances in grid resiliency and reliability. ARPA-E seeks input from power electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and other related communities regarding the development and demonstration of next-generation ultra-fast semiconductor devices (potentially light controlled/triggered) for enhanced resiliency and reliability of power electronics systems ranging from kilowatts to gigawatts of power. Consistent with the agency’s mission, ARPA-E is seeking clearly disruptive, novel technologies, early in the R&D cycle, and not integration strategies for existing technologies.

ARPA-E desires input from a broad range of disciplines and fields, including, but not limited to power electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, optical science and microsystems, electrical engineering, circuit design, wide-bandgap and ultra-wide-bandgap materials, semiconductor devices, packaging, module, gate drive design, and others. This includes input from the developers and end-users of such technologies, such as automotive, data centers, solar and wind-interface converter systems, electric motor-driven systems, high/medium voltage transmission/distribution, rail/ship propulsion, HVDC/FACTS, and many others. ARPA-E is particularly interested in how light-triggered, ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors can help U.S. to realize more reliable, resilient, and efficient systems.

This RFI is focused on potential solutions at material/device/module level rather than circuit or system topology development and integration, although system context is desirable.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on 9/9/2022.  

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on technologies that could enable buildings to be transformed into carbon sinks to reduce their embodied emissions while also providing a pathway for expanding carbon utilization approaches. This vision entails manufacturing novel materials derived from feedstocks including forestry and other purpose-grown raw materials, agricultural residues, as well as direct use of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide, methane). The aim is to use these materials in place of existing building construction materials wherever possible, as well as to enable more efficient building designs.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI @hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern time on April 21, 2021.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Introduction:

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E research program focused on technologies to prevent and/or abate methane emissions. The goal is to reverse the rate of accumulation of methane in the atmosphere, resulting in a decrease in atmospheric methane concentration. ARPA-E is seeking information at this time regarding transformative and implementable technologies that could:

(a) Prevent methane emissions from anthropogenic activities. Examples include addressing improperly abandoned coal mines and oil and gas wells; plugged oil and gas wells that leak; uncontrolled landfill gas; and agricultural-related emissions from farming and ruminants.Emphasis will be on preventing energy-related emissions, but ARPA-E is interested in approaches that could be broadly applied which intervene before methane escapes into the atmosphere.

(b) Abate methane emissions at the source (stack, vents, leaks, etc.).Sources may have steady or variable flow rates and/or concentration.Source temperatures may range from ambient to elevated (i.e. >200 C).System-level approaches are encouraged (i.e. integrated methane collection/capture, reactor, and monitoring/control system).

(c) Remove methane from the air. Examples include approaches which enhance methane oxidation reactions in the troposphere, mineralization (i.e. biological oxidation of methane to CO₂) in soils, or recover methane for use as a fuel or chemical reactant.

Note that some approaches may fit several categories. For example, biological enhancement of methanotropes could be used to prevent methane emissions from coal mines, abate emissions from leaks, and remove methane from air. Priority is oxidation of methane to CO₂. Technologies that recover or beneficially use methane will need to show ability to address at least 1 billion standard cubic feet/yr economically.

ARPA-E is interested in processes that reduce methane emissions by >90% on a life-cycle basis. Inputs, including energy and water, need to be quantified. The performance metrics for cost[1] and water inputs[2] are intended to allow comparison of methane prevention and abatement processes to CO2 control processes. Performance targets include:

a) Net greenhouse gas reduction >90% based on a lifecycle analysis, calculated using 100 year greenhouse gas warming potentials for all relevant species.

b) Freshwater consumption <3 m³/ton CO₂ equivalent

c) Methane reduction cost $150/ton CO₂ equivalent

d) No emission of toxic or environmentally harmful substances

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Purpose and Need for Information

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents should clearly mark any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential. Information marked proprietary or confidential will protected from public release by DOE to the maximum extent permitted by law, such as Exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.

Depending on the responses to this RFI, ARPA‐E may consider the rapid initiation of one or more funded collaborative projects to accelerate along the path towards commercial deployment of the energy technologies described generally above.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on October 15, 2020. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Responses for Methane Prevention and Abatement RFI” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12-point font size).
• Responders are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential processes.

[1] https://netl.doe.gov/projects/files/CostandPerformanceofBituminousCoalandNGPlantswithCCSRev4_091020.pdf

[2] Rosa, L., et al. Nat Sustain 3, 658–666 (2020).

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration for potential future ARPA-E research programs focused on highly energy efficient conversion of e-waste into usable manufacturing materials. ARPA-E is interested e-waste management/conversion ideas across the entire supply chain of e-waste and its impact on municipal solid waste, including classification, collection, identification, sorting, and reclamation of materials. Such e-waste reclamation research and development could result in the development and deployment of advanced energy technologies, enhancing the economic and energy of the United States, while reducing imports of foreign-sourced energy, and reduction of energy-related emissions.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

Purpose and Need for Information

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents should clearly mark any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential. Information labeled proprietary or confidential will not be released by DOE but may be used to inform ARPA-E’s planning.

Depending on the responses to this RFI, ARPA‐E may consider the rapid initiation of one or more funded collaborative projects to accelerate along the path towards commercial deployment of the energy technologies described generally above.

• Please insert “Responses for e-waste RFI” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 10 pages in length (12-point font size).
• Responders are strongly encouraged to include preliminary results, data, and figures that describe their potential methodologies.
• ARPA-E is not interested in information related to topics such as process logistics improvement, manual separation etc.

Objective:

The Advanced Research Projects Agency –Energy (ARPA‐E) in the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking comments on a draft technical section for a possible future program solicitation, which focuses on the suite of technologies required to rehabilitate cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes by creating a new pipe inside the old pipe. The new pipe will meet utilities’ and regulatory agencies’ requirements, have a minimum life of 50 years, and have sufficient material properties to operate throughout its service life without reliance on the exterior pipe. ARPA‐E seeks input from experts in the fields of pipeline testing, advanced coating materials, biomimetic materials, smart materials (e.g., self-healing, or self-monitoring), robotic coating deposition tools, material inspection techniques, pipeline mapping tools, 3-D data visualization and data management, control and systems engineering, and gas pipeline operation; as well as service providers who replace, inspect, and locate natural gas utility pipelines.

Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below and note in particular: the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME. Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Purpose and Need for Information:

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration, to inform the possible formulation of future programs intended to help create transformative technology to rehabilitate cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes by crafting new pipes inside pre-existing pipes. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions regarding the rehabilitation of legacy natural gas pipelines.

This RFI previews only the draft technical section for a possible future program solicitation. If respondents are interested in other sections, including general format and requirements of an ARPA-E FOA, please visit https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ . DE-FOA-0002212: Breakthroughs Enabling Thermonuclear-fusion Energy (BETHE) is a sample FOA to reference. A few common sections include but are not limited to:

• III.A: Eligible Applicants (e.g. foreign entities)
• III.B: Cost-Sharing
• IV.C: Content and Form of full applications
• VI.C: Reporting (e.g. cost)
• VIII.B: Government Rights in Subject Inventions
• VIII.C: Rights in Technical Data

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES:

A summary of RFI responses will be presented by Program Director Jack Lewnard on January 22, 2020 at ARPA-E’s REPAIR Industry Day. Individuals interested in attending Industry Day please indicate so in RFI response for more information.

ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 20,2020. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

Questions: ARPA-E encourages responses that address any subset of the following questions and encourages the inclusion of references to important supplementary information.

1. The target pipeline diameter is 10 inches and larger.Please comment on ability to develop robotic coating deposition and inspection tools for smaller diameter pipes.

2. Task 1 identifies a preliminary list of testing for “pipe in pipe”.Please comment on the suitability of the list and other potential tests ARPA-E should include.

3. The legacy pipelines are made from cast/wrought iron, and bare (uncoated) steel.Please comment:

     a. on the ability of a single coating, or family of coatings to be suitable for both types of pipes

     b. on the ability of pipe inspection technologies to be suitable for both types of pipes

4. Component developers need to collaborate with system integrators to demonstrate integrated products.Advanced materials, robotics, and inspection tools must be tailored to work together.ARPA-E is recommending component developers and system integrators form teams to produce integrated systems.ARPA-E is interested in alternative approaches that will lead to the demonstration of integrated systems at the end of the program.For example, is it better to form teams at the start, so components are developed concurrently; or delay team formation to allow component developers maximum flexibility in optimizing their technologies?

5. Task 6 seeks to develop 3D maps that incorporate data from REPAIR processes as well as utility data such as leak reports.Utilities are increasing the use of GIS-enabled databases for managing operations data.Are there preferred platforms for data storage/management in order to integrate coating data, inspection data, and mapping data? Should the FOA specify data format(s)?

6. Any other issues, questions, or feedback regarding the draft FOA

Objective:

The Advanced Research Projects Agency –Energy (ARPA-E) in the U.S. Department of Energy is seeking comments on a draft technical section for a possible future program solicitation, which focuses on Control Co-Design of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines. In particular, the draft technical section is appended hereto as Attachment A. ARPA-E seeks input from experts in the fields of control and systems engineering, co-design, aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, electrical and mechanical systems, power electronics, electrical generators, structural engineering, naval engineering, modeling, optimization, economics, multi-scale and multi-physics computer algorithms, parallel computing, distributed sensors, intelligent signal processing and actuator networks; as well as developers of offshore wind energy systems and electrical utilities.

All of the information in this RFI and Attachment A is subject to change. Please carefully review the REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES below. Please note, in particular, that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA). NO FOA EXISTS AT THIS TIME. Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Purpose and Need for Information:

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E consideration, to inform preparation of the draft technical section of a possible future program solicitation prior to its release. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions regarding the draft technical section in Attachment A.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION GUIDELINES:

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. [Note: Responses to this RFI may be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.] Respondents shall not include any information in their response to this RFI that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 8^th, 2019. Emails should conform to the following guidelines:

• Please insert “Comments on Draft CCD FOWT Technical Section”” in the subject line of your email, and include your name, title, organization, type of organization (e.g. university, non-governmental organization, small business, large business, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), government-owned/government-operated (GOGO), etc.), email address, telephone number, and area of expertise in the body of your email.
• Responses to this RFI are limited to no more than 3 pages in length (12 point font size).

Questions: ARPA-E encourages responses that address any subset of the following questions, and encourages the inclusion of references to important supplementary information.

• The draft Technical Section proposes three fundamental areas (see Section C.4). The first area (C.4.1. New Designs) enumerates a list of examples (cases 1 to 5) where CCD techniques can enable cheaper FOWTs. Please expand these cases and provide additional examples.
• The second area (C.4.2. Computer Tools) details a list of elements (e1 to e10) that are critical for a new generation of computer tools. Please prioritize these elements and provide additional ones.
• The third area (C.4.3. Experiments) describes some key components to collect real data from FOWT. Please provide additional information or critical ideas in this area.
• Section D introduces a new metric space to evaluate the new FOWT designs. The second metric (M2) of this space depends on three factors: a material factor f_t, a manufacturing factor f_m and an installation factor f_i. Table 3 suggests some values for the material factors, f_t. Please analyze these values and provide new ones if necessary. Also, should some additional materials be included? If this is the case, please provide the corresponding material factors. 
• Simultaneously, Table 4 suggests some values for the manufacturing and installation factors, f_m and f_i. Please analyze these values and provide new ones if necessary. 
• Section D.3 proposes a list of conditions (a to h) to validate each new FOWT design. Please analyze these conditions and provide additional ones if necessary.
• Section C.2 describes three CCD techniques. Please expand these proposed techniques and provide some additional methodologies.
• Section C.1 emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of the program, with the concurrent control engineering aspects of the control co-design approach. Also, Section E.2 describes the program and project interactions needed to develop a successful CCD approach. Please analyze the aspects (a) to (e) described in the Section (e.g., IP issues, etc.), identify potential hurdles (collaboration challenges, etc.), propose solutions, and suggest how ARPA-E can facilitate these team and multi-team collaborations.

The purpose of this FOA is to fund research and development of solution techniques that will be used by awardees to compete in Challenge 1 of the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. The GO Competition is a series of prize challenges to accelerate the development and comprehensive evaluation of grid software solutions.[1] The first GO Competition, Challenge 1, is an algorithm competition focused on the security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) problem for the electric power sector. Awardees under this FOA will be required to participate in Challenge 1. As described in detail in Appendix A1 to this FOA and on the GO Competition website (https://gocompetition.energy.gov/), Challenge 1 is anticipated to launch in the Fall of 2018. Participation in the GO Competition Challenge 1 will be open to anyone that satisfies the applicable requirements in Rules Document specified on the GO Competition website (https://gocompetition.energy.gov/competition-rules), not just those awarded under ARPA-E DE-FOA-0001952.

The purpose of this FOA is to provide grants: (i) to further incentivize and identify innovative research for solution methods applicable to Challenge 1, and (ii) to enable broader diversity in team domain expertise, i.e., to encourage teams to participate that do not traditionally focus on the particular problems that are targeted but otherwise have innovative approaches for this class of mathematical programs. While Challenge 1 focuses on a power systems problem, the Challenge and this FOA target a much broader audience (e.g., those specialized in operations research, applied mathematics, optimization methods and algorithms, controls etc.).

Existing grid software was designed for a power grid centered on conventional generation and transmission technologies. Recent years have seen major developments in new types of resources including distributed energy resources (DER), intermittent resources (wind and solar), and storage. Such emerging technologies have unique characteristics distinct from conventional resources. Emerging technologies face a prohibitive barrier within large-scale grid operations as the existing software support systems do not acknowledge these unique characteristics with the same level of accuracy and efficiency with which they capture conventional resources. As a consequence, this existing software paradigm does not allow for these assets to be used to their full potential. Furthermore, the ever-increasing emphasis on grid resilience demands innovative management of a more diverse resource portfolio, which existing grid software is not equipped to handle without overly simplifying assumptions. Simply put, in order to improve grid resiliency, the power industry must significantly advance grid software. Innovation is needed regarding the underlying simulation, optimization, and control methods in order to enable increased grid flexibility, reliability, and resilience while also substantially reducing the costs of integrating emerging technologies and resources into the electric power system.

To this end, ARPA-E has set a goal: new modern and innovative grid software to achieve a modern grid. ARPA-E is targeting key areas for innovation in grid software including, but not limited to, optimal utilization of conventional and emerging grid technologies, management of dynamic operations of the grid (including extreme event response and restoration), and management of millions of emerging distributed energy resources.

This broader effort begins with the launch of the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. If successful, the GO Competition will accelerate the development of transformational and disruptive methods for solving problems related to the electric power grid and to provide a transparent, fair, and comprehensive evaluation of new solution methods. The GO Competition is aimed at overhauling and modernizing grid software and will be structured as multiple challenges, the first of which is expected to begin in the fall of 2018.

Each challenge in the GO Competition will culminate in a Final Event to evaluate the performance, speed, and efficiency of each Entrant’s approach on standardized, realistic datasets in a controlled environment. After each final event, winners will be announced and awards provided. Entrants can enter as “Open Entrants” and can register and submit their programs (i.e., algorithmic approaches) or “Proposal Entrants” who will be provided grants under this FOA to develop their algorithmic approach for submission to Challenge 1. The GO Competition will incentivize entrepreneurial efforts that align with ARPA-E’s mission to innovate in grid software. The algorithms and software solutions submitted to the GO Competition will supplement ARPA-E efforts to break down barriers to empower widespread, fast adoption of emerging grid technologies with the goal of saving billions of dollars in an energy sector with revenues reaching close to $400B per year.[2] In addition to introducing the GO Competition, this FOA provides details for potential Proposal Entrants (also referred to as “awardees” in this FOA) to apply for grants to prepare for and participate in the GO Competition Challenge 1 (see Appendix A1 for more information).

[1] See https://gocompetition.energy.gov/.

[2] Energy Information Administration, “Revenue from Sales of Electricity to Ultimate Customers,” https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_02_03.html

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) intends to issue a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the development of heat exchangers that operate in extreme environments (i.e. temperatures in excess of 800°C and pressures in excess of 100 bar). It is expected that recent advances in topological design methodologies, materials, and manufacturing techniques will enable the realization of an extreme-environment-durable heat exchanger capability that was heretofore unattainable. It is expected that this capability will serve as a critical enabling platform technology for next-generation, high efficiency modular power generation systems in a number of industrial sectors.

The primary focus of the upcoming FOA will be to push the boundaries of design for manufacturability, materials, and manufacturing technologies pertinent to highly effective, low pressure drop, low cost, and durable heat-exchangers. Consequently, given the diverse collection of skill sets that are expected to be required for the successful achievement of the FOA goals, multi-party proposing teams are encouraged.

Challenges on the materials side include use of materials capable of withstanding extreme temperature and pressure conditions while featuring attractive thermo-mechanical and manufacturability properties. On the design side, novel advanced topologies compatible with the selected materials will facilitate enhanced performance and low cost manufacturing. Even more transformative, the performance metrics of this FOA may require new advances in the machine and manufacturing features and process monitoring and control parameters to overcome some of the existing challenges such as the smallest feature size, surface finish quality, and economy-of-scale constraints, among others. Accordingly, ARPA-E anticipates that a dedicated and specifically budgeted portion of the efforts in respective projects be focused on enhancing the capabilities of materials and manufacturing machines and processes to achieve the broader goals of this FOA.

The platform technologies that will be developed in this FOA can lead to substantial technical advancements in fields of significance to U.S. national interests. The push for higher operating temperatures in a typical power generation cycle directly translates to higher energy conversion efficiencies and technology development. While high temperature heat exchangers are key components of most power conversion systems, a few industrial sectors can particularly benefit from such heat exchangers. Examples include conventional and hybrid space and aerospace applications, advanced nuclear and concentrated solar power generation systems, and high efficiency modular thermo-electric power conversion systems.

As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the upcoming FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, selection criteria, and other terms and requirements. However, for purposes of the Teaming Partner List, a summary of the currently anticipated scope is provided below.

In order to realize the program goals, ARPA‐E aims to bring together diverse engineering and scientific communities, including researchers in the fields of materials, thermal fluids, thermo-mechanical modeling and design topologies, and advanced manufacturing, to develop enabling materials and manufacturing capabilities to model, design, develop, and demonstrate heat exchanger performance and durability. The FOA will encourage the development of heat exchangers at the demonstration scale of 30 kW with a set of prescribed performance metrics.

As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting June 06, 2018. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.

This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in July 2018, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS) program will pursue new long-duration electricity storage (LDES) technologies with discharge durations that range from 10 to approximately 100 hours at rated power. Such “long” durations are beyond the requirements for intra-day (“daily”) energy time shift and many other stationary electricity storage applications common on the grid today. ARPA-E believes durations at rated power of 10 to 100 hours are relevant for needs that go beyond daily cycling but are short of seasonal energy time-shift applications. Long-duration storage applications present new forms of technical challenges associated with exceptionally low lifetime cost requirements (including both capital and operating expenses), particularly for the energy storage media and related components. However, the lower number of cumulative cycles, acceptability of slow ramp rates, and other relaxed performance requirements that are associated with long durations and infrequent cycling provide opportunities for design tradeoffs that may be leveraged to reduce costs and realize economically-viable LDES systems.

The primary objective of the DAYS program is the development of LDES systems that deliver electricity at a levelized cost of storage (LCOS) of 5 cents/kWh-cycle across the full range of storage durations (i.e. 10 to approximately 100 hours). This requirement results in a target lifetime cost that decreases with increasing storage duration, a marked divergence from many existing storage cost targets that focus on a single duration and thus a single cost metric. The LCOS target of 5 cents/kWh-cycle likely requires system round-trip efficiencies greater than 50%.

For this focused program, ARPA-E expects chemical, electrochemical, thermal, and mechanical technical approaches to potentially address this problem statement. The DAYS program requires that all proposed storage systems be charged by electricity alone and produce electricity as the sole output.

If successful, the DAYS program will provide new forms of stationary electricity storage systems that enhance grid resiliency, provide low-cost capacity, support the transmission and distribution infrastructure, enable a greater share of low-cost, intermittent sources of wind and solar in the future generation mix, along with other benefits.

This FOA marks the fourth 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 and 2015. OPEN 2018 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 the other 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 remarkable 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 perfect complement to the agency’s focused technology programs – a unique combination of approaches for supporting the most innovative and current energy technology R&D. Indeed, one third of the sixty projects featured in the first two volumes describing ARPA-E impacts stem from OPEN solicitations (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=site-page/arpa-e-impact). Potential applicants to this FOA are strongly encouraged to examine the OPEN projects in these two volumes and all of the projects supported in the previous three OPEN solicitations (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=site-page/open) for examples of the creative and innovative R&D ARPA-E seeks in its OPEN solicitations.

Nuclear reactor plants are complex systems where many types and scales of technologies must work together seamlessly. Design choices at each of those scales and for each of those technologies impact the rest of the system in terms of functionality, cost, and constructability.

For nuclear energy to contribute in the coming decades, the next generation of nuclear reactor plants need to simultaneously achieve “walkaway” safe and secure operation, extremely low construction capital costs, and dramatically shorter construction and commissioning times than currently-available plants. To attain these goals, new, innovative, enabling technologies for existing advanced reactor designs are needed. The development of these enabling technologies requires understanding the inter-relatedness of design choices. Thus, ARPA-E encourages a rethinking of how pieces of the nuclear reactor system fit together when developing these enabling technologies.

Through the MEITNER[1] (Modeling-Enhanced Innovations Trailblazing Nuclear Energy Reinvigoration) program, ARPA-E seeks to identify and develop innovative technologies to enable the advanced nuclear reactor design community to mature their designs for future commercial deployment. These enabling technologies can establish the basis for a modern, domestic supply chain supporting nuclear technology.