Funding Opportunities

The Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now (NEWTON) program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel (UNF) to alleviate the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies that increase the overall capacity factor, power output, and efficiency of particle generation systems (including but not limited to proton, neutron, and/or photon), by reducing beam trip magnitude and duration (referred to as loss of beam). Additional technologies will focus on increasing the throughput of transmutation by developing target materials that maximize transmutation rates and are easily processible to remove the transmuted material.

The program will have three categories:

Category A: Technologies related to the generation and acceleration of particle beams that can initiate transmutation reactions. Development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict and recover from beam trip events is also within scope.

Category B: Modelling, designing, and fabricating target materials for the enhancement of transmutation of UNF component elements or isotopes, technologies on incorporation methods for transmutable materials into a target, and technologies for processing the transmuted material for waste packaging or isolation of valuable products

Category C: Integration of the technologies developed in Categories A and B into a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of a transmutation facility, improving the performance of the entire system. Category C teams will also maintain a materials and components database for transmutation facilities, which will include nuclear data sets.

The Nuclear Energy Waste Transmutation Optimized Now SBIR/STTR (NEWTON SBIR/STTR) program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel (UNF) to alleviate the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies that increase the overall capacity factor, power output, and efficiency of particle generation systems (including but not limited to proton, neutron, and/or photon), by reducing beam trip magnitude and duration (referred to as loss of beam). Additional technologies will focus on increasing the throughput of transmutation by developing target materials that maximize transmutation rates and are easily processible to remove the transmuted material.

The program will have three categories:

Category A: Technologies related to the generation and acceleration of particle beams that can initiate transmutation reactions. Development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict and recover from beam trip events is also within scope.

Category B: Modelling, designing, and fabricating target materials for the enhancement of transmutation of UNF component elements or isotopes, technologies on incorporation methods for transmutable materials into a target, and technologies for processing the transmuted material for waste packaging or isolation of valuable products

Category C: Integration of the technologies developed in Categories A and B into a techno-economic analysis (TEA) of a transmutation facility, improving the performance of the entire system. Category C teams will also maintain a materials and components database for transmutation facilities, which will include nuclear data sets.

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).

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).

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

In order to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, there is near unanimous consensus within the scientific community that global temperature rise must be held below 2 degrees Celsius. While limiting harmful greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonizing the global economy are vital steps toward achieving this goal, current projections indicate a need for an additional 20 GT/year of negative emissions capacity by 2100[1]. Realizing this magnitude of negative emissions capacity will be an enormous challenge, but it will also be a notable opportunity to lay the groundwork for an entirely new sector of economic activity and resource allocation. ARPA-E recognizes that the immense scale of this new carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industry will require a diverse suite of solutions, each of which comes with unique advantages and disadvantages in terms of sequestration potential, commercial readiness, cost, and energy efficiency. Among these solutions, terrestrial ecosystems offer a relatively near-term, large-scale, and energy-efficient sink for atmospheric carbon.

There are two broad categories of carbon removal via terrestrial systems: aboveground and belowground. Belowground, soil carbon sequestration via available technologies is estimated to be around 3 Gt/year globally¹, and advances in land management and related disciplines have the potential to significantly increase soil carbon uptake. Aboveground, sustainably produced biomass can offer long-term removal in place (e.g., forests), or be coupled with Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pathways to provide negative-emissions energy resources. ARPA-E is interested in both aboveground and belowground solutions and is seeking information related to low-energy, low-cost, and large-scale technologies and strategies for terrestrial carbon dioxide removal, management, and sequestration, or “carbon farming.” ARPA-E is primarily interested in approaches targeting agricultural or fallow lands; however, any approaches that target terrestrial carbon sequestration or feedstock crop engineering for improved BECCS pathways are of interest at this time regardless of land type.

When considering the pros and cons of different CDR approaches, a significant metric for ARPA-E is the energy input requirement per ton of CO₂ removed. The energy input requirements for CDR range from practically zero, in the case of ecological carbon cycling, to up to 10 GJ per ton of atmospheric CO₂ removed for Direct Air Capture (DAC) ¹. In the case of BECCS systems, the net energy requirement could eventually go negative when enhanced terrestrial removal is combined with efficient energy production and geologic storage. Given the magnitude of negative emissions capacity required, DAC remains attractive as a guaranteed option for addressing hard-to-abate emissions, but a tremendous amount of emissions-free energy would be required for DAC to address even a fraction of the removal capacity needed to meet global climate targets. Meanwhile, billions of hectares of land are already contributing to the global carbon cycle and have the capacity to increase their carbon uptake by a substantial amount due to carbon depletion over the last 12,000 years[2]. While there is no doubt that DAC and other energy-intensive CDR approaches will be required to stay below 2 degrees Celsius, leveraging low-cost (both economically and energetically) solutions such as carbon farming and/or energy positive carbon removal via BECCS keeps the overall cost of removal low and frees up emissions-free energy resources to address other sectors in need of decarbonization. In addition to the broad climate and energy benefits of terrestrial carbon sequestration, increasing the concentration of carbon in terrestrial biomes can also ameliorate the general health and productivity of U.S agriculture, reducing the need for energy-intensive fertilizers and irrigation systems.

Increasing soil organic carbon levels is a promising and widely supported method of carbon farming; however, other technologies that seek to sequester carbon through increased plant and root biomass via enhanced photosynthesis are also of interest provided they are accompanied by management strategies that ensure net-negative emissions. For example, cover crop adoption has the potential to confer enhanced carbon removal rates, and these crops could be engineered to minimize input (e.g., fertilizer) requirements while maximizing carbon removal for net-negative emissions outcomes. Additionally, geochemical approaches that can store carbon in inorganic and/or mineral forms (e.g., charcoal, organic carbon occluded in silica phytoliths, calcium oxalate, calcium carbonate) are of interest if they have the potential to reach GT-scale negative emissions on an annual basis and align with a sustainable management strategy. For these and other carbon farming approaches, the ability to estimate the duration of carbon removal (e.g., 100 years) and identify influencing factors (e.g., management practices) is essential to determining the relative impact and value of these approaches when compared to the broader suite of CDR options.

Establishing new agriculture and bioeconomy industries around the commodification of negative emissions is a unique opportunity to address climate change while stimulating economic growth and advancing critical technologies; however, it is essential to consider how the implementation and expansion of carbon farming approaches can be designed to enable negative emissions without introducing perverse incentives that would impose a negative impact on communities, crop yields, food production, energy demand, or ecosystem services. Part of the solution to establishing a negative emissions industry that avoids perverse incentives is to pursue both parallel and exclusive approaches to carbon farming. Parallel approaches increase soil carbon indirectly via improved agricultural techniques and management practices. In this approach, farmers benefit primarily from increased productivity and improved soil quality with carbon sequestration as a positive secondary benefit. Exclusive approaches, on the other hand, target carbon sequestration directly, enabling farmers to profit primarily and explicitly from capturing carbon with the potential for secondary profits via aboveground biomass production.

ARPA-E is seeking insight into both parallel and exclusive approaches to terrestrial carbon removal and sequestration, including, but not limited to, approaches that employ recent advancements in biological, geochemical, or hybrid technologies. Additionally, ARPA-E is requesting information on how agriculture systems and feedstock crops may be engineered and bred to better feed into economically viable BECCS pathways for large-scale, near-term carbon removal opportunities.

Table 1, included in the questions below, outlines some of the broad approaches that have been identified as promising methods of carbon farming. ARPA-E requests responses to this RFI include the information specified in this table, to include innovative approaches to carbon farming that are capable of delivering significant (e.g., 2X) increases in the carbon removal potential of terrestrial ecosystems. ARPA-E is not interested in approaches that are presently available and do not present a specific technical challenge (e.g., low/no-till, rotational grazing). More detailed questions with respect to the specific mechanisms that would enhance carbon removal via terrestrial biomes can be found below Table 1. The most valuable submissions to this RFI will include non-proprietary information related to specific technical processes such as those illustrated in Table 1 as well as responses to the detailed questions about scalability and related environmental and economic impacts.

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 22, 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] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2019. Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25259.

[2] Sanderman, Jonathan, Tomislav Hengl, and Gregory J. Fiske. "Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.36 (2017): 9575-9580.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) anticipates issuing a new Topic for the FOA “Solicitation on Topics Informing New Program Areas” in August 2020 to solicit applications for financial assistance to develop a publicly available model that enables evaluation of the benefit of various energy storage (ES) technology developments to the rail freight sector.

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

US rail freight Class 1 rail system is a large transportation sector, responsible for the movement of a significant amount of freight throughout the country. It is an extremely efficient mode of transportation, accounting for 40% ton-miles of freight movement while consuming 2% of the total US transportation energy budget. Nonetheless, the GHG emissions from freight movement (not accounting for passenger trains, rail yard movement, etc.) are very large, approximately 40 MTCO₂ per year [i].

A long series of incremental advancements have made it one of the most efficient modes of transportation, and thus one of the cleanest (GHG/ton-km) today. As a result, there is limited opportunity to further reduce rail GHG emissions associated with rail freight via efficiency and logistics improvements alone. This has been borne out in recent years by the observed flattening of the efficiency curve. Moreover, the locomotive fleet is well into conversion to tier 4 emission standards and further implementation of emissions reductions may actually work against further efficiency improvements. Deep decarbonization analyses show that, as with most of the transportation sector, fuel switching represents the biggest opportunity for significant further reductions in GHG associated with rail freight.

If full de-carbonization of fleet GHG emissions is to be achieved, new propulsion and energy storage (referred to generally as ES systems) technologies, as well as the charging/fueling infrastructure, must be developed. However, this will be more difficult for the rail freight sector than for much of the rest of the transportation sector since the unique operational and financial characteristics of the rail freight sector combine to drive very challenging requirements:

• Very high energy storage requirements > GJ
• High power drive systems: Rail freight requires high propulsion power (> 10 MW provided by multiple locomotives)
• Need for widely distributed infrastructure
• Industry moving to larger trains
• High capital costs → long lifecycle for new technology
• Mostly privately owned → desire for short term ROI

Although the rail industry and government have done research to decarbonize rail freight, no comprehensive plan has emerged given the many challenges discussed above. The new ES systems studied to date are not viewed by all stakeholders to have a reasonable technical or economic viability.

A global rollout plan must be developed to replace or modify the existing fleet of approximately 25,000 locomotives and expand the fraction of cargo moving by rail if rail is to become an integral part of full de-carbonization in the next decades. Fortunately, the rail sector includes a manageable number of routes, well characterized trains and infrastructure systems, predictable schedules, and diesel-electric propulsion. As a result, at least theoretically, this enables optimal planning for potential technology infusion into the sector. Of course, a comprehensive ES rollout modeling tool must be informed by and consistent with the economic and logistical constraints of the rail freight system.

ARPA-E seeks diverse interdisciplinary teams in the development of planning and simulation tools that model deployment of new ES technologies with output values over a few time scales (e.g., 10, 20, 30 years) of GHG emissions, and levelized cost of Mt-km (LCOTKM). Optionally as a stretch goal, the simulation tool would also enable automated optimization of the technology deployment at specific target levels of GHG emissions and/or LCOTKM reductions. The LCOTKM model should be defensible based on historical analysis of investments, new technology deployment and regulatory compliance in the rail freight industry. A realistic physical model should be built for each new ES so that its performance and energy consumption on a route-by-route basis is validated.

ARPA-E envisions that inputs to the model would fall into three main classes: ES properties, rail route constraints and logistics, economic model assumptions. Since the logistics will often include consist (group of locomotives on one train), multiple EV technologies should be explored. The GHG accounting will utilize the standard DOE recommendations contained in https://greet.es.anl.gov/.

The targeted outcome of the program is a set of publicly available planning tools for identification, evaluation, and prioritization of ES-related technology developments whose deployment would significantly reduce GHG in the rail freight sector. This tool must account for the existing constraints of the rail freight system or reasonable extrapolation thereof. This analysis will inform the priorities in ES technologies development and deployment utilizing a common validated tool.

As a general matter, ARPA–E strongly encourages different organizations with outstanding scientists and engineers, and 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.

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 August 2020. 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 August 2020, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

[i] https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit input for a potential ARPA-E program focused on leveraging material, process, equipment, and cross-supply chain manufacturing innovations to catalyze domestic production of cathode active materials (CAMs) and their precursors (pCAMs). Recent legislation in the United States incentivizes domestic production of electric vehicles (EVs) and onshoring of the EV battery supply chain. A key step in the EV battery supply chain is the production of pCAM and CAM. Presently, production of both pCAM and CAM is heavily concentrated outside the U.S. Domestic pCAM and CAM production would bolster U.S. energy security and enable the creation of secure and resilient critical mineral supply chains. However, present pCAM production methods generate large volumes of hazardous waste (e.g., sulfates) and suffer from limited throughput. Subsequent conversion of pCAM into CAM relies on energy-intensive, high-temperature processing methods that suffer from limited throughput. Energy intensity and limited throughput for conventional methods are among major hurdles to domestic CAM production. As a result, new innovations in pCAM and CAM manufacturing are needed to develop scalable and sustainable domestic EV battery supply chains.

Despite recent growth of the EV market, relatively few new companies have entered the pCAM market. This is likely because pCAM synthesis is a low-margin business, involves variable operating costs due to fluctuations in raw material prices, and is challenging to permit due to regulatory factors. Efforts to create a domestic pCAM and CAM supply chain should focus on inspiring new commercial manufacturing paradigms for pCAM and CAM, rather than reverse engineering existing practices. For domestic commercial implementation, new innovations in pCAM and CAM synthesis must afford materials whose quality and economics are commensurate, but preferably superior to, presently available options. Future chemical process roadmaps for domestic pCAM and CAM production must consider factors such as throughput, energy efficiency, hazardous waste generation, and domestic raw material supply, among others. Finally, the primary CAMs of interest to this RFI are lithium-based chemistries that have been validated for commercial deployment in EVs and consumer electronics [e.g., lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA), lithium iron phosphate (LFP)].

Concepts specifically of interest to this RFI, either alone or in combination, include but are not limited to the following:

• Continuous flow reactors and processes for pCAM production
• One-pot, continuous flow reactors and processes for combining pCAM and CAM production into a single step
• Production pathways that incorporate process intensity by combining two or more individual steps and/or eliminate the requirement for one or more steps without compromising pCAM/CAM quality
• pCAM produced from abundant and low-cost precursors sourced domestically
• pCAM processing that uses conventional or modified precursor strategies but can tolerate lower-grade feedstocks without compromising pCAM/CAM properties
• Significant reduction and/or complete elimination of hazardous waste types and volumes during pCAM production
• Processes that improve the energy efficiency of pCAM/CAM production
• Processes and practices that can achieve significantly increased pCAM/CAM throughput
• pCAM/CAM production concepts that can be integrated and practiced at large commercial scales
• Extreme, process-intensive, and continuous production methods that remove, eliminate, or combine steps in the supply chain (e.g., direct ore conversion routes)
• Circular techniques that utilize and/or valorize all waste and emission streams

Areas Not of Interest for Responses to this RFI:

• “Next-generation” and/or exploratory battery cathode materials and chemistries that have not been extensively validated in commercial applications
• Obvious process solutions that represent incremental improvements in conventional pCAM and/or CAM production
• Incremental improvements in batch production methods for pCAM and/or CAM materials
• Concepts that lead to higher overall production costs compared to conventional processes
• Process solutions that generate hazardous waste at volumes and/or toxicity greater than conventional practices for producing pCAM/CAM
• Concepts that require expensive and/or supply chain-constrained raw materials
• pCAM/CAM production that requires highly customized equipment that cannot be manufactured and/or procured at required sizes/volumes

RFI Guidelines:

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.

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 10, 2024.

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.

<additional content included in PDF Document>

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) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security (GOPHURRS & GOPHURRS SBIR/STTR) to solicit applications for financial assistance to fund technologies to transform the construction of underground medium voltage power distribution grids in urban and suburban areas by rapidly drilling shallow subsurface along the terrain and concurrently installing conduits, while avoiding hidden underground obstacles (e.g., geologic anomalies, existing infrastructure) with advanced look-ahead sensors, and reducing human errors for cable splice installations.

The program's overarching goal is to significantly reduce the cost, increase the speed, reduce errors, and improve the safety of the undergrounding operations and the surrounding community, resulting in rapid expansion and conversion of the distribution grid to an underground system, providing greater reliability, resilience, and security of power infrastructure in the United States.

To achieve this goal, GOPHURRS intends to fund innovative underground civil construction technologies that are minimally disruptive to the surface (e.g., small rig footprint, fast mobilization/demobilization, low power requirement, low noise and hazardous wastes), automated to the greatest extent possible (with the ultimate goal of autonomous drilling, concurrent construction of conduits, ducts, vaults, and automated cable splicing), and equipped with enhanced situational intelligence (e.g., real-time detection of other buried utilities and obstacles, steerable drilling tools to avoid damages) will need to be developed.

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in July 2022; Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/undergrounding-workshop.

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 GOPHURRS FOA. 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 FOA:

ARPA-E anticipates that the FOA will target research of three technical categories with an option to develop an integrated system of more than one category:

Category 1: Construction tools with high speeds (complete conduit installation within boring time of conventional tools) and maneuverability in order to create >5" I.D. conduits suitable for pulling medium voltage power cables at depths of up to 6 feet with minimal disruptions to the surface.

Category 2: Sensors that characterize near-surface geology, existing underground infrastructure and obstacles in order to provide real-time, look-ahead underground intelligence to assist underground construction operations with required speed and minimal risk of utility strikes and cross borings.

Category 3: Automated cable splicing machines that can fully or partially automate steps involved in cable splicing in order to eliminate human errors and to further improve the reliability of underground power lines. Advanced splices with maching operable designs and/or improved performance.

Expertise in the following Technical Areas may be useful in responding to the FOA: (i) drilling tools and operations (e.g. experience in drilling for infrastructure installation, oil and gas, mining, geothermal exploration), (ii) robotics and remote operations, (iii) underground civil construction and engineering, (iv) materials, coatings, liners for power conduit construction, (v) additive/subtractive manufacturing, (vi) integrated multi-sensor platforms, (vii) AI/ML, data analytics, and digital twin, (viii) near-surface characterization (ix) novel underground sensors based on emerging technologies (e.g., quantum sensors).

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.

ARPA-E is compiling a Teaming Partner List for GOPHURRS & GOPHURRS SBIR/STTR 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 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 bearding whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the GOPHURRS & GOPHURRS SBIR/STTR FOAs.

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 November 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, 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 March 2023, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 3/30/23: The FOAs associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at GOPHURRS FOA and GOPHURRS SBIR/STTR FOA.

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.

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 Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST), targeting development and demonstration of semiconductor material, device and/or power module technologies to create more capable power electronics building blocks for the future grid. More specifically, ARPA‑E is looking for semiconductor material, device and/or power module level advances to enable faster switching and/or triggering at higher current and voltage levels for improved control and protection of the grid.

Separate categories targeting faster switching semiconductor devices or power modules for higher-bandwidth control, and/or higher current and voltage slew rates for triggering and protection, both at higher voltage and current ratings, are envisioned to allow for the broadest range of approaches, although technology developments that can simultaneously address both necessary functions are preferred.

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in October 2022; Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/ultra-fast-triggered-devices-workshop.

Individual semiconductor devices and/or modules operating at high voltages and current ratings are desired to reduce the number of stacked devices in power modules, stacked modules in power cells (half-bridge, full-bridge, flying capacitor, etc.), and stacked cells in multi-level converters for medium- and high-voltage applications. Reducing the required number of devices and modules will be necessary to improve overall system reliability, complexity, and (eventually) cost. Increasing the switching speed is desired to continue the trend of reducing passives’ volume and increasing overall converter power density. Furthermore, decreasing the switching times (increasing slew-rates) leads to a reduction in switching losses thus relaxing the critical thermal management requirements but worsening the electromagnetic interference (EMI) which directly impacts the converter reliability. One way to minimize these issues is to wirelessly trigger semiconductor devices and modules (some examples are Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch (PCSS) and Light-Triggered Thyristor (LTT) that utilize optical energy for switching, but there may be other wireless means to do so). Hence, ARPA-E desires solutions which mitigate EMI issues while simultaneously providing semiconductor devices and/or modules capable of operating at high switching frequencies, and featuring high slew-rates, current and voltage levels. Of interest is also wirelessly powered gate driver, associated voltage and current sensors, as well as wireless transfer of control signals and data, all of which can significantly mitigate EMI problems.

Similarly, ARPA-E is interested in new device concepts that promise performance at the required levels. Novel device concepts that span across categories are encouraged, as are ideas that allow incorporation of protection functions within a device or module.

Program category one seeks device and/or module technologies targeting protection functions at high current and voltage levels. As such, ARPA-E desires functionality that enables, very fast by-pass, shunt, or interrupt capability at as low level of integration as possible with nanosecond-level reaction time (and corresponding slew rates). Depending on the type of operation, there are different requirements on the efficiency and reliability. For example, protection device/module operating in-line (normally-on) is expected to function with higher efficiencies to minimize conduction loss and consequent thermal management requirements. For protection devices that are shunt-connected (normally-off), voltage withstand capability, very low leakage current, and extremely fast turn-on are essential attributes. For both types of protection device reliability of fault handling will be demonstrated through the number of operating (on-off) cycles. Because advances in category one target protection functions, their temporal performance is characterized by how quickly they can reach their final state, that is by the current and voltage slew rates, rather than by switching speed. Temporal and efficiency requirements of this program point to an all-solid-state solution, although other innovations are possible.

Category two addresses the need for high switching frequency devices and/or modules which enables high-power, high-speed power electronics converters for future grid. High efficiency is paramount, while reliability will be assessed through a device/module lifetime (hours of continuous operation). Category two devices or modules can additionally feature some or all protection functions from category one, offering a switch with unparalleled performance specifications.

Demonstration of device and/or module technologies developed under category one and two is expected. This can encompass verification of performance at the next level of system integration, such as a circuit, for example a buck, boost, half/full-bridge or other, relevant, converter structure. Teams should have a demonstration plan and justification in light of a potential technology application.

Category three targets supporting technologies for category one and category two, such as wireless sensing of device voltage and current, high-density packaging of multi-die power modules with the integration of wireless actuators and device/module-level protection, power cell-level capacitors and inductors, thermal management strategies, etc. While category three is distinct, it is expected that capabilities developed therein will be demonstrated in a system context corresponding to the next level of integration, such as devices/modules developed in categories one and two, or via suitable alternatives and overall demonstration strategy. Thus, performance targets for category three encompass and support those for categories one and two.

Due to a 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 power electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and other related fields, 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 December 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, 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 early 2023, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

Update as of 2/24/23: The FOAs associated with this Teaming Partner List can be found at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId271e6ddc-b639-44aa-9c97-7eb5e7b635bc and https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdee37c915-189b-41f7-bbca-4f3b1ac77ba3.

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 modeling tools to assist in the optimization of the national intermodal freight transportation system. These tools will provide guidance in both deployment of future low-carbon infrastructure and assets, as well as operational logistics improvements to minimize transportation-related energy and emissions while maximizing resiliency.

The intermodal freight industry has a good sense for what technology options will be available (e.g., battery energy storage, hydrogen fuel cells, zero carbon fuels), and approximate costs – but the execution and rollout strategy, on both spatial and temporal dimensions, is still unclear. These are significant financial decisions, and upcoming choices, such as on which fuel to commit a fleet to, could accelerate or delay national decarbonization timelines by years. It is vital that the industry work together and coordinate to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of this deployment. There are currently no comprehensive models of the intermodal system’s energy demands and supplies, especially including overlap and shared infrastructure between modes. This will require synthesis and coordination of many different information streams.

Previous ARPA-E programs such as LOCOMOTIVES and TRANSNET have addressed route optimization for single modes (rail freight and light duty passenger vehicles, respectively). Other government, academic, and private modeling efforts have targeted portions of the freight system and specific modes, but none so far have addressed its deeply interconnected nature, including the challenges and opportunities the intermodal system presents. An ideal model should provide the optimum route for moving goods across maritime, rail and road transportation systems with the lowest CO2 emissions. Considering the interwoven yet fragmented nature of logistics and freight transportation, with limited data sharing, misaligned incentives, and many different stakeholders, there is a need for top-down modeling efforts that cross intermodal boundaries. More information on the ongoing ARPA-E LOCOMOTIVES program may be found here.

Given the many challenges associated with modeling the extreme complexity of the freight system, there exists no comprehensive plan to direct how freight decarbonization should be achieved. Innovation within and across sectors will be required to identify new optimal strategies. If issued, this Exploratory Topic will likely consist of two complementary tasks.

(1) Intermodal Infrastructure Model: Develop models of the national intermodal freight transportation network (i.e., moving freight by two or more modes of transportation -- e.g., trucks, trains, and cargo ships) that enable prioritization for energy infrastructure deployment, along with data required for the effective deployment of this optimized distribution system

(2) Intermodal Logistics Model: Develop models of the national intermodal freight transportation system that enable predictive and responsive optimization of modal choice, inter- or intra- modal transfer, or routing.

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 January 2023. 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 02/08/2023: The FOA/Exploratory Topic 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 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Revolutionizing Ore to Steel to Impact Emissions (ROSIE), targeting new technology pathways to enable zero direct process emissions in ironmaking (i.e., zero-process-emission ironmaking) and ultra-low life cycle emissions for steelmaking at scale.

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 ROSIE FOA. 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 FOA.

ARPA-E has identified two Technical Categories for ROSIE’s low emission iron and steel opportunities. Technical Category A ends with an iron product; Technical Category B ends with a steel product. Proposers in both categories must address emissions associated with ironmaking while producing either a relevant iron or steel product. An iron product may be a final product for direct use or it may be iron designed to be used in further steelmaking; the steel product must be a deliverable product in an existing or projected steel market.

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in September 2021; Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/zero-emission-iron-steelmaking-workshop.

The draft technical section FOA language is included as Attachment A to this document and the draft Cost and LCA Estimator Tool is included as a separate Attachment B. NOTE: THE ISSUED FOA, INCLUDING TECHNICAL SECTION AND LCA ESTIMATOR TOOL, WILL BE CONTROLLING, NOT THESE DRAFT DOCUMENTS, THOUGH NO MAJOR CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of the technologies that will be of interest for the ROSIE Program. All technologies must satisfy specified zero-emissions-ironmaking criteria.

• Aqueous electrowinning of ores: in acidic, basic, or neutral media; including the potential for the acids/bases to be produced on-site and recycled;
• Non-aqueous electrolysis of ores: using electrolytes of molten salts and eutectics; innovations in novel electrodes that will withstand operating conditions;
• H₂ plasma-based ironmaking: using microwave, arc, or other plasma generation methods;
• Biomass-based ironmaking: the use of low-cost emerging bio-feedstocks; innovative ways to process these feedstocks into bioreductants for specific utility in ironmaking;
• Biological and biomimetic ironmaking: siderophore derivatives or other catalyst mimics that selectively bind iron cations from ore and reduce them;
• Novel thermochemical ironmaking: methods to use nontraditional reductants, recycled carbon, or other new thermochemistry to process realistic feedstocks;
• Ironmaking from unconventional ores: mine tailings and other wastes; especially, taconite or other ores found substantially in the United States; co-production of iron and other metals or byproducts as enabled by using mixed-metal ores; and
• Other novel technologies: to produce iron from raw iron resources with zero greenhouse gas (GHG) process emissions.

The scope of the ROSIE program is framed to advance high-potential, high-impact technologies with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ironmaking to zero. Submissions that do not represent a significant innovation in ironmaking technology are out of scope. These are examples of technology concepts that would not meet the success criteria of this program:

• More efficient blast furnace technologies or direct reduced iron (DRI) - electric arc furnace (EAF) processes
• Adding carbon capture with sequestration to blast furnaces
• Transitioning from DRI using natural gas to DRI using hydrogen (H2)
• Ore beneficiation for blast furnace or DRI processes
• Biomass to make biocoke followed by standard blast furnace ironmaking
• Enabling increased quality and availability of scrap metal feedstock
• Reducing or removing carbon emissions in existing pre-processing stages such as sintering and induration

The ROSIE program goals are to develop low emissions ironmaking technologies that have the potential to scale to meaningful production levels at cost parity with existing technologies. The performance metrics will include the amount of non-biogenic greenhouse gas emissions from ironmaking process; the cradle-to-gate lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions; the process and product scalability; the target cost per tonne of product; and the target lab scale prototype at end of the project.

Several additional considerations will also be used for proposal evaluation, including the energy per tonne of iron or steel product; the process byproducts or waste streams; the process flexibility; the product viability; the pathway to scale from lab (grams/hour) to pilot plant (tonnes/year); and the final product qualification requirements.

ARPA-E project teams are required to construct and execute a commercialization strategy that is unique to their technology. Technology-to-market risks that may be addressed include the availability of the reductant for a chosen process, which may be electricity, hydrogen, sustainable carbon, or other technology-specific reagents. Other underlying cost and risk drivers that may be addressed include availability of the appropriate domestic ore feedstock and uncertainty in electricity pricing. To assist in assessing the potential for technology development and application, a basic Ironmaking Cost and Life Cycle Assessment Estimator Tool has been provided along with this announcement (Attachment B). The goal of this tool is to enable fair comparison of technologies using input data (e.g., CO₂ footprint of grid electricity) from a standard library.

ARPA-E is not interested in projects that exclusively consider the reduction of relatively pure iron oxide to iron. Successful applications need to demonstrate the reduction of iron oxide feedstock under conditions that will be industrially relevant to the commercial deployment of the proposed technology.

Due to a 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 power electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, and other related fields, 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 May 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: 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 June 2023, for instructions on submitting an application, the desired technical metrics, and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The draft technical section and LCA tool included as attachments to this Teaming Partner List will be discussed by ARPA-E Program Director Jenifer Shafer on June 15, 2023, at an ARPA-E Industry Day.

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 Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support the development of novel high energy density energy storage systems (ESS) for emissions-free planes, trains, and ships. Transformational targets including 1000 watt-hour per kilogram (Wh/kg) and 1000 watt-hour per liter (Wh/L), equivalent to 5x state-of-the-art (SOA), at the net system level, are required to achieve a meaningful impact in these heavy-duty applications.

Planes, trains, and ships require large ESS (e.g., 1 to 100 megawatt-hour [MWh]) and are required to perform both safely and reliably over decades in harsh operational environments. Moreover, they are expected to operate continuously since “idleness” translates directly into lost revenue. 1000 Wh/kg or 1000 Wh/L is considered transformational and expected to enable (1) electrification of regional aviation up to 1000 miles and 100 passengers, (2) 100% electrification of U.S. railroads, and (3) electrification of a majority of U.S. marine vessels that operate in territorial waters.

Strategies that may have merit, either individually or as part of a total solution, include the following:

• Swappable batteries/energy boxes that can be rapidly and seamlessly interfaced with vessels and vehicles;
• Mechanically rechargeable solutions;
• Platforms that separate energy and power;
• Pumpable electroactive slurries, “goops,” and metals;
• High temperature electrochemical systems;
• Systems that utilize external catholytes (air or seawater, for example);
• Revisiting the past (making primary battery chemistries rechargeable, for example);
• Combining electrochemical function with mechanical structure.

ARPA–E hosted a “Transformational Energy Storage Solutions for the Electrification of Planes, Trains & Ships (ESS-1K) Workshop” on May 10-11, 2023. Information from this workshop can be found at the ARPA-E events webpage (https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/transformational-energy-storage-solutions-electrification-planes-trains-ships-workshop). In addition, ARPA-E issued a Request for Information (RFI) on Rethinking Energy Storage Technologies for Planes, Trains & Ships: “Battery 1K” (DE-FOA-002972, https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Default.aspx?foaId=fb3ceb8e-8bf7-47ba-8dc3-93501610a927). A slide deck on this subject was presented during the “Transportation Systems” Fast Pitch Panel at the 2022 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit and is posted online (https://www.arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/default/files/5-Fast_Pitch_Final_CHEESEMAN.pdf). Finally, a video of the entirety of the “Batteries & Storage” Fast Pitch Panel from the 2023 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit can be viewed online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_yZNcAj30).

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 the development of high energy density energy storage systems for electrification of planes, trains, and ships. In this case, interdisciplinary collaboration is highly recommended. Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to a potential future FOA: advanced energy storage chemistries/materials/components research and development, computational modeling, system architecture, technoeconomic analysis (TEA), and safety, including Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

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 July 2023. Once posted, the Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically, until the closing 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 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 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.

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 Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), tentatively entitled: Digital Transportation. The final FOA is expected to be issued in November 2016. When the FOA is issued, ARPA-E anticipates that the deadline for submission of Concept will occur 30 days after issuance. The overall goal of the Digital Transportation program will be to develop communication technologies that are preferable to physical travel, consistent with ARPA-E’s statutory goals including development of energy technologies that improve energy efficiency, reduce energy-related emissions, and reduce energy imports from foreign sources. To achieve the Digital Transportation program goals, technologies are needed that enable the real-time capture and digitization of extremely detailed communicative information, which, after having been transmitted over a digital information network, can then be reconstructed and displayed in a highly natural and immersive way to a remote observer. 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 forthcoming Digital Transportation FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, selection criteria, and other terms and requirements. For purposes of this Teaming Partner List, the following summarizes current planning for the FOA:

The technical goals of the anticipated FOA will primarily focus on real-time capture and digitization of extremely detailed communicative information, which can then be reconstructed and displayed in a highly natural and immersive way to a remote observer. All communicative information must be captured, including, but not limited to, shared gaze, facial expressions and microexpressions, all body language, and spatialized audio. This digital reconstruction must be able to be ported across many display modalities, have lighting conditions and viewing angles changed in real time, and enable the comfortable meeting of many individuals at the same time in a split screen or digital environment. The motion capture must be done conveniently, at low cost, and must have the potential to be display-integrated. The digitization and encoding must be done in real time to foster simultaneous live communication, with capture-to-display latencies below 150 ms (including network latencies across the United States). The encoded information is expected to be highly bandwidth efficient, allowing beyond-human-perception levels of resolution and refresh-rate on the display side, both aurally and visually, for less than 1 Mbps of transmitted information per conversation member. The anticipated FOA will also enable the development of complementary technologies that the community justifies as being necessary for the realization of digital transportation. Finally, the anticipated FOA will include a call for studies that aim to definitively and quantitatively establish the set of requirements for digital transportation technologies to be preferable to physical travel, and methods to test and validate progress of these technologies towards travel-reduction. It is envisioned that accomplishing these objectives will allow users to leverage information networks for their communication-based travel needs instead of physically travelling, saving at least one order of magnitude of energy in the process, and potentially saving the United States several percent of the nation’s yearly energy consumption.

ARPA-E anticipates that the FOA will target research in: (1) real-time capture, digitization, and reconstruction of extremely detailed communicative information, of a fidelity commensurate with travel-replacement, with cross-platform display compatibility; (2) complementary technologies proposed as necessary for travel reduction, including but not limited to server-side communication environments, novel display modalities, and stationary capture and digitization tools; and (3) third party testing and validation of digital transportation technologies which will yield clear and quantitative results regarding system performance necessary to replace physical travel and save energy.

In order to realize the goals of the Digital Transportation program, ARPA‐E aims to bring together diverse engineering and scientific communities including, but not limited to, computer-generated imagery and image processing, modular software architectures, machine perception and motion capture technologies, visual display technologies, human movement physiology, real-time communication server-side management, parallel processing and GPU-based visual rendering, user interface and user experience, telecommunication companies, internet companies, scholarly validation of travel-replacement criteria, and business management and other related researchers that can develop and test the new digital transportation technologies such that they are successful in the marketplace in ultimately replacing travel and saving energy.

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 in November 2016. 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 November 2016, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) entitled Micro-scale Optimized Solar-cell Arrays with Integrated Concentration (MOSAIC). The objective of these FOAs is to develop high-performance concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) in a low-profile module similar to traditional non-concentrated “flat-plate” PV in order to provide low-cost solar electricity for the roof-top, commercial, and utility-scale markets. 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 MOSAIC FOAs. The FOAs 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 FOAs:

The MOSAIC program’s overall goal is to develop micro-scale CPV technologies that enable significant geographic and demographic expansion of solar electricity generation. A key motivation for the MOSAIC program, therefore, is to greatly accelerate efforts in the CPV community that seek to shrink cell, optics, tracking and module dimensions and apply the scalability of micro-systems approaches that have the potential to remove manufacturing, operational and market barriers to widespread commercial use.

Currently, ARPA-E anticipates that the FOAs will target research in: (1) Micro-tracking systems: approaches that have the form factor of a static rooftop flat panel Silicon, utilize optical concentration, but also contain embedded tracking; (2) Macro-tracking systems: approaches that utilize micro-system integration, achieve the form factor of rooftop flat panel silicon PV, but use conventional tracking methods as currently practiced, e.g., moving the entire panel on one or two axes; (3) Hybrid systems: approaches that specifically address the challenge of harvesting light in areas with a large percentage of diffuse light, such as found in regions of the Northern U.S.; and 4) novel manufacturing approaches for small and fragile CPV cells that are high-throughput, low-cost, and scalable.

In order to realize the goals of the MOSAIC program, ARPA‐E aims to bring together diverse engineering and scientific communities, including material scientists, electrical and packaging engineers, optical engineers, micro-scale manufacturing specialists, and researchers in polymers and opto-electronics to advance micro-scale PV to working prototypes and engage with stakeholders who can drive these devices toward market adoption.

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 November 2014. 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 FOAs exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOAs, expected to be issued in November 2014, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.