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This could include, but is not limited to: (a) alternative and clean energy sources; (b) environmental and social issues as related to specific or broader energy and resource management issues; (c) economic, environmental, and social costs/benefits of energy development (alternative and fossil fuel); (d) hazard and risk assessment of different methods of energy production on various endpoints/receptors; (e) development of frameworks for managing energy development; and (f) restoration/reclamation of lands damaged by energy extraction

To potentially support the full-scale testing of MHK wave energy devices, the Water Power Program intends to evaluate site locations, designs, and estimated costs for an open water, fully energetic domestic wave test facility. It is expected that a viable grid-connected facility will be capable of testing both scaled prototypes and full-scale (utility-scale) wave energy conversion devices in order to evolve reliable, low cost, renewable energy alternatives to fossil fuel. Prototype testing is essential to mature existing wave technologies, validate performance against analytic models, demonstrate compliance with applicable design standards and thereby mitigate the technical and financial risk of developing and deploying mass-produced wave energy devices, plants, technologies and related products. Construction and operation of a full-scale domestic wave test facility will assist the U.S. industry by identifying design and manufacturing deficiencies early in the development cycle and validate modifications and improvements prior to commercial deployment. Ultimately, this new testing capability will improve the country?s competitiveness in MHK energy technology, encourage domestic manufacturing, job creation, and provide a new technology that utilizes an untapped renewable resource to help achieve the nation?s energy goals. This FOA is intended to identify possible site locations and evaluate the potential to establish a national wave testing facility within U.S. territorial waters. 

The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics.

The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics.

While geothermal power is an attractive potential source for sustainable energy production, the high heat temperature requirements (typically >150?C) of most geothermal capture systems constrain geographic distribution and economic viability of geothermal energy production. Advancement of strategic material or mineral recovery aims to address this limitation. By partnering with geothermal and mineral industry stakeholders to develop additional revenue streams from brines, the economic viability of geothermal projects will increase while also allowing for increased geographic diversity of this clean, round-the-clock energy source. Rare earths and strategic minerals are essential for modern industry, especially clean-energy technologies, but are subject to supply risk in the face of ever-increasing demand. As an example, consumer uses of lithium batteries have soared over the last decade, powering everything from electric cars to tablets to cell phones. Global demand for lithium carbonate is expected to exceed 250,000 tons by 2017?a 60% increase over current usage. As demand grows in this burgeoning market, a reliable supply of critical materials for advanced manufacturing technologies is a growing concern. This program aims to help alleviate this type of supply bottleneck. The Energy Department seeks up to ten 1-2 year feasibility and/or applied R&D projects that will lead to commercialized technologies. Geothermal mining of rare earth and near-critical metals are the focus of this research, with the intent to effectively lower the cost of geothermal energy production while diversifying and stabilizing the supply of critical materials for domestic industries.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) conducts crosscutting nuclear energy research and development (R&D) and associated infrastructure support activities to develop innovative technologies that offer the promise of dramatically improved performance for advanced reactors and fuel cycle concepts while maximizing the impact of DOE resources. NE strives to promote integrated and collaborative research conducted by national laboratory, university, industry, and international partners under the direction of NE's programs. NE funds research activities through both competitive and direct mechanisms, as required to best meet the needs of NE. This approach ensures a balanced R&D portfolio and encourages new nuclear power deployment with creative solutions to the universe of nuclear energy challenges. This FOA addresses the competitive portion of NE's R&D portfolio as executed through the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP), Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Crosscutting Technology Development (NEET CTD), and Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF). NEUP utilizes up to 20 percent of funds appropriated to NE's R&D program for university-based infrastructure support and R&D in key NE program-related areas: Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FC R&D), Reactor Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration (RC RD&D), and Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS). NEET CTD supports national laboratory-, university- and industry-led crosscutting research. By establishing the NSUF in 2007, DOE-NE opened up the world of material test reactors, beam lines, and post-irradiation examination facilities to researchers from U.S. universities, industry and national laboratories by granting no-cost access to world-class nuclear research facilities. In addition to the consolidation of the NSUF Call for Applications (CFA) for access to capabilities, NEUP or NEET CTD projects requiring irradiation testing and/

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announces a notice of availability of funds for financial assistance to accelerate research and development related to the production of affordable and sustainable non-food energy crops that can be used as feedstocks for the production of price-competitive biofuels and bioproducts. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports EERE's performance metrics to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, increase the viability and affordability of renewable energy technologies and processes, and spur growth in the domestic bioeconomy. Applicants must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov before submitting an application and must provide a valid Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in the application. Failure to comply may result in a determination that the applicant is not qualified to receive a Federal award, and that determination could be used as a basis for making a Federal award to another applicant.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) announces a re-competition of the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) and encourages both new and renewal applications. Applications will be required to address priority research directions identified by the series of "Basic Research Needs" reports, the scientific grand challenges identified in the report Directing Matter and Energy: Five Challenges for Science and the Imagination, and the opportunities described in the report Challenges at the Frontiers of Matter and Energy: Transformative Opportunities for Discovery Science. All of these reports are described below. Funding will be competitively awarded to the successful Energy Frontier Research Center applications selected by Federal officials, based on a rigorous merit review process as detailed in Section V of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

The Energy, Power, and Adaptive Systems (EPAS) program invests in the design and analysis of intelligent and adaptive engineering networks, including sensing, imaging, controls, and computational technologies for a variety of application domains. EPAS places emphasis on electric power networks and grids, including generation, transmission and integration of renewable, sustainable and distributed energy systems; high power electronics and drives; and understanding of associated regulatory and economic structures. Topics of interest include alternate energy sources, the Smart Grid, and interdependencies of critical infrastructure in power and communications. The program also places emphasis on energy scavenging and alternative energy technologies, including solar cells, ocean waves, wind, and low-head hydro. In addition, the program supports innovative test beds, and laboratory and curriculum development to integrate research and education.  EPAS invests in adaptive dynamic programming, brain-like networked architectures performing real-time learning, neuromorphic engineering, telerobotics, and systems theory. The program supports distributed control of multi-agent systems with embedded computation for sensor and adaptive networks. EPAS provides additional emphasis on emerging areas, such as quantum systems engineering, quantum and molecular modeling and simulation of devices and systems.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) conducts crosscutting nuclear energy research and development R&D) and associated infrastructure support activities to develop innovative technologies that offer the promise of dramatically improved performance for advanced reactors and fuel cycle concepts while maximizing the impact of DOE resources. The development of nuclear energy-related infrastructure and basic capabilities in the research community is necessary to promote R&D that supports nuclear science and engineering (NS&E), DOE-NE's mission, and the Nation's nuclear energy challenges. Accordingly, DOE intends to enable the education and training of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy-makers in graduate and undergraduate study and two-year programs, as well as R&D that is relevant to the Department and the nuclear energy industry in general.

Complete information, including the Request for Information (RFI), can be found on the EERE Exchange website - https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Through this Request for Information (RFI), the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) seeks input on new research to maximize the value of hydropower's contribution to grid resiliency and reliability today and into the future. This strategy includes pumped storage and traditional hydropower, and covers both new technology design as well as modeling and analysis to assess the range of value streams hydropower provides in the current and future power grid. This research will build targeted insight into economic, policy and technological barriers, inform future hydropower technology development, and improve the tools by which investment and operational decisions are made. WPTO seeks concise feedback from all relevant stakeholders. Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to WPTORFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on April 6, 2018. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. Complete information, including the RFI, can be found on the EERE Exchange website - https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

Recent advances in communications, computation, and sensing technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for the design of cyber-physical systems with increased responsiveness, interconnectivity and automation. To meet new challenges and societal needs, the Energy, Power, Control andNetworks (EPCN) Program invests in systems and control methods for analysis and design of cyber-physical systems to ensure stability, performance, robustness, and security. Topics of interest include modeling, optimization, learning, and control of networked multi-agent systems, higher-level decision making, and dynamic resource allocation as well as risk management in the presence of uncertainty, sub-system failures and stochastic disturbances. EPCN also invests in adaptive dynamic programing, brain-like networked architectures performing real-time learning, and neuromorphic engineering. EPCN supports innovative proposals dealing with systems research in such areas as energy, transportation, and nanotechnology. EPCN places emphasis on electric power systems, including generation, transmission, storage, and integration of renewables; power electronics and drives; battery management systems; hybrid and electric vehicles; and understanding of the interplay of power systems with associated regulatory and economic structures and with consumer behavior. Also of interest are interdependencies of power and energy systems with other critical infrastructures. Topics of interest also include systems analysis and design for energy scavenging and alternate energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrokinetic. The program also supports innovative tools and test beds, as well as curriculum development integrating research and education. In addition to single investigator projects, EPCN encourages cross-disciplinary proposals that benefit from active collaboration of researchers with complementary skills. Proposals for the EPCN program may involve collaborative research to capture the breadth of

Complete information on this RFI can be found on the EERE Exchange website - https://eere-exchange.energy.gov The Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) operates within the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). WETO's mission is to lead the nation's efforts to research and develop innovative technologies, lower the costs and accelerate the development of wind power. WETO is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to gain public input regarding the key challenges associated with the manufacturing and deployment of larger next-generation blades for land-based wind turbines. Information sought under this RFI is intended to assist WETO in analyzing the costs and benefits of various pathways to achieve larger wind turbine blades, which are currently constrained by transportation logistics over existing road and rail infrastructure. Potential pathways include onsite blade manufacturing or assembly, transportation and logistics innovations, and hybrid approaches. The RFI further solicits input on specific areas where further federal research and development would best be applied to have a high impact on enabling supersized blades for the next generation of cost-competitive wind energy. Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to WindEnergyRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on June 11, 2018

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) provides funding to support crosscutting nuclear energy research and development (R&D), and associated infrastructure support activities, to develop innovative technologies that offer the promise of dramatically improved performance for advanced reactors and fuel cycle concepts, while maximizing the use of DOE resources. The development of nuclear energy-related infrastructure and basic capabilities in the research community is necessary to promote R&D that supports nuclear science and engineering (NS&E), DOE-NE's mission, and the Nation's nuclear energy challenges. Accordingly, DOE intends to enable the education and training of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy-makers, in graduate and undergraduate study, and two-year programs, as well as R&D that is relevant to the Department and the nuclear energy industry in general.

This FOA will support high-impact R&D for plastics by developing new plastics that are capable of efficient recyclability and improving recycling strategies that can break existing plastics into chemical building blocks that can be used to make higher-value products. DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) develops technologies that drive energy productivity improvements in the U.S. manufacturing sector, efficiently utilize abundant and available domestic energy resources, and support the manufacture of clean energy products with benefits extending across the economy. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) to enable the development of technologies that overcome the challenges associated with plastic waste. Topic Areas include: 1) Highly Recyclable or Biodegradable Plastics: develop new plastics that have improved performance attributes over a comparable existing plastic that can be cost-effectively recycled or biodegrade completely in the environment or in compost facilities. 2) Novel Methods for Deconstructing and Upcycling Existing Plastics: generate energy efficient recycling technologies (mechanical, chemical, or biological) that are capable of breaking plastic streams into intermediates which can be upgraded into higher value products. 3) BOTTLE Consortium Collaborations to Tackle Challenges in Plastic Waste: create collaborations with the Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Laboratory Consortium to further the long-term goals of the Consortium and the Plastics Innovation Challenge.

The Educational Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED) funding program is a collaborative effort across EERE's Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and Building Technologies Office (BTO), to provide professionals with educational materials and training resources in fields newly interacting with distributed energy resources (DER). In this program, DER includes distributed solar, like on homes and businesses, as well as efficient building technologies and sustainable transportation technologies, such as electric vehicles. The goal of this program is to create resources that will help those on the front lines of DER adoption-like first responders, safety officials, and building managers and owners keep up with these rapidly emerging and advancing technologies. These professionals are at the forefront of America's energy transition and play a role in easing adoption, ensuring safety, and reducing installation costs. Because of this, the participating EERE offices see these professionals as key to enabling understanding and acceptance of new energy technologies.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technology Office (SETO) is seeking applications under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to fund applied research and development to enable the reduction of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generated by concentrating solar power (CSP) to 6 ¢/kWh-electric or less, without subsidies. This FOA intends to develop integrated thermal system solutions to overcome the temperature limitations of current CSP systems, while lowering capital costs by enabling the use of advanced turbines and achieving a higher overall system efficiency in converting solar thermal energy into electricity. Applications to this FOA are expected to advance individual high temperature components which have been developed at lab scale, and test them as an integrated system at a multi-MW thermal scale that can accept solar thermal energy, store it, and efficiently deliver it to a working fluid at high temperature, representative of a high efficiency power cycle.

The purpose of this Request for Information is to seek input from fossil fueled power plant owners, operators, equipment manufacturers, architect engineers, and other interested stakeholders about energy storage opportunities and research needs that could lead to advances in energy storage technologies. Areas of interest include fossil fueled electricity generating units, fossil fueled poly generation facilities, and suitable fossil fueled industrial applications. Advances in storage technology capable of improving the overall performance, reliability, and flexibility of these plants will enable our Nation to continue to extract maximum economic value from its fossil fueled energy system assets. This is solely a request for information and is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement. The Department of Energy is not accepting applications to this Request for Information.

AFRL Advanced Power Technology Office has a need to improve the U.S. Air Force's energy security posture through rapid assessment of energy and environmental technologies. This effort is needed to maximize the benefit of a combination of increased energy resiliency/reliability where energy resilience is defined as the agility to maintain critical mission functions even during unexpected disruptions, increased cost-effectiveness to evaluate the trade-offs between lowest price and other priorities such as sustainability and resilience, and increased environmental sustainability.

The Office of Science (SC) of the Department of Energy hereby announces its continuing interest in receiving grant applications for support of work in the following program areas: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics. On September 3, 1992, DOE published in the Federal Register the Office of Energy Research Financial Assistance Program (now called the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program), 10 CFR 605, as a Final Rule, which contained a solicitation for this program. Information about submission of applications, eligibility, limitations, evaluation and selection processes and other policies and procedures are specified in 10 CFR 605.

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is requesting input on integrated data and analysis needs across the solar value chain to inform near to mid-term plans for the development of information based network planning, real time optimization, and bankability tools in the context of the SunShot 2030 goals. SETO aims to better understand the information-related problems and questions that exist for key stakeholders, including manufacturers, project developers, financiers, engineering procurement and construction businesses, state and local jurisdictions, researchers, analysts, and others supporting the technological advancement and wide scale adoption of solar technology.