AASHTO Journal - DOE to Invest $128M in Sustainable Transportation Research

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to invest of up to $128 million in funding for research and development of sustainable transportation resources and technologies — money subject to the availability of appropriated funds, it stressed.

[Above photo by the DOE.]

That money – split between three separate funding opportunity announcements or FOAs– aims to ensure that American families “have greater choice in how their transportation energy needs are met,” explained Mark Menezes, deputy secretary of energy, in a statement.

“As the transportation sector and our mobility needs continue to evolve, it is important that we support technological solutions from a variety of energy sources,” he said. “These three funding opportunities are excellent examples of the diversity of resources we have available … to harness the strengths of these technologies to ensure families, goods, and services are moved safely, efficiently, and cleanly.”

Funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the FOAs will be issued via three separate DOE transportation offices:

The Bioenergy Technologies Office will receive up to $35 million to support bioenergy feedstock technologies, with a focus on converting municipal solid waste into fuel, as well as algae research and development for the fuel conversion process.
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies Office will get up to $33 million in support of hydrogen and fuel cell research and development, infrastructure supply chain development and validation, as well as cost analysis activities. Projects getting funding support with this funding also include the H2@Scale, theMillion Mile Fuel Cell Truck, and H2NEW consortia.
The Vehicle Technologies Office will receive up to $60 million to support battery and electrification research, advanced engine and fuel technology work, as well as the study of materials, mobility systems, along with transportation and energy analysis. Some topics also support the agency’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge, which draws on research capabilities of the DOE National Laboratories as well as universities and industry to accelerate the development of energy-storage technologies.

This announcement follows a similar funding disbursement made in January, to the tune of $300 million, to spur sustainable transportation research and development activity.