Energy Department Offering $300M for Sustainable Transportation R&D

January 31, 2020

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is splitting $300 million among three funding opportunity announcements or FOAs to spur sustainable transportation research and development activity.

Announced during a speech by Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes (seen above) at the Washington Auto Show on January 23, this fiscal year 2020 funding aims to diversify the nation’s supply of fuels and technologies to “allow us to approach the future of sustainable transportation from all angles.”

That $300 million pool of funds will be divided between three DOE offices, Menezes noted, via an application process split into two phases: the submission of a concept paper followed by a full application for grant funds.

  • Some $133 million will be made available via DOE’s Vehicles Technologies Office to address: advanced batteries and electrification; advanced engine and fuel technologies, including technologies for off-road applications; lightweight materials; new mobility technologies, and alternative fuels technology demonstrations. Concept papers are due on February 21 with full applications due on April 14.
  • The DOE’s Fuel Cells Technologies Office will issue roughly $64 million in grants to support “innovative hydrogen concepts” to encourage the expansion and scale of hydrogen production, storage, transport – including heavy-duty trucks, data centers, and related steel production needs. Concept papers are due on February 25 with full applications due on April 20.
  • The final $100 million or so will come from the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office to support the U.S. “bio-economy” by reducing the price of drop-in biofuels, lowering the cost of bio-power, and enabling high-value products to be made from biomass or waste resources. Concept papers are due on March 5 and full applications are due on April 30.
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