(CLOSED) Science Foundations for Energy Earthshots (DE-FOA-0003003)

Sponsor Name: 
DOE
Description of the Award: 

The Office of Science (SC) hereby announces its interest in applications to advance basic research in support of the Department of Energy’s Energy Earthshots™ initiative.1 The Energy Earthshots drive integrated program development and execution across the Department of Energy’s basic science and energy technology offices. They are part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to provide science and technology innovations that address the tough technological challenges required to achieve our climate and economic competitiveness goals.2,3 The Energy Earthshots will accelerate breakthroughs towards more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions. This FOA will support small teams to build the scientific foundations for the Energy Earthshot goals.

Supplementary Information

Six Energy Earthshots have been announced so far: Hydrogen Shot™, Long Duration Storage Shot™, Carbon Negative Shot™, Enhanced Geothermal Shot™, Floating Offshore Wind Shot™, and Industrial Heat Shot™. Applications for this funding opportunity should focus on fundamental science related to the Energy Earthshots. Priority will be given to applications that focus on crosscutting research relevant to multiple Energy Earthshots. Multi-disciplinary teams are encouraged.

Program Objective

Applications must focus on addressing basic research challenges motivated by the Energy Earthshots listed above. The scope of the Energy Earthshots are described below. This FOA is a collaborative effort across three SC research programs: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, and Biological and Environmental Research. Program descriptions are included in the RFP. Multi-disciplinary applications are encouraged, addressing more than one SC research program. Additionally, the following common considerations apply to all Energy Earthshots:

Applicants should consider how innovative high-performance and scientific-computing techniques can contribute to advancing the goals of the proposed research. Applicants should also leverage the applications and software technologies developed by DOE’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP)10 to make use of computing at all scales. Applicants should also consider how to leverage data, software, models, and other information from recent and concurrent activities, including those funded by SC, other DOE departmental elements, and other agencies. SC resources include, but are not limited to, those with the Public Reusable Research (PuRe) Data designation. Applicants are encouraged to consult the references posted on each Energy Earthshot’s webpage for information on other potentially-leverageable resources.

In addition, applicants should consider how experimental facilities supported by BES (https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities/User-Facilities-at-a-Glance/BES) and BER (https://science.osti.gov/User-Facilities/User-Facilities-at-a-Glance/BER) can contribute to the proposed research to accelerate progress towards the Energy Earthshot technical goals.

This FOA is focused on basic science to seed innovations or to provide the scientific understanding to support existing technology development pathways for the needed portfolio of Energy Earthshot solutions. While demonstration of the relevance of the scientific results to an Energy Earthshot application is important and validation that the scientific understanding can be predictably exploited for that application is expected, exploration of parameter space (e.g., materials, processes, conditions, design approach) primarily to optimize performance and/or reach performance requirements is applied research that will not be supported by this FOA except where necessary to enable basic scientific research.

Energy Earthshots

Hydrogen Shot
The first Energy Earthshot – Hydrogen Shot™ – was announced on June 7, 2021 and establishes an ambitious target of $1 per 1 kg of clean hydrogen in 1 decade, a cost reduction of 80%. The intent of this target is to accelerate innovations and spur demand for clean hydrogen by reducing the cost of its production. This effort is expected to depend on advances in fundamental research and considers many approaches to hydrogen production such as low- or high-temperature electrolysis, thermal conversion that is amenable to carbon capture and storage, solar thermochemical or photoelectrochemical approaches to water splitting, strategies that rely on biomass as a molecular feedstock, or hydrogen generation through radiation-assisted approaches to splitting water, methane, or other chemicals. Complementary approaches would enhance or develop methods for quantifying or modeling hydrogen emissions, such as those arising from geological hydrogen sources with applications targeting assessment of the viability of geological hydrogen as a hydrogen source. Relevant studies of hydrogen leaks could range from measuring fluxes from small scale fueling, transfer, and storage facilities up to leaks from a network of hydrogen production and storage facilities, pipelines, and other aspects anticipated as part of widespread hydrogen production.

Long Duration Storage Shot
The Long Duration Storage Shot™(LDSS) was announced on July 14, 2021, with an aim to achieve affordable grid storage for clean power—anytime, anywhere—by reducing the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% within the decade for systems that deliver 10+ hours of duration. While energy storage deployment for the grid has increased in recent years to support today’s level of renewable energy generation, long duration energy storage (LDES) technologies are needed as additional clean, but intermittent energy sources are deployed on the grid. The LDSS is designed to meet that need and considers all types of technologies that store energy for conversion back to electricity – including electrochemical, mechanical, thermal, chemical carriers, or any combination that has the potential to meet the necessary duration and cost targets for grid flexibility. To support a transformed energy grid powered by sources of clean energy, more diverse LDES technology options must be developed and deployed that have significant cost reduction potential, high materials availability and sustainability, sufficient performance, clear societal benefits, potential to support good-paying, high-quality jobs in the US, and in many cases flexible siting independent of geography.

Carbon Negative Shot
The Carbon Negative Shot™ calls for basic research on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to develop new technologies and/or refine existing approaches to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in stable forms at meaningful scales. These efforts seek to identify and resolve the basic science challenges that prohibit large scale carbon removal, sequestration, and storage mechanisms needed to assist in achieving a net-zero carbon economy. Progress towards this goal requires not only seeking alternatives to petroleum-based products but also active removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in prodigious quantities. Some common CDR approaches that may be pursued include Direct Air Capture (DAC) methods, geologic storage methods, soil sequestration, and/or biomineralization mechanisms, among others. Each approach presents significant challenges, where additional basic research could lead to more efficient methods of carbon dioxide removal at scale and associated measurement and modeling capabilities to verify the quantities removed.

Enhanced Geothermal Shot
Heat, water, and permeability (ability for fluid to flow through rock)—the principal elements needed to capture geothermal energy—can support cost-competitive rates of energy extraction when found together and in sufficient amounts. While heat exists everywhere on Earth, some locations lack adequate water and/or permeability to make it accessible. Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) can be created where there are hot rocks (temperatures > ~150°C), but where favorable amounts of permeability and/or water do not exist. Reservoirs are created by first drilling wells and then pumping water to create permeability, in a process called EGS reservoir stimulation. The new EGS reservoir then has the three principal elements necessary for water to be circulated continuously and be used for electricity production or direct use. While there are technically over five terawatts of geothermal energy potential in the United States, enough to meet the electricity needs of the entire world many times over, most is in areas accessible only via new humanmade geothermal reservoirs such as EGS.

Floating Offshore Wind Shot
Offshore wind is well-suited to provide clean energy to densely populated coastal regions, which have high energy demand but limited space for utility-scale land-based clean energy and transmission. However, about two-thirds of the United States’ offshore wind potential exists over bodies of water too deep for “fixed-bottom” wind turbine foundations that are secured to the sea floor. Harnessing power over waters hundreds to thousands of feet deep requires floating offshore wind technology—turbines mounted to a floating foundation or platform that is anchored to the seabed with mooring lines. These installations are among the largest rotating machines ever constructed. Innovations from basic scientific research are needed to increase the efficiency and resilience of floating offshore-wind technology and enable deployment in ever-more-punishing maritime environments. The Floating Offshore Wind Shot™ seeks to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by at least 70%, to $45 per megawatt-hour by 2035 for deep sites far from shore.

Industrial Heat Shot
Decarbonizing the U.S. industrial sector—defined here as the energy-consuming manufacturing sector that consists of all facilities and equipment used for producing, processing, or assembling goods—is a challenge due to the diversity of energy inputs and the wide array of industrial processes and operations that need to be considered. In 2020, the industrial sector accounted for 33% of the Nation’s primary energy use and 30% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Many industries use heat to transform materials into useful products including removing moisture, separating chemicals, treating metals, melting plastics, and much more. This industrial heat accounts for nearly half of the emissions in industry—8% of the entire U.S. emission footprint—and 90% of the heat produced is from burning fossil fuels.

Limit (Number of applicants permitted per institution): 
3
Sponsor Final Deadline: 
Apr 25, 2023
OSVPR Application or NOI Instructions: 

Internal Nomination Process:

Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: [Last name]_DE-FOA-0003003_2023) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:

1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):

  • Descriptive title of proposed activity
  • PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
  • Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
  • Names of other key personnel
  • Participating institution(s)
  • Number and title of this funding opportunity
  • Relevant Energy Earthshots (select one or more and list most relevant first): Hydrogen, Long Duration Storage, Carbon Negative, Enhanced Geothermal, Floating Offshore Wind, or Industrial Heat
  • Relevant Programs (select one or more and list most relevant first): ASCR, BES, BER

2. Project Description (no more than three pages, pdf) Figures and references, if included, must fit within the three-page limit.

  • A clear and concise description of the objectives and technical approach of the proposed research. Applicants should address how the proposed research connects to each of the Energy Earthshots identified on the cover page.

3. Estimated Budget (1 page)

4. 2-page CV's of Investigators

Formatting Guidelines:

Font/size: No smaller than 11 points
Document margins: 1.0” (top, bottom, left and right)
Standard paper size (8 ½” x 11)

To be considered as a Penn State institutional nominee, please submit a notice of intent by the date provided directly below.
This limited submission is in downselect: 
Penn State may only submit a specific number of proposals to this funding opportunity. The number of NOIs received require that an internal competition take place, thus, a downselect process has commenced. No Penn State researchers may apply to this opportunity outside of this downselect process. To apply for this limited submission, please use this link:
OSVPR Downselect Deadline: 
Thursday, April 6, 2023 - 4:00pm
For help or questions: 

Questions concerning the limited submissions process may be submitted to limitedsubs@psu.edu.

Notes: 
Christopher Arges (CoE); Parisa Shokouhi (CoE); Charles Anderson (ECoS)