Open Funding Solicitation
Program Description:
Innovation Need:
ARPA-E is the first government agency focused exclusively on funding high-risk, high-reward energy technologies. It selects all projects based on their impact on the agency’s mission to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy imports, cut energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency across all sectors of the U.S. economy, and maintain U.S. leadership in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. The projects chosen for ARPA-E’s inaugural program were eventually grouped into 10 diverse technology areas: biomass energy, building efficiency, carbon capture, conventional energy, direct solar fuels, energy storage, renewable power, vehicle technologies, waste-heat capture, and water. Many of ARPA-E’s first projects helped shape future agency programs dedicated to these technology areas.
Potential Impact:
If successful, the game-changing projects from the first open solicitation would help ARPA-E achieve its mission and ensure the U.S. maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.
Security:
Increased access to and use of domestically produced renewable energy would help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and increase our nation’s energy security.
Environment:
Developing new and renewable sources of energy would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels that create harmful greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to global warming.
Economy:
Cheaper sources of energy would help the millions of American consumers and small business owners who can’t afford the energy they need to live and work.
Contact
Project Listing
• Agrivida - Engineering Enzymes in Energy Crops
• Algaeventure Systems (AVS) - Fuel from Algae
• Arizona State University (ASU) - Turning Bacteria into Fuel
• Arizona State University (ASU) - Metal-Air Electric Vehicle Battery
• Bio Architecture Lab - Macroalgae Butanol
• Ceres - Improving Biomass Yields
• Delphi Automotive Systems - More Efficient Power Conversion for EVs
• EaglePicher Technologies - Sodium-Beta Batteries for Grid-Scale Storage
• Envia Systems - Long-Range Electric Vehicle Batteries
• Exelus - High-Octane Fuel from Refinery Exhaust Gas
• FastCAP Systems - High Energy Density Ultracapacitors
• FloDesign Wind Turbine - Mixer-Ejector Wind Turbine
• Foro Energy - Laser-Mechanical Drilling for Geothermal Energy
• General Electric (GE) Global Research - Nanocomposite Magnets
• General Motors (GM) - Waste Heat Recovery System
• Inorganic Specialists - Long-Range Li-Ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles
• Iowa State University (ISU) - Optimized Breeding of Microalgae for Biofuels
• ITN Energy Systems - Electrochromic Film for More Efficient Windows
• Kohana Technologies - Dynamically Adjustable Wind Turbine Blades
• Lehigh University - CO2 Capture Using Electric Fields
• Makani Power - Airborne Wind Turbine
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Electroville: Grid-Scale Batteries
• Michigan State University (MSU) - Shockwave Engine
• Nalco - Using Enzymes to Capture CO2 in Smokestacks
• NanOasis Technologies - Use of Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Reverse Osmosis
• Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) - Solar Conversion of CO2 and Water Vapor to Hydrocarbon Fuels
• Phononic Devices - Improved Thermoelectric Devices
• Porifera - Carbon Nanotube Membranes
• Research Triangle Institute (RTI) - Biofuels from Pyrolysis
• Soraa - Ammonothermal Growth of GaN Substrates for LEDs
• Stanford University - Behavioral Initiatives for Energy Efficiency
• Sun Catalytix - Energy from Water and Sunlight
• Teledyne Scientific & Imaging - Efficient Solar Concentrators
• The Ohio State University - Syngas into Fuel
• United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) - Using Synthetic Enzymes for Carbon Capture
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Cost-Effective Solar Thermal Energy Storage
• University of Delaware (UD) - Affordable Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
• University of Delaware (UD) - High-Energy Composite Permanent Magnets
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) - Silicon-Based Thermoelectrics
• University of Minnesota (UMN) - Biofuel from Bacteria and Sunlight