Blog Posts
DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy was established in 2009 to explore high-impact technologies that are too risky for the private sector. REPAIR (Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement) is a 3-year, $38 million program with ambitious goals for natural gas distribution pipes. The program seeks new technologies to rehabilitate the pipes, extending their life by 50 years, with minimal surface disruption while the pipes are live, and with a cost less than $1 million per mile.

Blog Posts
ARPA-E has kicked off a 3-year, $38M research program called REPAIR (Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement) to rehabilitate cast iron, wrought iron, and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes. The goal of the program is to use robots to create a new pipe inside the old pipe. For the program to be successful, the new pipe must meet utilities and regulatory agencies’ requirements, have a minimum life of 50 years, and possess sufficient material properties to operate throughout its service life without relying on the exterior pipe.

Blog Posts
For an agency mandated to look to the future – often far into the future – please allow a quick glance into this year so far.  Since the beginning of our fiscal year the agency which you know so well has continued to do what it does in extraordinary fashion – raise the bar through the efforts of all.  In this time, we have launched new programs, made changes in our recruiting and contracting approaches, had a number of successes in follow-on-funding and employed new approach to how we help tech move to market. 

Press Releases
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $33 million in funding for 10 projects as part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement (REPAIR) program. REPAIR teams will develop natural gas transmission pipeline retrofitting technology to rehabilitate existing cast iron and bare steel pipes by creating new, robust pipes inside of old ones.

Press Releases
The Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $38.5 million in funding for a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, Rapid Encapsulation of Pipelines Avoiding Intensive Replacement (REPAIR). The program will sponsor new technologies to rehabilitate cast iron and bare steel natural gas distribution pipes by creating a new pipe inside the old pipe.

Blog Posts
We recently sat down with Dr. Lewnard to discuss his background in natural gas technology development and commercialization, his career working at various stages of the R&D process, and what he’s looking to work on as a Program Director at ARPA-E.