BEETIT Highlights

As Dr. Atkinson’s term as an ARPA-E Program Director comes to a close, we sat down with him to reflect on his ARPA-E experience, the NEXTCAR program and the future of powertrain technologies, and what’s next for him.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is one of the largest consumers of energy in the world—accounting for 1% of U.S. energy consumption. Given this impressive demand, the department actively pursues energy technologies to make the way it trains, moves and sustains U.S. forces more energy efficient and resilient

AN ADVANCED COOLER WITH BENIGN REFRIGERANTS UPDATED: JUNE 6, 2016 PROJECT TITLE: Free-Piston Zero Emissions Refrigeration (FREEZER™) PROGRAM: Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEETIT) AWARD: $3,000,617 PROJECT TEAM: Infinia Technology Corporation (ITC) PROJECT TERM: September 2010 to March 2016 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI): Mr. Barry Penswick

At ARPA-E, we’re committed to identifying and advancing transformational technologies that can fundamentally change the way we generate, store, and use energy. We focus on guiding a broad portfolio of early-stage energy technologies on a path toward the marketplace. Our wide-ranging portfolio demands that we engage a diverse group of potential customers – from vehicle manufacturers and electric utilities to semiconductor manufacturers and the U.S. military. 

ARPA-E Acting Director Dr. Cheryl Martin recently visited CNES to tour the lab and experience firsthand the types of game-changing technologies it’s producing—technologies that could create a more secure, affordable, and sustainable American future.

ARPA-E sat down with Pete McGrail, Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), to talk about PNNL’s adsorption chiller work and how a more efficient air conditioner that could help the U.S. military cut its fuel costs.

A program funded by the Department of Defense (DoD) in partnership with the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) is advancing the development of technologies that will help keep troops cool, while reducing the military’s current need for fuel.

At the inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit today, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase America’s competitiveness and create new jobs.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced 43 cutting-edge research projects that aim to dramatically improve how the U.S. uses and produces energy.

The objectives of this workshop were to gain a deeper understanding of those areas and technologies that have the highest potential to meet DOE's goal of developing the technical foundations necessary to enable massive reductions in energy consumption in buildings.