ARPA-E is the Department of Energy’s high-risk, high-potential early-stage R&D agency. ARPA-E’s mission is to help disruptive, impactful energy technologies reach proof-of-concept. At that point, other funding sources get involved to help bring these technologies to market. These sources can include private funding, government agencies, and other aspects of the DOE enterprise. On September 22, the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) announced that ARPA-E awardees Echogen, Smartville, Urban Electric Power and Form Energy were four out of nine awardees…

On August 17, 2023, Yard Stick PBC announced $10.6 million raised in Series A funding for their low-cost, in situ soil carbon measurement technology in a round led by Toyota Ventures Climate Fund with participation from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Lowercarbon Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Pillar VC, and others. Their Series A round brings Yard Stick’s total venture capital funding to over $16 million. Yard Stick will use this funding to expand commercial deployment of its soil carbon measurement services. This follows a previous $16 million in…

Alaska is an energy powerhouse—home to a wide variety of inspiring energy innovations. As Senator Lisa Murkowski said at the 2023 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit, Alaska is the perfect testing ground for any energy technology solution under the sun. Simply put, Alaska is the perfect place for innovation. ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang and other members of the ARPA-E team recently visited the state to see a variety of ARPA-E-funded projects working to support America’s decarbonization goals, increase access to sustainable energy, and strengthen the economy. First, Director Wang traveled…

On July 18, 2023, Chairman Brandon Williams of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Bipartisan Policy Center, and ClearPath hosted the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Showcase on the Hill in the Rayburn House Office Building. Six ARPA-E project teams displayed their technology for Members of Congress, House and Senate staff, energy innovation leaders, members of the business community, and more. ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang and Members of Congress addressed the audience and highlighted the importance of energy R&D. ARPA-E performers…

Every year, ARPA-E’s Summer Scholars have the unique opportunity to interface with ARPA-E Program Directors, Technology-to-Market (T2M) advisors, and Fellows working on the nation’s foremost energy challenges. Summer Scholars participate in a whole host of activities and take on various responsibilities during their time at ARPA-E. The goal of their work is to assist the team in defining commercialization pathways for high-risk, high-impact technologies to help those technologies achieve maximum impact and return on investment. Learn more below about our 2023 Summer Scholars below:…

In mid-July, ARPA-E hosted Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in Washington D.C. The two innovation agencies engaged in a day-long workshop to explore areas of potential collaboration. ARPA-E and NEDO have a long-standing relationship. The organizations strengthen their partnership through meetings like this workshop, visits to review each other’s work, and NEDO’s regular participation in the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit. ARPA-E Director Dr. Evelyn N. Wang and Dr. Kikuo Kishimoto, Executive Director for NEDO’s Technology Strategy Center,…

If you spend your days thinking about the 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions that are associated with boiling water to create the steam used for things like industrial power, the enormity of addressing that challenge might just make you want to grab a cold one. And if you’re on the team at AtmosZero, your beverage of choice can be found just down the road at the New Belgium Brewing facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. Earlier this week, ARPA-E awardee AtmosZero announced a partnership with Danish manufacturing outfit Danfoss to introduce a 650-kilowatt thermal electrified boiler at…

Dr. James Seaba currently serves as a program director for ARPA-E. His focus at ARPA-E is on the economically driven conversion of renewable energy to sustainable products and commodities. Tell us about your background and what brought you to ARPA-E. I’ve spent 33 years in energy-related research and development functions in both academic and industry environments. I’ve worked in the aerospace, automotive, oil and gas industries. The common thread throughout my career is developing energy technologies that are economically driven and address a major problem. I focused the last 20 years…

NEXTCAR was originally launched in 2016 to explore the development of technologies using connectivity and automation features found in high-end vehicles (e.g., adaptive cruise control) to reduce energy consumption of on-road, surface transportation. Since then, these technologies, along with the automotive market as a whole, have evolved with a greater appreciation for their potential in contributing to the decarbonization of transportation-related emissions. During the original NEXTCAR Program, eleven teams developed and tested their technologies on a wide variety of vehicle (light-,…

ARPA-E recently announced the much-anticipated third round of its SCALEUP program. SCALEUP is designed to competitively select and support the commercial “scale up” of promising technologies from ARPA-E’s portfolio of projects, past and present. With the recent announcement of SCALEUP 2023, ARPA-E is building upon the success of the two prior SCALEUP programs launched in 2019 and 2021. SCALEUP Overview Through extensive interaction with stakeholders and performers, ARPA-E realized there was a need to further support technologies from earlier programs to help them fill a critical…