ARPA-E
| Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy | |
|---|---|
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| Abbreviation | ARPA-E |
| Formation | 2009 |
| Type | Governmental organization |
| Parent organization | US Department of Energy |
| Website | www.arpa-e.energy.gov |
ARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is a United States government agency to promote and fund research and development of advanced energy technologies. It is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
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[edit] History
ARPA-E was created by the America COMPETES Act within the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in 2007, though without a budget. The initial budget of about $400 million was a part of the economic stimulus bill of February 2009.[1]
Like DARPA does for military technology, ARPA-E is intended to fund high-risk, high-reward research that might not otherwise be pursued because there is a relatively high risk of failure.[2] Like DARPA, it is intended to fund projects involving government labs, private industry, and universities. ARPA-E has four objectives: (1) To bring a freshness, excitement, and sense of mission to energy research that will attract the U.S.'s best and brightest minds; (2) To focus on creative, transformation energy research that the industry cannot, or will not. support due to its high risk, but that has high reward potential; (3) To utilize an ARPA-like organization that is flat, nimble, and sparse, capable of sustaining for long periods of time those projects whose promise remains real, while phasing out programs that do not prove to be as promising as anticipated; and (4) To create a new tool to bridge the gap between basic energy research and development/industrial innovation.[2]
[edit] ARPA-E and EERE
ARPA-E was created to fund energy technology projects that translate scientific discoveries and cutting-edge inventions into technological innovations, and accelerate technological advances in high-risk areas that industry is not likely to pursue independently. It does not fund minimal improvements to existing technologies; such technology is supported through existing DOE programs, such as those of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).[3]
[edit] Launch
President Barack Obama announced the launch of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) on April 27, 2009 as part of an announcement about federal investment in research and development and science education. The first Funding Opportunity Announcement for the new agency offered $151 million, with individual awards ranging from $500,000 to $9 million. Applicants submitted only eight-page "concept papers" that outlined the technical concept; some were invited to submit full applications.[3]
Arun Majumdar, former deputy director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was appointed the first director of ARPA-E in September 2009, over six months after the organization was first funded.[4] U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu presided over the inaugural "ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit" on March 1–3, 2010 in Washington, D.C..[5] The third annual Energy Innovation Summit is scheduled to take place on February 27–29, 2012.
[edit] Funding and awards
DOE awarded $151 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds on October 26, 2009 for 37 energy research projects under the ARPA-E. Around 3,700 concept papers were submitted to the first funding opportunity and this first round of grants went to researchers and inventors in 17 states. It supported renewable energy technologies for solar cells, wind turbines, geothermal drilling, biofuels, and biomass energy crops. The grants also supported energy efficiency technologies, including power electronics and engine-generators for advanced vehicles, devices for waste heat recovery, smart glass and control systems for smart buildings, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), reverse-osmosis membranes for water desalination, catalysts to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, improved fuel cell membranes, and more energy-dense magnetic materials for electronic components. Six grants went to energy storage technologies, including an ultracapacitor, improved lithium-ion batteries, metal-air batteries that use ionic liquids, liquid sodium batteries, and liquid metal batteries.[6][7][8]
Some specific examples of ARPA-E grants include a large-scale liquid metal battery, under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based on low-cost, domestically available liquid metals, the battery could lead to large-scale energy storage as part of the nation's energy grid. At the University of Minnesota, researchers have developed a bioreactor that has the potential to produce gasoline directly from sunlight and carbon dioxide, using a symbiotic system of two organisms. Momentive Performance Materials was funded to investigate crystal growth technology to lower the cost of light emitting diodes.[6][7][8]
[edit] FOA 2
A second set of ARPA-E funding opportunities was announced on September 10, 2009. DOE selected six energy research and development projects to receive a total of $9.6 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The selections, made by DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), include a dehumidifier based on a nano-structured solid polymer that is permeable to moisture but impermeable to air; next-generation permanent magnets with a lower content of critical rare earths, to increase the efficiency and power density of electric machines; an airborne wind turbine, consisting of a high-performance wing that carries a turbine and is tethered to the ground; a dynamic liquid prism that can be adjusted using an applied electric field, allowing concentrated photovoltaic systems to track the sun without the use of mechanical systems; and a thermal energy storage system for concentrating solar power systems that uses supercritical fluids to potentially store twice the energy of an equivalent-size molten-salt system.[9] A $4 million grant to 1366 Technologies helped develop solar cells that can be cast into molds directly from molten silicon, cutting costs significantly as compared to traditional methods in which wafers are sawed off a large ingot.[10]
[edit] See also
- America COMPETES Act
- IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency
[edit] References
- ^ George Leopold. "Stimulus: Energy Department scrambles to build new R&D agency". EE Times. http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4081448/Stimulus-Energy-Department-scrambles-to-build-new-R-D-agency. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "About ARPA-E". ARPA-E. http://arpa-e.energy.gov/About/Team.aspx.
- ^ a b "DOE Launches the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E". EERE news. April 29, 2009. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12478. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ "White House nominates Berkeley Lab’s Majumdar to head key DOE agency". Berkeley Lab News Center. September 18, 2009. http://newscenter.lbl.gov/press-releases/2009/09/18/arpa-e-nomination/. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ "Department of Energy Announces Inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit". EERE news. January 7, 2010. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=282. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "Bold, Transformational Energy Research Projects Win $151 Million in Funding". EERE news. October 26, 2009. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=258. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "Secretary Chu Announcement of $151 Million in ARPA-E Grants". October 26, 2009. http://energy.gov/articles/secretary-chu-announcement-151-million-arpa-e-grants. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ a b "ARPA-E Project Selections". October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100527161846/http://www.energy.gov/news2009/documents2009/ARPA-E_Project_Selections.pdf. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ "DOE Awards $9.6 Million for Transformational Energy Research Projects". EERE news. September 15, 2010. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=16323. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
- ^ Wald, Matthew L. "A Cheaper Route to Solar Cells", The New York Times, October 19, 2010. Accessed October 19, 2010.
[edit] External links
- "Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy". official web site. http://www.arpa-e.energy.gov/.
- $400 Million For Off the Wall Energy Ideas
- DOE Launches the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy; Creates 46 New Energy Frontier Research Centers (Renewable Energy World)
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