ARPA-E Announces 23 New Projects to Integrate AI into Energy Tech Development
ARPA-E announced $15 million in funding for 23 projects to accelerate the incorporation of machine learning and artificial intelligence into the energy technology and product design processes as part of the Design Intelligence Fostering Formidable Energy Reduction (and) Enabling Novel Totally Impactful Advanced Technology Enhancements (DIFFERENTIATE) program.
Launched in April of this year, the DIFFERENTIATE program aims to develop streamlined solutions to next-generation energy challenges. The program identified three general mathematical optimization problems that are common to many design processes. The selected projects then conceptualized machine learning and artificial intelligence-based solutions to help engineers execute and solve these problems in a manner that dramatically accelerates the pace of energy innovation.
The full list of selected projects can be viewed here. A summary of the DIFFERENTIATE program can be found here.
We're not saying we're the Avengers, but...
In the 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, it takes genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark as long to perfect time travel as it takes most people to mow their lawn. Critical to his success is his Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant, which is able to almost instantly turn his offhand musings into workable, visually pleasing solutions.
While a time heist isn’t on ARPA-E’s agenda, we are excited to announce the project selections for our first AI/machine learning-focused program: Design Intelligence Fostering Formidable Energy Reduction (and) Enabling Novel Totally Impactful Advanced Technology Enhancements (DIFFERENTIATE). Read more on the ARPA-E Blog.
ARPA-E Announces New Funding Opportunity to Develop Carbon Capture and Storage Technology
ARPA-E announced up to $43 million in funding to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that enable power generators to be responsive to grid conditions in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) penetration environment.
The FLExible Carbon Capture and Storage (FLECCS) program seeks to develop technologies that address difficulties in decarbonization of electricity systems, focusing specifically on complications in CCS design, operations, and commercialization potential with the increasing penetration of high VRE sources such as wind and solar power. FLECCS projects will develop retrofits to existing power generators as well as novel systems with carbon-containing fuel input and electricity output.
To learn more about ARPA-E’s FLECCS program, click here. The deadline to submit a full application for FLECCS is 9:30 a.m. ET on December 23, 2019. Additional information, including the full FOA and how to find project teaming partners, is available on ARPA-E’s online application portal, ARPA-E eXCHANGE.
ARPA-E Announces New Funding Opportunity to Support Lower-Cost Fusion Energy Concepts
ARPA-E announced up to $30 million in funding for a new program, Breakthroughs Enabling THermonuclear-fusion Energy (BETHE). BETHE projects will support the development of timely, commercially viable fusion energy, aiming to increase the number and performance levels of lower-cost fusion concepts.
Controlled fusion has long been viewed as an ideal energy source, given its potential for the generation of energy that is safe, clean and abundant, but the technology’s development has been hindered by technical challenges and costs. The BETHE program seeks to address these challenges through a focus on increasing the number and performance levels of lower-cost fusion in three research areas: A) new, lower-cost concept development; B) component technology development to lower the cost of more-mature fusion concepts; and C) improvements to and application of existing fusion R&D capabilities to accelerate the development of multiple concepts.
To learn more about ARPA-E’s BETHE program, click here. The deadline to submit a full application for BETHE is 9:30 a.m. ET on January 14, 2020. Additional information, including the full FOA and how to find project teaming partners, is available on ARPA-E’s online application portal, ARPA-E eXCHANGE.
Leaves are Falling (And So Are Temperatures) - Staying Warm with ARPA-E
The change in seasons doesn’t just mean switching from lemonade and iced tea to warm cider and hot coco, it’s also time to change your HVAC usage from air-conditioning to heat. Recent estimates by DOE’s Energy Information Administration on residential electricity consumption put space heating at 15% of all residential electricity consumption, so we at ARPA-E know that there’s a great opportunity here not only to advance technologies that keep you warm and comfortable, but also to improve efficiency and lower heating costs for all Americans. Read more about some of the exciting programs and projects that ARPA-E has supported over the last decade aimed at keeping you warm at home and in the workplace on the ARPA-E blog.
Upcoming Dates & Deadlines
Additional information is available on ARPA-E’s online application portal, ARPA-E eXCHANGE.
Electricity System Models for Carbon Capture Resources Deadline: 9:30 a.m. ET 1/22/2020
See Targeted Topics Table in the FOA for the latest topics and their corresponding application due dates as they are announced.
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Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
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