Courtesy : www.energy.gov

Clean energy research

Through the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy offices and programs have increased funding for manufacturing research and development (R&D) across the board with the goal of growing the clean energy manufacturing industry in the United States.

• The Advanced Manufacturing Office’s R&D projects explore energy-efficient, innovative processes and advanced energy technologies that benefit a wide range of manufacturing industries in areas such as next generation electric machines, materials, and combined heat and power. The office is leading the establishment of DOE’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation institutes, which through the work of their 200+ partners, have already resulted in market changing innovations. 
   
• SunShot’s Solar Manufacturing Technology program, SolarMat, funds the development of manufacturing technologies that can achieve a significant market impact in one to four years. SolarMat also supports the creation of U.S. manufacturing jobs through R&D partners’ innovation-driven growth, like that of Suniva and SolarWorld. SolarMat supports innovation in manufacturing to ensure U.S.-developed technologies can capture a larger portion of the global value in solar manufacturing, currently estimated to be $120 billion worldwide. 
   
• The Wind Program supports wind technology industry and research partnership R&D projects to promote advanced manufacturing capabilities that integrate new designs, materials, and processes into manufacturing facilities. The program also supports R&D projects, like the SparBlade project, to overcome infrastructure and logistics constraints to make wind turbines a more affordable source of renewable energy for communities around the country. 
   
• The Vehicle Technologies Office collaborates with industry to develop and deploy advanced vehicle technologies, including advanced combustion engines, batteries, lightweight materials, and electric drive vehicles, enabling vehicle manufacturers to adopt new, efficient technologies like General Motors’ lightweight composite technology. DOE R&D has reduced the modeled, high-volume cost of advanced battery technology to $289 per kilowatt hour—40 percent lower than what it was in 2012.
   
• The Fuel Cell Technologies Office supports manufacturing R&D activities to improve processes and reduce the cost of components and systems for hydrogen production, delivery, and storage over the range of fuel cell application areas. The office also supports the adoption of this alternative fuel source in U.S. manufacturing facilities through innovative applications that decrease manufacturers’ costs, such as by converting bio-methane gas into hydrogen to run a BMW plant’s fuel cell-powered forklift fleet. 
   
• The Solid-Sate Lighting (SSL) Program’s manufacturing R&D projects seek to reduce costs and enhance quality in SSL products by addressing technical challenges. The program’s focus on significant leaps forward in manufacturing equipment, processes, and monitoring techniques, and on fostering U.S. leadership in SSL manufacturing has already led to rapid improvements in LED efficiency and manufacturing costs like in Philips Lumileds’ LUX which have spurred an unprecedented transformation in the market.
   
• The Office of Nuclear Energy’s Advanced Methods for Manufacturing subprogram accelerates innovations that reduce the cost and schedule of constructing new nuclear plants and improve nuclear power plant component fabrication. Other Office of Nuclear Energy R&D in reactor technologies, materials, and used fuel focus on opportunities that provide simplified, standardized, and labor-saving outcomes for manufacturing in the nuclear industry.
   
• The Office of Fossil Energy’s R&D helps the United States, including U.S. manufacturers, meet its continually growing need for secure, reasonably priced and environmentally sound fossil energy supplies. Its Advanced Natural Gas Systems Manufacturing Initiative’s R&D is helping U.S. manufacturers take advantage of this lower-priced fuel by modernizing the nation¹s natural gas transmission and distribution systems and improving natural gas system efficiency.