DOE’s Energy Earthshots Initiative Calls for Innovation and Collaboration to Tackle the Toughest Barriers to Deploying Emerging Clean Energy Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $200 million for Energy Earthshot Research Centers (EERCs). This funding, provided by the Office of Science, will support fundamental research to accelerate breakthroughs in support of the Energy Earthshots Initiative.

“The Energy Earthshots cover the gamut of what we need to do, now, to tackle the climate crisis. The sense of urgency is extreme, and DOE knows this, and we are ambitiously moving forward,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, DOE’s Director of the Office of Science. “These efforts seek to revolutionize many sectors across the U.S. and will rely heavily on fundamental, basic science, and innovative technology to be successful.”

The Energy Earthshots drive integrated program development and execution across the DOE's basic science and energy technology offices. They are part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to provide science and technology innovations that address the tough technological challenges required to achieve our climate and economic competitiveness goals. The Energy Earthshots will accelerate breakthroughs towards more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions.

Six Energy Earthshots have been announced so far: Hydrogen Shot™, Long Duration Storage Shot™, Carbon Negative Shot™, Enhanced Geothermal Shot™, Floating Offshore Wind Shot™, and Industrial Heat Shot™.

The EERCs supported by this funding opportunity will bring together multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary teams to address key basic research challenges for the six Energy Earthshots, with each application and award focused on one of the Energy Earthshots. The scientific knowledge gained should impact research and development efforts currently of interest to the Department’s energy technology offices.

Applications are open to the DOE national laboratories. Partnerships with other institutions, including academia, other national laboratories, not-for-profit organizations, or industry, are strongly encouraged. To strengthen the commitment to promoting a diversity of investigators and institutions supported by the DOE Office of Science, applications are explicitly encouraged that involve Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Total combined planned funding is up to $200 million over four years, with $50 million in Fiscal Year 2023 dollars and outyear funding contingent on congressional appropriations.  The funding anticipated for each award in this program is $3M to $5M per year.  The program announcement, sponsored by the research programs within the Department’s Office of Science, can be found here.