DOE Announces $42.3 Million in Decarbonization Funding For American Manufacturing and New Industry Partnerships

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $42.3 million financing opportunity for the American manufacturing sector, as well as new pilot projects that would reduce carbon emissions across the economy and boost America's economic competitiveness. In 2019, the industrial sector accounted for 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and decarbonizing American companies is a critical step toward President Biden's objective of a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm stated, "Manufacturing is at the heart of the American economy, providing good-paying jobs and creating the products that we rely on in our everyday lives." "With these investments, the Department of Energy is helping reestablish U.S. manufacturing leadership while scaling up the technologies needed to reduce our collective carbon footprint and address climate change."

As part of its week-long "Future of Manufacturing" campaign, the Department of Energy is introducing two new initiatives:

DOE is presenting a $42.3 million funding opportunity to assist manufacturing breakthroughs for high-performance, sustainable energy technology to deliver economy-wide carbon emissions reductions, including:

• Manufacturing processes for the future that improve energy efficiency and lower the carbon footprint of energy-intensive industries. 

• Novel materials are being developed to improve the energy efficiency of industrial processes and the end products. 

• Improving energy storage, conversion, and consumption technologies and processes, including lithium-ion battery production, to assist electric vehicles.

DOE has selected five private-sector partners to receive roughly USD 300,000 in DOE technical assistance to evaluate clean, efficient technology in real-world industrial situations. These Industrial Technology Validation programs will hasten the implementation of low-cost, developing technologies that can aid in the industrial sector's decarbonization. The Department of Energy will pay for professionals from the U.S. National Laboratories to establish measurement and verification plans, conduct on-site testing, and prepare field validation reports. These reports will be made publicly available to inform future energy-saving innovations. The selected testbeds will evaluate energy and water-treatment technologies in facilities operated by the following DOE Better Plants partners: Ahlstrom-Munksjo (Kaukauna, WI), Cleveland Cliffs (Cleveland, OH), Nissan North America (Canton, MS), Schneider Electric (Seneca, SC), Toyota North America (Blue Spring, MS).

The new efforts announced this week total around $130 million in support for solutions that will lower the nation's carbon impact.

DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office, which is part of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), will lead these projects. DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office invests in manufacturers, not-for-profit organizations, research organizations, and institutions of higher education to identify challenges, catalyze innovations, and develop cutting-edge material, process, and information technologies needed for an efficient economy.

The mission of the EERE is to accelerate the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of technologies and solutions to equitably transition America to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050 and to ensure that the clean energy economy benefits all Americans by creating good-paying jobs for all Americans—particularly workers and communities impacted by the energy transition.

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