Dive Brief:
- The Department of Energy is offering $33 million to fund smart manufacturing technologies that can boost the clean energy transition, the Biden administration announced earlier this month.
- The money will go towards smart manufacturing related to four key focus areas: circular supply chains, tooling and equipment for sustainable transportation, high performance materials such as high conductivity components like nickel and copper and sustainable mining.
- Concept papers for the funding are due Aug. 22, and complete applications are due Nov. 18. The agency expects to begin awarding applicants next spring.
Dive Insight:
The funding, overseen by the DOE's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, is part of the Biden administration's push to boost high-tech manufacturing in the clean energy sector.
One aspect of this work has been advancing developments in the circular supply chain, which aims to create a closed loop system that produces less waste.
The DOE wants to use this funding to develop better identification and sorting mechanisms for materials that can be recycled for new products, as well as enhance "interoperable and open supply chains" to help repair or remanufacture goods not initially intended for reuse or repurpose.
The agency has been putting an increased focus on circularity as a way to boost clean energy. Last November, it launched a competition to award $4.5 million in cash prizes to teams that develop innovative ways to extend products' lifetimes. In June, it gave out its first awards to 20 teams, each winning $50,000 for their innovations that boost reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing or repurposing supply chains.
The $33 million in funding also aims to boost sustainable tooling and equipment for transportation-related manufacturing. The focus fits well into the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, guided by its National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization.
Created in 2022, the blueprint aims to fully cut emissions from the sector by 2050, led by coordinated efforts among the departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Over the past 18 months, the agency has announced $700 million in funding for clean energy manufacturing and to reduce industrial emissions. This is on top of the $6 billion the agency rolled out in March 2023 to accelerate decarbonization projects in the country’s top polluting manufacturing sectors.
