EFRC Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs)

The Energy Frontier Research Centers

The EFRCs are 46 Centers established at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms across the nation that are funded by the DoE and the Office of Basic Energy Science (BES) to accelerate the rate of scientific breakthroughs needed to create advanced energy technologies for the 21st century. The EFRCs will pursue the fundamental understanding necessary to meet the global need for abundant, clean, and economical energy.

In this section we present some raw notes as part of the background research for the EFRC Final Paper. This section also includes interview notes from an interview conducted by email with a DOE representative. Check the final EFRC Final Paper for complete list of resources and bibliography.

1. Goals that the DoE/BES hopes to attain with EFRCs grants

Background:
Source: U.S. Department of Energy Funding Opportunity Anouncement (FOA).

"Context - The 21st century brings with it staggering challenges for advanced energy technology. Limited supplies of traditional fossil energy resources and a clear consensus on the negative global effects of traditional fossil fuel utilization demand the discovery of transformative energy technologies for the development and effective utilization of new energy sources that are abundant, clean, and economical. Incremental advances in current energy technologies will not fully address the energy challenges of the 21st century. History has demonstrated that radically new technologies arise from disruptive advances at the frontiers of scientific thought. The incredible development of information technology of the 20th century provides the most recent example. What might a vision of 21st century energy technology look like? Imagine a virtually unlimited supply of electrical power from solar-energy systems, modeled on the photosynthetic processes utilized by green plants, and power lines that could transmit this electricity from the deserts of the southwest to the Eastern Seaboard at nearly 100 percent efficiency. This is but one of many visions of a new energy future that can only come from continuing to push the frontiers of science."

Establishing the Energy Research Directions: The Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program supports fundamental research in focused areas of the natural sciences in order to expand the scientific foundations for new and improved energy technologies and for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of energy use. BES has long invested in innovative basic research aimed to achieve this mission through its core research areas. In 2001, the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) conducted a far reaching study to assess the scope of fundamental scientific research that must be considered to address the DOE missions in energy efficiency, renewable energy resources, improved use of fossil fuels, safe and publicly acceptable nuclear energy, future energy sources, and reduced environmental impacts of energy production and use.

The scientific community responded to this BESAC study with enthusiasm through participation in a week-long workshop, whose results were published in early 2003 in the report, Basic Research Needs to Assure a Secure Energy Future. That report inspired a series of ten follow-on “Basic Research Needs” workshops over the next five years, which together attracted more than 1,500 participants from universities, industry, and DOE laboratories. The full reports from these 11 workshops can be found at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html"

The BES-sponsored workshops reports resulting from The “Basic Research Needs” Workshop Series were:

1. Basic Research Needs To Assure A Secure Energy Future This workshop assessed the basic research needs for energy technologies to assure a reliable, economic, and environmentally sound energy supply for the future.
2. Basic Research Needs for the Hydrogen Economy The BES Workshop on Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Use examined the current state of the art in each of these areas, analyzed issues blocking rapid development of the hydrogen economy, and identified high-priority fundamental research directions to address these challenges.
3. Basic Research Needs for Solar Energy Utilization Sunlight is a compelling solution to the need for clean and abundant sources of energy in a world where demand for energy is projected to more than double by 2050 and to more than triple by the end of the century. However, there is a huge gap between our present use of solar energy and its enormous undeveloped potential. This defines a grand challenge in energy research.
4. Basic Research Needs for Superconductivity The challenge facing the electricity grid to provide abundant, reliable power will soon grow to crisis proportions. Revolutionary new power transmission and control solutions based on superconductors can solve this by increasing the grid’s capacity, efficiency, stability and reliability as they are uniquely capable of carrying current without loss, mediating overcurrents intrinsically while providing instantaneous power regulation.
5. Basic Research Needs for Solid-State Lighting Solid state lighting (SSL) modalities present an opportunity to achieve tremendous savings in energy efficiency.
6. Basic Research Needs for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems The workshop identified new, emerging, and scientifically challenging areas in materials and chemical sciences that have the potential for significant impact on advanced nuclear energy systems.
7. Basic Research Needs for Clean and Efficient Combustion of 21st Century Transportation Fuels This workshop was charged with exploring basic research needs in the areas of gas-phase chemistry, combustion diagnostics, and combustion simulation that will enable the use of transportation fuels derived from non-traditional sources (oil shale, tar sands, coal, biomass) in a manner that optimizes engine efficiency and minimizes pollutant formation.
8. Basic Research Needs for Geosciences Facilitating 21st Century Energy Systems. This report describes the scientific challenges associated with underground storage options for carbon dioxide and radioactive waste.
9. Basic Research Needs for Electrical Energy Storage Dramatic improvements in electrical energy storage (EES) systems are required for the effective use of intermittent, renewable energy sources and to progress from today’s hybrid electric vehicles to plug-in hybrids or all-electric vehicles.
10. Basic Research Needs for Materials under Extreme Environments Future energy technologies will place increasing demands on materials performance with respect to extremes in stress, strain, temperature, pressure, chemical reactivity, photon or radiation flux, and electric or magnetic fields.
11. Basic Research Needs: Catalysis for Energy The workshop examined basic research needs to maximize the potential for new catalytic discoveries in three specific areas according to source: bio- derived chemicals, heavy fossil-derived chemicals, and end-product (such as carbon dioxide and water) reconversion.

Outcome

1. The New Era of Science Together, these workshop reports highlighted the remarkable scientific journey that has taken place during the past few decades. The resulting scientific challenges, which no longer were discussed in terms of traditional scientific disciplines, described a new era of science - an era in which materials functionalities are designed to specifications and chemical transformations are manipulated at will.
2. The Science Grand Challenges This goal to direct and control matter at the quantum, atomic, and molecular levels requires a change in our fundamental understanding of how nature works.

To implement the collective scientific recommendations of these 12 reports and to stimulate frontier energy research in a new era of science, the Office of Basic Energy Sciences sought applications for the establishment of Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). EFRCs bring together the skills and talents of multiple investigators to enable fundamental research of a scope and complexity that would not be possible with the standard individual investigator or small group research project. As such, the EFRCs will strengthen and complement the existing portfolio of the single Principal Investigator and small group research projects currently supported within BES core research areas. The EFRC awards are in the $2-5 million range annually for the initial five-year project period. It is anticipated that approximately $100 million will be available annually for multiple EFRC awards.

EFRCs grants period

The EFRCs are funded at $2-5 million per year each for a planned initial five-year period. The grants are renewable for a second 5 year period.

Number of centers that applied

A pool of some 260 applications was received in response to a solicitation issued in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science.

Selection Criteria

See the information above along with the following selection guidelines taken from the above mentioned DoE FOA: All types of domestic entities, including DOE/NNSA National Laboratory contractors, are eligible to apply as prime awardees. Eligible entities are defined in Section 989 of EPAct 2005. In accordance with Section 989 of EPAct 2005, this competition is not open to other Federal agencies and their Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) contractors. Nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995 are not eligible to apply.

Coordination strategy among EFRCs

Dr. Robin Hayes noted: "The 46 EFRCs are actively managed by a team of program managers in the Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Some activities include monthly phone conferences with subgroups of EFRC directors, periodic Director’s meetings, and a scientific forum." and "Several of the centers are already holding joint meetings and summer schools. We anticipate more of these collaborative efforts will arise as the centers mature."

Governance of Knowledge Outputs

Dr. Robin Hayes at the DoE's Office of Basic Energy Science noted that "Results are expected to be documented in the open scientific literature via publications in peer-reviewed archival journals and elsewhere. Patents and intellectual property are treated no differently than any other fundamental research we support; the detailed treatment of these is specific to the institutions receiving the awards."

To understand who EFRCs would treat the knowledge generated from the governmental grant, [a Survey was sent to the 46 EFRCs]. We present and discuss this [a Survey was sent to the 46 EFRCs] in the EFRC Final Paper.

DoE privileged access/use of the knowledge/IP coming from these grants

Dr. Robin Hayes noted: "Patents and intellectual property are treated no differently than any other fundamental research we support; the detailed treatment of these is specific to the institutions receiving the awards. The EFRC management team, within DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Science, will work with the appropriate applied energy offices as needed to help recognize and identify support for commercializable technologies." and "The guideline for publication is the same as all other research funded by us; investigators may choose where to publish to best reach the appropriate scientific community."

Open Access policy

No specific policy was found within the official documents and sites around the EFRCs grants. It seems that there is no standard policy regarding open access such as the NIH Open Access Policy. A question in relation to this issue was sent to Dr. Robin Hayes, but not answered.

Call for Open Access: Latest Scandal of leaked Climate Change emails

• Ars Technica Article
• Popular Mechanics Article

Research exemption policy

No specific policy was found within the official documents and sites around the EFRCs grants. It seems that there is no standard policy regarding research exemption from patents issued. A question in relation to this issue was sent to Dr. Robin Hayes, but not answered.

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