National Science Foundation (NSF) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe NSF provides financial support in a wide range of scientific areas, from astronomy to zoology. In addition to funding research in the traditional academic areas, the agency also supports \u201chigh risk, high pay off\u201d ideas, novel collaborations, and projects that may seem like science fiction today but may be commonplace tomorrow. With an annual budget of $11.5bn, <\/em>NSF makes about 12,000 new grant awards each year, supporting all fields of fundamental science and engineering, including energy innovation and energy efficiency.<\/em><\/p>\n\nU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)<\/strong><\/li>\nNational Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nNIFA supports research, educational, and extension efforts in a wide range of scientific fields related to agricultural and behavioural sciences. This includes: <\/em><\/p>\n\nAdvanced Technologies<\/strong>: bioenergy, biotechnology, nanotechnology<\/li>\nAnimals<\/strong>: animal breeding, animal health, animal production, aquaculture<\/li>\nBusiness and Economics:<\/strong> markets and trade, natural resource economics, small business, StrikeForce<\/li>\nEducation:<\/strong> learning and engagement, minority-serving institutions, workforce development<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEnvironment:<\/strong> climate change, ecosystems, invasive pests and diseases<\/p>\n\nFarming and Ranching:<\/strong> agricultural safety, agricultural technology, farmer education, organic agriculture, small and family farms, sustainable agriculture<\/li>\nFood Science:<\/strong> food quality, food safety<\/li>\nInternational<\/strong>: global food security<\/li>\nNatural Resources:<\/strong> air, forests, grasslands and rangelands, soil, water<\/li>\nPlants:<\/strong> crop production, pest management, plant breeding, plant health<\/li>\nU.S. Department of Defense (DOD)\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nMore than 1,000 grant opportunities are offered each year by the DOD through its various branches of service, medical units, laboratories, research projects, engineering divisions, environmental cleanup and restoration programs, business and inventory management divisions, and energy security initiatives. These include:<\/em><\/p>\n\nDefense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDARPA\u2019s mission is \u201cto make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies and capabilities for national security.\u201d DARPA has repeatedly delivered on that mission, transforming revolutionary concepts and even seeming impossibilities into practical capabilities. The results have included not only game-changing military capabilities such as precision weapons and stealth technology, but also such icons of modern civilian society such as the Internet, automated voice recognition and language translation, and Global Positioning System receivers small enough to embed in myriad consumer devices. <\/em><\/p>\nDARPA explicitly reaches for transformational change instead of incremental advances. <\/em>It is looking for promising technologies within science and engineering research communities. These new designs and technologies have to radically improve military capabilities, offering \u201cstrategies to surprise our adversaries,\u201d with payoffs for non-military uses afterwards (such as the computer, ceramic bearings, and insulators).\u00a0The DARPA investment has to\u00a0fundamentally reshape\u00a0existing fields or create entirely new disciplines and\u00a0transform\u00a0these initiatives into profoundly new, game-changing technologies for U.S. national security and the commercial and private sectors.<\/em><\/p>\nVector seal of the United States Department of Defense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nOther DOD grant opportunities\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhile DARPA focuses exclusively on transformational and disruptive innovations, there are many other opportunities to propose new ideas, concepts, and approaches to the DOD. The primary criterion the DOD uses in assessing a proposal is: will its development result in a procurement contract from DOD? In other words, once it reaches TRL-9 and is ready for commercialization, will it improve the DOD\u2019s ability to carry out is mission through better technologies, systems, or operational readiness? <\/em><\/p>\nIf so, will DOD buy it? If not, you need to look elsewhere for grants. <\/em><\/p>\nDOD has set a goal to\u00a0reduce petroleum use throughout all branches of the military and increase its use of alternative energy sources for all power and fuel consumed by 50 percent within the next five years. Any innovation \u2013 at any TRL \u2013 that will help DOD meet this goal will be of interest to DOD.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\nU.S. Department of Energy (DOE) <\/strong><\/li>\nAdvanced Research Program Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSince 2009, ARPA-E has provided approximately $1.8 billion in R&D funding for more than 660 potentially transformational energy technology projects. ARPA-E funds technology-focused, applied research and development aimed at creating real-world solutions to important problems in energy creation, distribution, and use. ARPA-E issues periodic Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), which are focused on overcoming specific technical barriers around a specific energy area. ARPA-E also issues periodic OPEN FOAs to identify high-potential projects that address the full range of energy-related technologies,\u00a0as well as funding solicitations aimed at supporting America\u2019s small business innovators. <\/em><\/p>\n\nOffice of Science (OS) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe Office of Science is the basic scientific research arm of the Department of Energy. It issues a cross-cutting, open solicitation annually that is open year-round. It also issues several FOAs each year focusing on specific research needs that are open to one or more institutions, as well as DOE National Laboratory Announcements that are open only to DOE laboratories.<\/em><\/p>\nResearch to prove viability<\/h3>\n Next, TRL-2 invention begins, with federal funding opportunities including:<\/p>\n
\nNational Science Foundation (NSF) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nU.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)<\/strong><\/li>\nNational Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nU.S. Department of Defense (DOD) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nDefense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nDefense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDIUx is a Silicon-Valley based and inspired, fast-moving government entity that provides non-dilutive capital to companies to solve national defense problems. It can move from initial presentation to approval of a funding award in as little as 90 days. It seeks to contract with companies <\/em>offering disruptive, game-changing solutions in a range of areas \u2013 from autonomy and artificial intelligence to human systems, information technology, and space \u2013 to solve a host of defence problems<\/em>. View the PBS NewsHour special on DIUx that aired on August 15, 2018, at: https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/how-the-pentagon-joins-forces-with-silicon-valley-startups.<\/em><\/p>\n\nOther DOD grant opportunities <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nU.S. Department of Energy (DOE) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nDOE funding for ideas, concepts, and approaches in the TRL-2, -3, and -4 stages of development typically come through the DOE\u2019s SBIR\/STTR program, which issue SBIR\/STTR funding solicitations twice per year tied to specific areas of focus from its various offices, except for ARPA-E. (See the Phase I SBIR\/STTR description below.) Each DOE office also issue periodic Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) targeted to a wide range of TRLs for research, development, and demonstration in the fields of interest related to their missions. These include:<\/em><\/p>\n\nAdvanced Research Program Agency \u2013 Energy (ARPA-E) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nOffice of Science (OS)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nSee description of financial support under TRL-1 above<\/em><\/p>\n\nOffice of Fossil Energy (FE)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe Office of Fossil Energy is responsible for federal research, development, and demonstration efforts for advanced power generation, power plant efficiency, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies. Its interests include transformational approaches, preliminary design and techno-economic analyses, and new methods for making products from fossil fuel byproducts, wastes, and emissions; reducing the environmental impacts of fossil fuel use; and improving the efficiency, reliability, and flexibility of existing fossil fuel systems and operations. <\/em><\/p>\n\nOffice of Energy Delivery and Reliability (OE) and Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe Office of Electricity (OE) leads the Department of Energy\u2019s efforts to ensure a resilient, reliable, and flexible electricity system. OE works to develop new technologies to improve the infrastructure that brings electricity into the nation\u2019s homes, offices, and factories. It also oversees the federal and state electricity policies and programs that shape electricity system<\/em><\/p>\nplanning and market operations. OE accomplishes its\u00a0mission\u00a0through research, partnerships, facilitation, modelling, and analytics. Funding interests include research, development, and demonstration of next-generation transformers, distributed energy systems, flexible and adaptable designs for power generation and transmission systems, and grid security and resilience.<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a9 shutterstock\/vs148<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nOffice of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEERE\u2019s mission is to create and sustain American leadership in the transition to a global clean energy economy. It does this through several offices and programs, including:<\/em><\/p>\n\nBioenergy Technologies <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) works to develop industrially relevant technologies to enable domestically produced biofuels and bioproducts.<\/em><\/p>\n\nEfficiency<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe goal of EERE\u2019s Energy Efficiency program is to work with researchers and industry partners to develop innovative, cost-effective, energy-saving solutions through better power production methods, advanced materials and manufacturing processes, commercial and consumer products, new homes, ways to improve older homes, and green building designs and materials which meet the internationally-used Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system.<\/em><\/p>\n\nRenewables <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nEERE cooperates with a large network of researchers, universities, DOE national laboratories, and industry partners to develop, manufacture, and install cutting-edge, <\/em><\/p>\nhigh-tech renewable energy systems, with the goal of\u00a0 <\/em>\u201ccatalyzing the transformation of the nation\u2019s energy system\u201d to promote \u201cU.S. leadership in science and engineering as a cornerstone of our economic prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n\nTransportation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThrough its Vehicle, Bioenergy, and Fuel Cell Technologies Offices, EERE advances the development of next-generation technologies to make transportation cleaner and more efficient through advanced combustion engine and vehicle<\/em> efficiency, innovative new transportation technologies, and solutions that put electric drive and fuel cell vehicles on the road and replace oil with clean domestic fuels.<\/em><\/p>\n\nPhase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThe Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) provides more than $2 billion per year in non-recourse contracts and grants to small U.S.-owned companies to develop new products and services that are based on innovative, unproven concepts and technologies. <\/em><\/p>\nThe objective of the SBIR program is to support innovation that leads to the commercialization of new technologies and final products and services to benefit U.S. communities, companies, and residents. The program is broken down into three phases. <\/em><\/p>\nThe objective of Phase I is to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of an applicant\u2019s proposed research and research and development (R\/R&D) efforts and to determine the quality of performance of the small business organization prior to providing further federal support in Phase II. SBIR Phase I awards normally do not exceed $150,000 (although, in a few cases, awards may go up to $225,000) and are for projects lasting 6 to 12 months. The agencies that offer SBIR grants are as follows. <\/em><\/p>\n