Through its Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technologies Office, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced $46 million in new funding aimed at driving national goals for advancement in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The pledge came October 23 in a notice of funding opportunity for up to that amount to accelerate the research, development, and demonstration of affordable clean-hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The program centers on four key topic areas.
The awards will target projects to improve the performance of technologies for hydrogen production, hydrogen infrastructure, and fuel cells, and will demonstrate hydrogen and fuel cells in a new, high-impact application. The program is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s coordinated “whole of government” approach to advancing clean hydrogen, as led by the Hydrogen Interagency Task Force.
Advancing and demonstrating critical hydrogen and fuel cell technologies will help to drive decarbonization across challenging sectors, such as heavy-duty transportation and industrial and chemical processes, and ultimately help to realize the vision embodied in the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap of affordable clean hydrogen for a net-zero-carbon future and a sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy, says DOE.
DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office will administer the funding, seeking to stimulate progress in:
- scaling up advanced photoelectrochemical hydrogen-production processes;
- improving materials for hydrogen infrastructure;
- developing critical components for fuel cells in heavy-duty transportation applications;
- demonstrating domestic hydrogen fuel cell electric motorcoach buses.
The objective is that by improving key technologies, spurring deployment, and helping industry achieve economies of scale, activities funded by will support and reinforce the long-term viability of DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) and other commercial-scale hydrogen installations.
The funding targets these four topic areas:
- Topic 1 – Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Water Splitting Device Scale Up
- Topic 2 – High-Performance Materials for Hydrogen Service, Including Cryogenic and/or High-Pressure Conditions
- Topic 3 – Sustainable High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membranes and Ionomers for Heavy-Duty Transportation Applications
- Topic 4 – Domestic Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Motorcoach Bus Development and Demonstration
The deadline for concept papers is November 20. For more info, see HFTO’s notice of funding opportunity announcement for topic summaries, review key dates, and learn how to apply in EERE eXCHANGE.
