DOE External Affairs Update - July 27, 2020

BOOSTING MANUFACTURING IN MICHIGAN

Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette recently traveled to General Motors (GM) Estes Battery Lab and Design Center in Warren, Michigan, to highlight DOE's commitment to advancing American manufacturing and battery storage technology. He announced $139 million in federal funding for 55 projects across the country that will support new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies. Six of these innovative projects will be led by teams in Michigan.

HIGHLIGHTING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN OHIO

Secretary Brouillette also recently traveled to Columbus, Ohio, where he participated in an Ohio Business Roundtable discussion regarding DOE’s continued commitment to American manufacturers and energy industries in the State.

The Secretary noted it is one of President Trump’s top priorities to grow our manufacturing base and reinforce our domestic supply chains in order to promote economic growth, energy security, and national security.

Secretary Brouillette also highlighted DOE’s support for advancing STEM education and training options, as well as the Appalachian region's enormous economic potential due to its abundant natural resources.

In a radio interview with Cleveland’s Wills & Snyder WTAM 1100, Secretary Brouillette discussed energy security and developments in Ohio.

AMERICA LEADING ON QUANTUM INTERNET

Secretary Brouillette and Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar recently joined local officials, academics, and science leaders at the University of Chicago where they unveiled a report that lays out a blueprint strategy for the development of a national quantum internet, bringing the United States to the forefront of the global quantum race and ushering in a new era of communications. This report provides a pathway to ensure the development of the National Quantum Initiative Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in December of 2018.

Read  Under Secretary for Science Dabbar’s outline of America’s Blueprint for the Quantum Internet here.

DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR BULK-POWER INPUT

DOE is seeking information to understand the energy industry's current practices to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities in the supply chain for components of the bulk-power system. This comes in response to President Trump’s May 1st Executive Order “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System. 

The request for information (RFI) is posted in the Federal Register, and the response deadline has been extended to August 24, 2020. Stakeholders, including industry and the public, can provide DOE with input and recommendations regarding the supply chain and economic analysis related to the executive order.

OP-EDS AND INTERVIEWS

Secure Supply Chains: Read Secretary Brouillette’s op-ed in The Hill on how a safe, prosperous nation requires secure supply chains.

Energy Independence: Secretary Brouillette was recently interviewed by Scott Sands of Toledo Ohio's "Scott Sands Show", telling the host that as we look at what foreign adversaries are doing “it’s important for us to develop [energy and technology] here locally and in the United States,” while also creating infrastructure, such as new pipelines, that will be able to transport energy and provide American consumers choice.

Keeping Critical Infrastructure Safe: Check out Secretary Brouillette’s op-ed in Boulder’s Daily Camera on securing America’s Bulk Power System from malicious attacks.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Additive Manufacturing and Building the Future: On August 6 at 1:00pm Eastern, join DOE program managers and scientists for a virtual event regarding current and upcoming funding opportunities in additive manufacturing. For more information and to register, click here.

ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE ENERGY NEWS

DOE Technology Fuels Mars Mission:  NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover is loaded with technology developed by DOE and our National Labs. Listen as Secretary Brouillette talks with DOE’s Direct Current podcast to follow the origins of the Mars Perseverance Rover’s nuclear-fueled power source on its incredible seven-year, 5,000-mile journey from the lab to the launch pad.

Hydrogen:  DOE has announced approximately $64 million for 18 projects that will support the H2@Scale vision for affordable hydrogen production, storage, distribution, and use.

New Prize for Tech Incubators: DOE recently announced up to $1 million in funding to support energy technology incubators through a new prize opportunity, the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC). This prize is the debut initiative in a $5 million program by the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) to encourage robust growth of regional energy innovation ecosystems.

Request for Information on Workforce Development Needs: DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy issued a request for information (RFI) to understand workforce development needs within the high-performance materials supply chain. In the fossil energy industry, these segments create high-paying jobs and contribute to a secure energy supply in the U.S. To review the RFI, please click here. Responses must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. EST on August 31, 2020.

Cyber Defense Competition: Registration is open until October 2 for the DOE 2020 CyberForce Competition?, a collegiate-level cyber defense competition. This year, CyberForce will be held on November 14, completely in a virtual environment, with individual competitors rather than teams. Competitors will defend cyber systems of simulated critical infrastructure against threats modeled on those faced by the energy sector today.

Coal FIRST: DOE announced $118 million in federal funding to support the Coal FIRST (Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small, Transformative) Initiative. Coal FIRST power plants will convert coal, biomass, and waste plastics to generate clean and affordable carbon-neutral electricity and hydrogen.

Particle Accelerators for Science & Society: DOE announced $12 million in funding for advanced research projects in Particle Accelerator Science and Technology. Projects include efforts to develop accelerators for cancer therapy, industrial-scale accelerators, and compact superconducting accelerators, as well as efforts to increase the power of ultrafast lasers.

U.S.- India Strategic Partnership: On July 17, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan co-chaired a virtual ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) where they signed a memorandum of understanding to begin cooperation on Strategic Petroleum Reserves operation and maintenance, including exchange of information and best practices, and launched the public-private bilateral Task Force on Hydrogen.

Read Secretary Brouillette’s summary of the event here.

Iraq Energy Reform: Secretary Brouillette recently participated in a high-level Ministerial roundtable hosted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Government of Iraq. The virtual round-table meeting brought together senior Iraqi Ministers and policymakers, Ministers from IEA countries, CEOs and leaders of energy companies, and international financial institutions who explored how to ensure that Iraq’s energy sector can continue its recovery at a time of constrained government budgets and tighter financing environments.

COVID-19 RESOURCES 

On June 29, DOE Headquarters transitioned to Phase 2 of its return to full operations. For information about the reopening status of specific Labs, Plants, and Sites, please consult their respective websites. Find out more details on the DOE COVID-19 webpage.

Thank you for reading. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if we can serve as a resource. 

Sincerely,

Mike Pasko

Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary, Intergovernmental & External Affairs

U.S. Department of Energy