Weekly Jolt ? Algae and Lithium and Zero-emission Vehicles, Oh My!

Come Work with Us

Are you interested in applying your science, technology, engineering or math expertise to the clean energy field? ?? FIRST Chesapeake / VirginiaFIRST is hosting a town hall where you can hear from EERE researchers and fellows alike who work to advance clean energy technology nationwide. Join us via YouTube at 6:30 p.m. ET today, Feb. 15, to hear why these clean energy champions chose EERE.

Have you applied to the Faculty-Applied Clean Energy Sciences Program ?????? yet? Don’t worry, the deadline has been extended to March 1! Faculty from minority-serving institutions should apply today to spend 10 weeks over the summer working with National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers to develop education modules related to clean energy science.

EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office is looking for innovators who want to advance technologies that cut greenhouse gas emissions. This $15 million funding opportunity will explore Clean Cities Coalition Network outreach and technical assistance, and training for emergency response workers who may work with zero-emission vehicles. Submit your concept paper by March 12.

What do crops like algae, wheatgrass, and shrub willow have in common? ?? They’re all crops that can provide alternate fuel sources for our clean energy economy. Submit your concept paper by March 14 to help EERE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office research, develop, and demonstrate how these crops can contribute to our domestic energy supply chain.

What’s New in Renewable Energy?

The Salton Sea region of California could produce over 3,400 kilotons of lithium according to this DOE-funded study, enough to support over 375 million electric vehicle batteries. ?? On Jan. 26, developer Controlled Thermal Resources broke ground on the region’s newest geothermal power plant which, when complete, will be the first in the country that also extracts lithium from geothermal brines. Read on to see how these geothermal facilities by the Salton Sea may prove to be among the most important energy projects of the 21st century.

Congratulations to the local government of Fremont, California, the first-ever recipient of Platinum recognition from DOE’s SolSmart program! ?? SolSmart acknowledges local governments for prioritizing solar energy in their communities. Located in California’s East Bay area, the city of Fremont has long been a leader in solar-friendly policies, seeing solar deployment double in the last four years. Keep up the good work!

EERE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) made several announcements about offshore wind over the last week, including investment in a new Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind that will focus on targeted research, partnerships ??, and strategies to embed equity in offshore wind development and advance the next generation of offshore wind workers.

WETO is also collaborating with Innovationsfonden to release an upcoming funding opportunity to make the wide-scale deployment of floating offshore wind energy systems more cost-effective, like improving mooring technologies and methods that secure floating offshore wind platforms to the sea floor. ?? Stay tuned in the spring for more updates!