Back in March of 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched a comprehensive initiative, the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI). The focus of CEMI was growing the manufacturing of clean energy products, rebuilding America’s shared manufacturing innovation infrastructure and boosting U.S. competitiveness. Remarkable progress has been made over the ensuing years.
Kelly Carnes, President and CEO of TechVision21, recently praised DOE for taking these steps to make their laboratories more user friendly and industry relevant stating that “The user facilities and technical capabilities of the laboratories are a national treasure. It is extremely important to connect the capabilities and resources of our national labs to the companies that can use them.”
Recently announced programs include:
Cyclotron Road, Link
Cyclotron Road will focus on the valley-of-death- the gap between early-stage energy technology invention and high impact commercial outcomes by offering a place for entrepreneurial researchers to advance technologies until they can succeed beyond the research lab.
Small Business Vouchers, Link
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) is funding up to $20 million worth of vouchers to eligible small businesses as part of the Small Business Vouchers (SBV) Pilot. SBV will help advance the clean energy economy by allowing businesses to access world-class researchers, facilities and expertise at national laboratories across the country.
Technologist in Residence (TIR) Link
The Technologist in Residence pilot program aims to strengthen National Lab and industry relationships to support industry needs and leverage the National Lab network for strategic, long-term, collaborative R&D. Five “technologist pairs: will focus on building strong R&D relationships between the businesses and National Labs to advance clean energy technologies into the marketplace.
Lab-Corps Link
The U.S. Department of Energy’s program to speed the transfer of innovative, clean energy technologies from its national laboratories into the commercial marketplace—will serve as a specialized technology accelerator providing training curriculum for laboratory researchers looking to move their high-impact, real world technologies into the private sector.
The objectives of these initiatives are to increase U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing clean energy technologies and increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness across the board.
In this Department of Energy video leaders from Siemens, and DuPont, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation discuss the timely opportunity to create a competitive advantage in U.S. clean energy manufacturing through investments and strong public-private partnerships.