The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 106 awards totaling $126 million in research and development grants for 90 different small businesses whose projects will address multiple mission areas across the Department, including clean energy and decarbonization, cybersecurity and grid reliability, fusion energy, and nuclear nonproliferation.
Small businesses are the backbone of the nation’s economy, employing nearly half of all private-sector workers in the United States, and will play a major role in decarbonizing the economy, bolstering national security, and meeting President Biden’s ambitious climate goals.
“Big ideas become realities in the labs, workshops, factories, and plants of America’s small businesses,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Small businesses tackle monumental issues all over the country, including climate change. DOE’s small business grants help companies across the country to develop the technologies, products, and infrastructure we will need for the transition to clean energy.”
American small business plays a critical role in facilitating the transition from discovery to innovation, helping create a bridge between the scientific laboratory and the commercial marketplace. DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards strive to transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs into viable products and services. The awards also support the development of specialized technologies and instruments that aid in scientific discovery.
Funded through the DOE’s SBIR/STTR program, the selections are for Phase II research and development of projects that either demonstrated feasibility for innovations during Phase I or are continuing prototype and process development from previous Phase II awards. The median Phase II award is $1.1 million for a period of two years.
The 106 grants are going to 90 different companies across 27 states: California (22 grants), Massachusetts (11), Colorado and Pennsylvania (8), Texas (7), Georgia (5), New York, Ohio, and Virginia (4), Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, Washington (3), Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Utah (2), and Arkansas, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.
The DOE offices, with examples of project topic areas, funding these grants are:
National Nuclear Security Administration
- Additive manufacturing techniques for space applications
- Radiation detection
Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
- Energy systems cybersecurity
Office of Electricity
- Advanced energy storage and power conversion system for energy equity
- Advanced grid technologies
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Advanced manufacturing
- Bioenergy
- Geothermal, solar, waterpower, and wind energy
- Hydrogen and fuel cell technology
- Vehicle technology
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
- Carbon capture and removal, management, and storage
- Innovative energy systems
Office of Nuclear Energy
- Advanced technologies for nuclear energy and nuclear waste
- Material recovery and waste form development
Office of Science
- Fusion energy systems
- High energy physics
- Laser technology research and development for accelerators
- Quantum information science
