New DOE investments boost next-generation batteries, storage tech
The Department of Energy is awarding $125 million in new funds to a pair of Energy Innovation Hubs teams that will focus on battery research and energy storage technology, the agency said in an announcement Tuesday.
The first team, based out of the agency’s Argonne National Laboratory, is the Energy Storage Research Alliance. Known as ESRA, the hub will focus on compact batteries for heavy-duty transportation and energy storage grid technology solutions. The second team, the Aqueous Battery Consortium out of Stanford University, will focus on long-duration grid storage technologies and aqueous batteries.
Both endeavors are meant to focus on developing technologies that use widely available battery materials. Chemicals used in energy storage technology are often sourced or processed in places and countries that can present ethical — as well as geopolitical — challenges. The initiatives are the latest effort by the Energy Department to help develop cleaner energy technologies with with more secure supply chains amid the race to stop climate change.
“Providing the scientific foundation to accelerate this important research is key to our economy and making sure the U.S. plays a lead role in transforming the way we store and use electricity,” Harriet Kung, the agency’s acting director for the Office of Science, said in a statement.
She continued: “Today’s awards provide our Energy Innovation Hub teams with the tools and resources to solve some of the most challenging science problems that are limiting our ability to decarbonize transportation and incorporate clean energy into the electricity grid.”
