§16313 Solar Fuels Research Initiative

Summary

The Secretary must run a Solar Fuels Research Initiative to grow basic knowledge in photochemistry, electrochemistry, biochemistry, and materials science so researchers can build systems that turn sunlight into stored chemical energy. The work must use help and resources from the Basic Energy Sciences Program and the Biological and Environmental Research Program in the Office of Science, and from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The Secretary must set up multidisciplinary teams from National Laboratories, colleges, and industry. Those teams must work toward hard, milestone-based research goals, get enough funding to meet those goals, and may be organized through Energy Frontier Research Centers, Energy Innovation Hubs, or other structures. The Initiative must run two research programs. One program will focus on artificial photosynthesis to make fuels, including making hydrogen and oxygen from water and turning carbon dioxide into fuels like hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbon monoxide, and natural gas. The other program will try to copy natural photosynthesis using artificial parts, covering work such as making ammonia from nitrogen, pulling CO2 from air, charge separation and storage, electron transfer, and bio-like catalysis. The Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the biological research office will fund basic science, and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will fund development and testing. The Secretary must check progress against technical milestones. For each program, $50,000,000 is authorized each year for fiscal years 2023 through 2027.