The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced over $35 million in funding for 42 projects through its Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). The initiative aims to help move new energy technologies related to grid security, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing from DOE National Laboratories and other sites into the marketplace. Private and public partners will contribute more than $21 million in cost sharing, bringing the total investment to over $57.5 million.
The TCF program is managed by the Office of Technology Commercialization’s Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness (CLIMR) Lab Call. Its goal is to support public-private partnerships that maximize taxpayer investments, promote American innovation, and strengthen both economic and national security.
“The Energy Department’s National Labs play an important role in ensuring the United States leads the world in innovation,” said Secretary Wright. “These projects have the potential to accelerate technological breakthroughs that will define the future of science and help secure America’s energy future.”
This year’s selected projects come from 19 DOE National Labs, plants, and sites. Among them:
– Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will launch America’s Cradle to Commerce (AC2C), expanding on a previous program that helped startups raise more than $15 million and launch five commercial pilots within 18 months.
– Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will upgrade its Visual Intellectual Property Search (VIPS) tool, which allows users to search for innovations available for licensing or open-source use across all National Labs.
– Argonne National Laboratory will work on advancing commercialization of the OpenMC Monte Carlo particle transport code through the Exascale Computing Project. This effort supports nuclear safety analysis and aims to speed up design and licensing timelines for U.S. nuclear reactor projects.
A complete list of this year’s selections can be found at https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/articles/doe-announces-over-35-million-advance-emerging-energy-technologies.
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