Funding of US $26 million! US Department of Energy Accelerates the Development of Renewable Energy
Recently, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) launched a number of clean energy funding projects to develop agricultural photovoltaic, geothermal and wind energy. The details are as follows:
1. Agricultural photovoltaic
DOE announced that it would provide US $8 million for six solar research projects to support agricultural photovoltaic power generation. The supporting projects include: ① gardening and beekeeping technology at solar stations, and the development of solar photovoltaic support devices; ② Carry out crop and grazing experiments on two solar array test beds, and create a regional agricultural photovoltaic demonstration network; ③ Determine the main obstacles to the implementation of agricultural photovoltaic power generation and provide solutions; ④ Use precision agriculture technology to conduct grazing and feed production experiments, and study the impact of public utility scale solar energy stations on soil health; ⑤ Study agricultural photovoltaic power generation technology in high latitude areas with insufficient solar energy; ⑥ Develop climate-intelligent agricultural technology.
2. Geothermal drilling technology
DOE announced that it would provide more than US $15 million for two projects, to reduce the cost of geothermal drilling. DOE has set the goal of reducing the application cost of enhanced geothermal system by 90% by 2035 and providing renewable geothermal power to at least 40 million American households by 2050. The specific contents of this grant include: ① developing new drilling technology for drilling research of dual high temperature geothermal wells; ② Research and deploy innovative drilling technology to improve drilling efficiency by at least 25% under a series of temperatures and conditions.
3. Small and medium-sized wind turbines
DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced its plan to provide US $2.9 million to 11 small and medium-sized wind turbine manufacturers to support technological innovation, reduce market and regulatory barriers to technology application, and improve the application scope of distributed wind turbines. Supported technologies include: ① optimizing the design of wind turbines to reduce manufacturing costs, increasing wind power generation, enhancing grid reliability, and achieving compatibility and collaboration with solar energy and energy storage systems; ② Develop advanced manufacturing technology to improve the output of wind turbines and reduce costs; ③ Test wind turbines and related components to support the application of distributed wind energy, and obtain the certification of national performance and safety standards; ④ Accelerate the commercial application of small and medium-sized wind turbines.
