Solar Desalination Prize Announced
The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), within DOE's Office of Energy and Renewable Energy (EERE), recently the first phase of the Solar Desalination Prize, a $9 million competition designed to accelerate the development of systems that use solar-thermal energy to produce clean water from very high-salinity water. The prize competition concept builds on SETO’s $21 million investment in 14 solar thermal desalination R&D projects in June 2018.
Water Resource Recovery Prize Launched
EERE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) launched the $1 million Water Resource Recovery Prize in January 2020 to accelerate resource recovery from municipal wastewater across the United States. Through this two-phased competition, DOE is accepting proposals for novel, systems-based solutions to stimulate resource recovery at small-to-medium-sized water resource recovery facilities. This effort can help lower the cost of wastewater treatment. The Phase 1 submission deadline has been extended to 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 28, 2020.
The National Alliance for Water Innovation and the Energy-Water Desalination Hub
AMO selected the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) through a competitive funding opportunity process to lead the $100 million Energy-Water Desalination Hub as part of the Water Security Grand Challenge. To date, the NAWI team has identified six critical technology barriers to distributed water desalination and reuse that will motivate the research agenda for the Hub: 1) autonomous (grid-independent); 2) precision separations; 3) resilient treatment and transport; 4) intensified brine management; 5) modular membrane systems; and 6) electrified treatment processes.
Prizes Powered by the Ocean
DOE's Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Daniel R Simmons, wrote a blog on the ways DOE is working with agency partners to achieve water security goals through the power of competition.
Current Activities and Updates by Goal
Using a coordinated suite of prizes, competitions, early-stage R&D, and other programs, the Water Security Grand Challenge has set five goals for the United States to reach by 2030.
Here are a few highlights of DOE's progress so far:
Goal 1: Launch Desalination Technologies that Deliver Cost-Competitive Clean Water
- In 2019, DOE opened the first stage of the Waves to Water Prize, a four-stage competition that offers up to $2.5 million to accelerate the development of wave energy powered desalination systems and launch novel technologies to address critical water security challenges. Stage 2 has just closed.
- DOE plans to launch the Solar Desalination Prize soon.
Goal 2: Transform the Energy Sector’s Produced Water from a Waste to a Resource
- DOE is currently exploring a geologic-basin-specific or regional approach to address the goal, and plans to release a Request for Information (RFI) this year.
Goal 3: Achieve Near-Zero Water Impact for New Thermoelectric Power Plants, and Significantly Lower Freshwater Use Intensity within the Existing Fleet
- DOE is focusing on new equipment designs (including improved materials and methods of manufacture) and collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute.
- DOE anticipates releasing an RFI to solicit stakeholder input to inform a future prize or other work in this area.
Goal 4: Double Resource Recovery from Municipal Wastewater
Goal 5: Develop Small, Modular Energy-Water Systems for Urban, Rural, Tribal, National Security, and Disaster Response Settings
- DOE intends issue an RFI in 2020 on cost effective solutions for small modular energy water systems for a variety of applications.
Learn more about the Water Security Grand Challenge.
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