DOE To Invest $336 Million In R&D Hubs

The Department of Energy announced in late December 2009 its intention to invest $336 million to establish and operate three Energy Innovation Hubs for the next five years. The hubs, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, would be “integrated research centers,” modeled on the Manhattan Project, MIT’s Lincoln Lab, and AT&T Bell Labs. They would “ideally be under one roof,” Chu continued, to encourage scientific interaction and “forceful centralized scientific management.” Each hub would focus on one of three areas: production of fuel from sunlight, modeling and simulation for nuclear reactors, and design of energy-efficient buildings. The hubs are one part of a DOE R&D plan that also includes “energy frontier research centers,” which work on basic energy science problems, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which funds entrepreneurs attempting to develop and commercialize advanced energy technologies. Universities, national labs, nonprofit organizations, and private firms may compete to establish and operate a hub. Chu expects the hubs to begin operating in 2011, subject to congressional appropriations. More information is available online at hubs.energy.gov.