These posts originally appeared on the White House’s Champions of Change blog as part of an award that honors individuals who are advancing new ideas that are leading the way to a better energy future.

Channeling Natural Resources for a Carbo-Free Tomorrow
Eric Ingersoll
My parents nurtured my awareness of the big problems facing our world and throughout my life have supported me in my desire to find solutions, even though this meant I was not following any kind of conventional career path. I have also been fortunate to have friends, colleagues, and my own wife and family, who have encouraged me in hard times, and never doubted that devoting my life to working on solutions to climate change was what I should be doing.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has issued approximately $43 million for two new programs to develop next-generation energy storage technologies that could significantly improve U.S. energy security and efficiency. These programs leverage partnerships with the Department of Defense (DOD) and small businesses to engage America’s brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to research breakthrough electrical energy storage technologies for a wide variety of applications.

I would like to extend my thanks to the Chairman, the Ranking Member, and the esteemed members of the Subcommittee for inviting me here today to present the Department of Energy's Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget request for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). As I have said before to many of you, I consider you all to be my Board of Directors. I am here to report to you what we have done in the past, and what we plan to do in the future.

Releases $150 Million Funding Opportunity Announcement

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) issued a $150 million funding opportunity open to all transformational energy technologies to support the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to solving our nation’s most pressing energy challenges. This Open Funding Opportunity Announcement is a call to our country’s brightest scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to propose early-stage research projects that would not otherwise be able to attract private investment, but could lead to breakthrough energy technologies. This is the second open funding opportunity released under ARPA-E. The first was in 2009. 

President Obama launched the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) in 2009 to seek out transformational, breakthrough technologies that are too risky for private sector investment but have the potential to translate science into quantum leaps in energy technology, form the foundation for entirely new industries, and have large commercial impacts. ARPA-E selections focus on accelerating innovations in clean technology while advancing breakthroughs in biofuels, thermal storage, grid controls, and solar power electronics, and increasing America's competitiveness in rare earth alternatives.