Agency Overview:
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L.

110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L.

credit:

/>111-358) to:
“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that result in— (i) reductions of imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reductions of energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; and (iii) improvement in the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), an organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), is chartered by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L.

110-69), as amended by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L.

111-358) to:
“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that result in— (i) reductions of imports of energy from foreign sources; (ii) reductions of energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; and (iii) improvement in the energy efficiency of all economic sectors; and (B) to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.” ARPA-E issues this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the programmatic authorizing statute codified at 42 U.S.C.

§ 1653 8.

The FOA and any awards made under this FOA are subject to 2 C.F.R.

Part 200 as amended by 2 C.F.R.

Part 91 0.

ARPA-E funds research on and the development of high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment.

The agency focuses on technologies that can be meaningfully advanced with a modest investment over a defined period of time in order to catalyze the translation from scientific discovery to early-stage technology.

For the latest news and information about ARPA-E, its programs and the research projects currently supported, see:
http://arpa-e.energy.gov/.

Programmatic Overview:
The objective of the FLExible Carbon Capture and Storage (FLECCS) SBIR-STTR program is to fund the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that enable power generators to be responsive to grid conditions in a high variable renewable energy (VRE) penetration environment.

This includes retrofits to existing power generators as well as greenfield systems with a carbon-containing fuel input and electricity as an output (i.e., a “black box” in which the nature of the fuel-to-electricity conversion process is not prescribed).

The value of such CCS technologies will be evaluated by their impact on the system LCOE of a net-zero carbon electricity grid, as determined by capacity expansion modeling.

ARPA-E does not expect every CCS technology itself to be a net-zero carbon process; instead the cost and performance of each project selected under this FOA will be evaluated in the context of a net-zero carbon system which may include negative emission assets.

Recent work suggests that a system LCOE of $75/MWh for a net-zero carbon electricity system is aggressive yet possible.