The U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC) invites teams from collegiate institutions to develop real-world geothermal solutions while competing for cash prizes and gaining resume experience in the renewable energy industry. Registration will open in August 2023 for teams of three or more undergraduate and/or graduate students. Start forming your team today! Students of any discipline can participate, and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Final competition deliverables will be due in December 2023.

Looking to implement energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy and decarbonization projects, or other sustainability initiatives? The Funding and Incentives Resource Hub can help you navigate and discover the many rebates, funding opportunities, and other incentives including those available through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Through this program, NYSERDA has up to $10 million in co-funding for New York-based clean hydrogen research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects for which federal funding is also being sought and actively applied for. This NYSERDA funding can help achieve federal funding award cost-sharing requirements (subject to applicable contracting laws, rules, and regulations).

The US Department of Energy, the Israel Ministry of Energy, jointly with the Israel Innovation Authority and the BIRD Foundation invite you to apply for grant funding through BIRD Energy. This program develops innovation through US-Israel cooperation on a range of clean energy technologies, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, natural gas, and energy-water technologies. To be considered, a project proposal should include:

• R&D cooperation between two companies or between a company and university/research institution (one from the US and one from Israel).
• Innovation in all areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency
• Innovation that scales up carbon-free technologies and reduces carbon emissions
• Significant commercial potential; the project outcome should lead to commercialization.

The Brownfields Job Training (JT) Grants allow nonprofits, local governments, and other organizations to recruit, train, and place unemployed and under-employed residents of areas affected by the presence of brownfield sites. Through the JT Program, graduates develop the skills needed to secure full-time, sustainable employment in various aspects of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, and petroleum products within the larger environmental field, including sustainable cleanup and reuse, and chemical safety. These green jobs reduce environmental contamination and build more sustainable futures for communities.

The Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Under PACE, USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will forgive up to 60 percent of loans for renewable energy projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, or biomass, as well as for renewable energy storage projects. At least 50 percent of the population served by your proposed renewable energy project must live in communities with populations of 20,000 or fewer.

The new Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking (EJ TCGM) Program is a competition to select multiple Grantmakers around the nation to reduce barriers to the federal grants application process communities face and increase the efficiency of the awards process for environmental justice grants. Grantmakers will design competitive application and submission processes, award environmental justice subgrants, implement a tracking and reporting system, provide resources and support to communities, all in collaboration with EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) seeks research projects to address priorities in the following areas: the cost-effective deployment of EV charging for those without easy home charging; innovative solutions to improve mobility options for underserved communities; community engagement to accelerate clean transportation options in underserved communities; batteries and electrification; materials technologies; mobility system supporting public transportation; advanced vehicle charging solutions, dimethyl ether engine for off-road applications, hydrogen combustion engines, to improve fuel economy and reduce GHG emissions with the goals of carbon pollution free electricity by 2035 and net-zero of GHG emissions by 2050.

This Ride and Drive Electric FOA seeks applications to address discrete barriers to
a future where everyone can ride and drive electric. Specifically, this FOA will
directly advance the goal of building a national network of EV chargers for all
Americans by supporting EV charging reliability, resiliency, equity, and workforce
development. Topics include:

1. Enhancing EV Charging Resiliency
2. Community-Driven Models for Electric Vehicle Charging Deployment
3. Workforce Development
4. Increasing Commercial Capacity for Testing and Certification of High-Power Electric
   Vehicle Chargers
5. Validating Public EV Charging Infrastructure Real-World Performance and Reliability

Proposals contemplated under this FOA will be submitted by nonprofit 501(c)(3) applicants interested in serving as “Prime recipients” to assemble, post-award, a portfolio of nonprofit buildings owned and operated by 501(c)(3) organizations in need of energy efficiency upgrades. Prioritization will be given to applicants proposing to assemble portfolios that will achieve significant energy and cost savings; will reduce emissions; have an effective plan for evaluation, measurement, and verification of energy savings; demonstrate a plan for prioritizing the financial need of subrecipients; and align with the Justice40initiative goals. Applicants are encouraged to articulate a plan for recruiting building energy efficiency projects that meet or exceed the above priorities on a portfolio basis.

This $4.75 million funding opportunity that will create one or more university-led Centers of Excellence to increase offshore wind expertise at U.S. universities; develop partnerships to address key offshore wind development challenges; and educate the next generation of offshore wind experts in the United States. The Centers of Excellence will catalyze innovative research, educational programming, and stakeholder engagement to address regional and technological challenges within the U.S. offshore wind sector. The Centers will establish strong cross-sector partnerships to identify and conduct critical, multi-disciplinary research that can address key offshore wind energy technology and deployment challenges.

This topic area will provide up to $10 million to support a community-led tidal and/or current energy planning and development project in the United States. Alongside a project developer, community members will inform the technology design and development process and drive community engagement and education, ensuring appropriate awareness and consideration of the needs and priorities of those directly and indirectly affected. The goal is to create a collaborative partnership between the developer and community to ensure local energy goals align with proposed technologies and to prioritize the reliable installation, operation, and maintenance of technologies in challenging geographies with limited resources.