DOE ARPA-E Grant: Advancing Range Extenders for Electric Aviation Efficiency (REEACH)

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. 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. § 16538. 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
910.

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/.

ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy
technologies generally progress on established “learning
curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of
scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution to develop
drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion.
This continual improvement of a technology is important to its
increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus
of the private sector or the applied technology offices within
DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research
that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning
curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with
cost/performance estimates well above the level of an
incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these
projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in
generating a new learning curve with a projected
cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that
of the incumbent technology.

ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in
the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve
does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value
of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and
impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is,
they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies
from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E
understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes
time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E
funds the development of technologies that, if technically
successful, have the clear disruptive potential, e.g., by
demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost
and deployment at scale.

ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of
Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an
“original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new
knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim
or objective” and defines “experimental development” as
“creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained
from research and practical experience, which is directed at
producing new products or processes or improving existing
products or processes.” Applicants interested in receiving
financial assistance for basic research should contact the
DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office
of Science national scientific user facilities
(http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all
researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These
facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including
accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and
neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the
nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects
focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology
along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support
through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy
(http://fossil.energy.gov/), the Office of Nuclear Energy
(http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the
Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
(http://energy.gov/oe/office-electricity-delivery-and-energy-
reliability).

Program Overview:
ARPA-E seeks to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions
associated with commercial air travel at minimum economic cost
by developing elements of an ultra-high efficient aircraft
propulsion system that uses Carbon Neutral Liquid Fuels
(CNLFs). Since these fuels generally either have lower
specific-energies (kWh/kg) or are projected to have higher
cost than traditional fossil-based jet fuels, ultra-high
conversion efficiency is critical for the economic viability
of this approach. An electrified propulsion system framework
postulated by ARPA-E (Fig. 1) could potentially leverage
multiple sources of stored energy (e.g. CNLF, batteries, etc.)
to facilitate emerging propulsion concepts (e.g. distributed
propulsion) and enable net-zero carbon emissions for long
range, narrow-body, commercial aircraft.

The objective of the Range Extenders for Electric Aviation
with Low Carbon and High Efficiency (REEACH) program is the
development of one element of the electrified propulsion
system framework: a system for the conversion of chemical
energy contained in energy dense CNLFs (green block in Fig. 1)
to electric power for aircraft propulsion and hotel loads.
(The development of the all-electric powertrain depicted in
Fig. 1 is the objective of a separate ARPA-E FOA.)

To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-
foa.energy.gov. ARPA-E will not review or consider notices of
intent or full applications submitted through other means. For
detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to
the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-
foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx).

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. 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. § 16538. 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 910.

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/.

ARPA-E funds transformational research. Existing energy technologies generally progress on established “learning curves” where refinements to a technology and the economies of scale that accrue as manufacturing and distribution to develop drive down the cost/performance metric in a gradual fashion. This continual improvement of a technology is important to its increased commercial deployment and is appropriately the focus of the private sector or the applied technology offices within DOE. By contrast, ARPA-E supports transformative research that has the potential to create fundamentally new learning curves. ARPA-E technology projects typically start with cost/performance estimates well above the level of an incumbent technology. Given the high risk inherent in these projects, many will fail to progress, but some may succeed in generating a new learning curve with a projected cost/performance metric that is significantly lower than that of the incumbent technology.

ARPA-E funds technology with the potential to be disruptive in the marketplace. The mere creation of a new learning curve does not ensure market penetration. Rather, the ultimate value of a technology is determined by the marketplace, and impactful technologies ultimately become disruptive – that is, they are widely adopted and displace existing technologies from the marketplace or create entirely new markets. ARPA-E understands that definitive proof of market disruption takes time, particularly for energy technologies. Therefore, ARPA-E funds the development of technologies that, if technically successful, have the clear disruptive potential, e.g., by demonstrating capability for manufacturing at competitive cost and deployment at scale.

ARPA-E funds applied research and development. The Office of Management and Budget defines “applied research” as an “original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge…directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective” and defines “experimental development” as “creative and systematic work, drawing on knowledge gained from research and practical experience, which is directed at producing new products or processes or improving existing products or processes.” Applicants interested in receiving financial assistance for basic research should contact the DOE’s Office of Science (http://science.energy.gov/). Office of Science national scientific user facilities (http://science.energy.gov/user-facilities/) are open to all researchers, including ARPA-E Applicants and awardees. These facilities provide advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nanoworld, the environment, and the atmosphere. Projects focused on early-stage R&D for the improvement of technology along defined roadmaps may be more appropriate for support through the DOE applied energy offices including: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (http://www.eere.energy.gov/), the Office of Fossil Energy (http://fossil.energy.gov/), the Office of Nuclear Energy (http://www.energy.gov/ne/office-nuclear-energy), and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (http://energy.gov/oe/office-electricity-delivery-and-energy-reliability).

Program Overview:
ARPA-E seeks to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with commercial air travel at minimum economic cost by developing elements of an ultra-high efficient aircraft propulsion system that uses Carbon Neutral Liquid Fuels (CNLFs). Since these fuels generally either have lower specific-energies (kWh/kg) or are projected to have higher cost than traditional fossil-based jet fuels, ultra-high conversion efficiency is critical for the economic viability of this approach. An electrified propulsion system framework postulated by ARPA-E (Fig. 1) could potentially leverage multiple sources of stored energy (e.g. CNLF, batteries, etc.) to facilitate emerging propulsion concepts (e.g. distributed propulsion) and enable net-zero carbon emissions for long range, narrow-body, commercial aircraft.

The objective of the Range Extenders for Electric Aviation with Low Carbon and High Efficiency (REEACH) program is the development of one element of the electrified propulsion system framework: a system for the conversion of chemical energy contained in energy dense CNLFs (green block in Fig. 1) to electric power for aircraft propulsion and hotel loads. (The development of the all-electric powertrain depicted in Fig. 1 is the objective of a separate ARPA-E FOA.)

To obtain a copy of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) please go to the ARPA-E website at https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov. ARPA-E will not review or consider notices of intent or full applications submitted through other means. For detailed guidance on using ARPA-E eXCHANGE, please refer to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx).