Energy for America Act

Produced water recovery, including research for desalination and demineralization to reduce total dissolved solids in the produced water.

Produced water utilization for agricultural, irrigation, municipal, or industrial uses, or other environmentally sustainable purposes.

Reinjection of produced water into subsurface geological formations to increase energy production.

75 percent shall be for activities under section 104(a), (b), and (c).

25 percent shall be for activities under section 104(d) and other activities under section 104, including administrative functions such as program direction, overall program oversight, and contract management.

in subsection (b)(2), by inserting , including motor and other fuels from biomass after biofuels; and

in subsection (c)—

in subsection (c)(1), by striking $100,000,000 and inserting $150,000,000;

in subsection (c)(2), by striking $125,000,000 and inserting $160,000,000; and

in subsection (c)(3), by striking $150,000,000 and inserting $175,000,000.

by striking and at the end of clause (iii); and

by adding after clause (iv) the following new clause:

in subsection (c)(1), by inserting before the semicolon the following: , including $25,000,000 for activities under section 932(d)(1)(B)(v);

in subsection (c)(2), by inserting before the semicolon the following: , including $25,000,000 for activities under section 932(d)(1)(B)(v); and

in subsection (c)(3), by inserting before the period the following: , including $25,000,000 for activities under section 932(d)(1)(B)(v).

Battery

The term battery means a device or system for the electrochemical storage of energy.

Biomass

The term biomass has meaning given the term in section 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232).

E85

The term E85 means a fuel blend containing 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline by volume.

Electric drive transportation technology

The term electric drive transportation technology means—

Flexible fuel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

The term flexible fuel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle means a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle—

Fuel cell vehicle

The term fuel cell vehicle means an onroad vehicle that uses a fuel cell (as defined in section 803 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16152)).

Hybrid electric vehicle

The term hybrid electric vehicle means an onroad vehicle that—

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

The term plug-in hybrid electric vehicle means a hybrid electric vehicle that can operate solely on electric power for a minimum of 20 miles under city driving conditions, and that is capable of recharging its battery from an offboard electricity source.

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

high capacity, high efficiency batteries, to—

high efficiency onboard and offboard charging components;

high power drive train systems for passenger and commercial vehicles and for supporting equipment;

onboard energy management systems, power trains, and systems integration for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, flexible fuel plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hybrid electric vehicles, including efficient cooling systems and systems that minimize the emissions profile of such vehicles; and

lightweight materials, including research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to reduce the cost of materials such as steel alloys and carbon fibers.

Establishment

The Secretary shall establish a competitive grant pilot demonstration program to provide not more than 25 grants annually to State governments, local governments, metropolitan transportation authorities, or combinations thereof to carry out a project or projects for demonstration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Applications

Selection criteria

Pilot project requirements

Award amounts

The Secretary shall determine grant amounts, but the maximum size of grants shall decline as the cost of producing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles declines or the cost of converting a hybrid electric vehicle to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle declines.

for carrying out subsection (b), $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, of which up to $50,000,000 may be used for the program described in paragraph (5) of that subsection; and

for carrying out subsection (c), $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.

Council

The term Council means the Energy Storage Advisory Council established under subsection (c).

Department

The term Department means the Department of Energy.

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

Establishment

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an Energy Storage Advisory Council.

Composition

Meetings

Plans

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, in conjunction with the Secretary, the Council shall develop 5-year plans for integrating basic and applied research so that the United States retains a globally competitive domestic energy storage industry for electricity transmission and distribution.

Review

The Council shall—

materials design;

materials synthesis and characterization;

electrolytes, including bioelectrolytes;

surface and interface dynamics; and

modeling and simulation.

the basic research program under subsection (d) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012; and

the applied research program under subsection (e) $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.

In general

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (in this title referred to as the Secretary) shall establish a pilot program to award grants to businesses and organizations for new construction of energy efficient buildings, or major renovations of buildings that will result in energy efficient buildings, to demonstrate innovative energy efficiency technologies, especially those sponsored by the Department of Energy.

Awards

The Secretary shall award grants under this subsection competitively to those applicants whose proposals—

Consideration

The Secretary shall give due consideration to proposals for buildings that are likely to serve low and moderate income populations.

Amount of grants

Grants under this subsection shall be for up to 50 percent of design and energy modeling costs, not to exceed $50,000 per building. No single grantee may be eligible for more than 3 grants per year under this program.

Grant payments

Report to congress

Not later than 3 years after awarding the first grant under this subsection, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report containing—

Administrative expenses

Administrative expenses for the program under this subsection shall not exceed 10 percent of appropriated funds.

achieves a reduction in energy consumption of—

is constructed or renovated in accordance with the most current, appropriate, and applicable voluntary consensus standards, as determined by the Secretary, such as those listed in the assessment under section 914(b), or revised or developed under section 914(c), of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; and

after construction or renovation—

The Department of Energy through existing authorities and programs promotes technology transfer of basic and applied research funded by the Department of Energy and performed at its national laboratories, nonprofit and educational institutions, and the private sector, but there is a need to more quickly identify opportunities to accelerate the commercial application of new energy technologies to meet national energy needs.

The principal Department of Energy program organizations that already oversee various projects for basic and applied research and commercialization of new energy technologies are the Office of Science, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, and the Office of Nuclear Energy.

A more fully integrated Departmental approach to advanced energy research will help bridge the gap between basic research and applied technology to overcome long-term and high-risk technological barriers to the development of advanced energy technologies.

the term ARPA–E project means a project identified by the Secretary that shows promise to accelerate efforts to overcome long-term and high-risk technological barriers to the development of advanced energy technologies, including projects on—

the term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

ensure that ARPA–E projects do not alter the Department’s current balance of effort along the spectrum of energy research and development activities;

consider the novelty, scientific and technical merit, and potential transformative nature of the proposed projects;

consider the demonstrated capabilities of the applicants to successfully carry out the proposed research project;

consider the viability of avenues for commercial application, including the transfer of technologies to the private and public sector; and

consider such other criteria as are established by the Secretary.

$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;

$125,000,000 for fiscal year 2009;

$150,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;

$275,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and

$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.

Hiring of personnel

The Secretary shall carry out a program of experimental use of special personnel management authority in order to facilitate recruitment of eminent experts in science or engineering for ARPA–E projects.

Special personnel management authority

Under such program the Secretary may utilize the hiring and management authorities described in section 1101(b), (c), and (d) of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (5 U.S.C. 3104 note), except that—

In general

Disclosure of information that is submitted to the Department of Energy under a competitive or noncompetitive process pursuant to the authority granted in this section is not required under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, for five years after the date on which the information is received by the Department of Energy. Such information includes—

Project information

The Secretary, for a period of up to five years from the receipt by the Department of information that results from any transaction identified as an ARPA–E project, and which is of a character that it would be protected from disclosure under the meaning of section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, if the information had been obtained from a non-Government party, may provide appropriate protections against the dissemination of such information, including exemption from subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code.