Annual Survey of Manufactures

Annual Survey of Manufactures: 2009 — Dec. 15 — "These data provide key measures of manufacturing activity, products, and location for the public and private sectors. The survey provides the best current measure of U.S. manufacturing industry outputs, inputs and operating status. Statistics include employment, payroll, worker hours, payroll supplements, cost of materials, selected operating expenses, value added by manufacturing capital expenditures, inventories and energy consumption. The survey also provides estimates of value of shipments for more than 1700 classes of manufactured products. Data are available at the national and state level, including the District of Columbia."

Vehicle technologies

Washington, DC - U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today the Department is accepting applications for up to $184 million over three to five years to accelerate the development and deployment of new efficient vehicle technologies that will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, save drivers money, and limit carbon pollution. Projects will span the broad spectrum of technology approaches, including advanced materials, combustion research, hybrid electric systems, fleet efficiency, and fuels technology.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement addresses the development of key technologies required to achieve large scale adoption of advanced vehicles such as plug-in electric hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Although the first of a new generation of electric drive vehicles is now entering the market, advancements in batteries, power electronics and lightweight materials are required to be fully competitive. In addition, extremely efficient vehicles utilizing improved combustion technologies, fuels, and waste heat recovery offer significant near-term improvements to conventional vehicles.

The Department is seeking applications from industry, laboratory and university teams to address our transportation challenges. The solicitation seeks to fill gaps in the existing program through the development of enabling technologies that will remove barriers and create new paradigms in vehicle design.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement released today focuses on eight approaches to improving vehicle efficiency:

• Advanced fuels and lubricants: Improve today's vehicle fuels and lubricants to enable optimal performance of advanced combustion engines.
• Light weighting materials: Accelerate commercial availability of lighter weight vehicles using advanced materials like magnesium and carbon fiber to dramatically reduce vehicle weight.
• Multi-material light weight material prototype: Design, build, and test a light-weight vehicle that is 50 percent lighter than a baseline light-duty vehicle.
• Advanced cells and design technology for electric drive batteries: Develop high energy or high power electric vehicles that significantly exceed existing state-of-the-art technologies in terms of performance and/or cost.
• Advanced power electronics and electric motor technology: Develop the next generation of power inverters and electric motors to meet demanding performance targets while achieving significant reductions in cost.
• Thermoelectric and enabling engine technology: Improve the efficiency of thermoelectric devices to convert engine waste heat to electricity. Develop early-stage enabling engine technologies to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
• Fleet efficiency: Develop and demonstrate fuel efficient tire and driver feedback technologies that will positively affect efficiency of the fleet of passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
• Advanced vehicle testing and evaluation: Conduct laboratory and field evaluations of advanced technology vehicles and related infrastructure, while developing new or modified test procedures.

Applications for the solicitation are due February 28, 2011. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov to be considered for awards. The Department of Energy expects to announce the selections by summer 2011.

Read more information on the Vehicle Technologies Program website.

Energy Export Initiative

WASHINGTON - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today joined seven other U.S. Government agencies in launching the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative, a coordinated effort to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency exports. In partnership with the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy co-chairs the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Working Group of the federal agencies participating in the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative.

While continuing to support trade missions, commercial advocacy, and industry outreach, DOE is also investing in instrumental market research and discovery that can help focus U.S. government resources for trade promotion. For example, DOE will identify U.S. manufactured energy efficiency products likely to be competitive in global markets, and in collaboration with U.S. trade associations, DOE will explore the creation of guides for foreign buyers listing technologies and services available from U.S. providers.

"Expanding U.S. clean technology exports is a critical step to ensuring America's economic competitiveness in the years ahead," said Secretary Chu. "The initiatives we are announcing today will provide us with a better understanding of the global clean energy marketplace and help boost U.S. exports."

The Initiative is the country's first-ever Federal government coordinated effort to support renewable energy and energy efficiency exports. Through the implementation of 23 interagency actions, the Initiative will facilitate a significant increase of renewable energy and energy efficiency exports during the next five years, helping to meet the goals of the National Export Initiative and President Obama's challenge to become the leading exporter of clean energy technologies.

The prospects for U.S. technology exports focusing on this industry are vast. More than 100 countries now have policies to encourage the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Many of these countries have substantial deployment targets that will drive demand for renewable energy and energy efficiency for years to come.

The Initiative was developed through the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) Working Group on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, which includes representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Energy, State, and Agriculture, as well as the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The report is available for download on the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Exporter web portal.

Environmental Sustainability

This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions. There are four principal general research areas which are supported, but others can be proposed: * Industrial Ecology * Green Engineering * Ecological Engineering * Earth Systems

All proposed research should be driven by engineering principles, and be presented explicitly in an environmental sustainability context. Proposals should include involvement in engineering research of at least one graduate student, as well as undergraduates. Incorporation of aspects of social, behavioral, and economic sciences is welcomed.The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years. The average annual award size for the program is $100,000. Any proposal received outside the announced dates will be returned without review.The duration of CAREER awards is five years. The submission deadline for Engineering CAREER proposals is in July every year. Please see the following URL for more information: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08051/nsf08051.jsp.Proposals for Conferences, Workshops, and Supplements may be submitted at any time, but must be discussed with the program director before submission.Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) and EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) replace the SGER program. Please note that proposals of these types must be discussed with the program director before submission. Further details are available in the PAPPG download, available below. Please refer to the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), January 2009, (NSF 09-1) when you prepare your proposal.

Link to Full Announcement

NSF Program Description 09-7643

Manufacturing Enterprise Systems (MES)

The MES program supports research on design, planning, and control of operations in manufacturing enterprises. Research is supported that impacts the analytical and computational techniques relevant to extended enterprise operations and that offer the prospect of implementable solutions. Topics of interest include analytical and computational tools for planning, monitoring, control, and scheduling of manufacturing and distribution operations, and development of methods for optimization of manufacturing enterprises in the presence of a high degree of uncertainty and risk.

What Has Been Funded (Recent Awards Made Through This Program, with Abstracts)

Manufacturing Enterprise Systems

Full Proposal Window: September 1, 2010 - October 1, 2010

September 1 - October 1, Annually Thereafter

Full Proposal Window: January 15, 2011 - February 15, 2011

January 15 - February 15, Annually Thereafter

Due dates repeat annually. Please reference the CMMI main page for further specifics concerning unsolicited proposal submission windows.

SYNOPSIS

The MES program supports research on design, planning, and control of operations in manufacturing enterprises. Research is supported that impacts the analytical and computational techniques relevant to extended enterprise operations and that offer the prospect of implementable solutions. Topics of interest include analytical and computational tools for planning, monitoring, control, and scheduling of manufacturing and distribution operations, and development of methods for optimization of manufacturing enterprises in the presence of a high degree of uncertainty and risk.

Department of Energy Paves Way for Additional Clean Energy Projects and Jobs Through Manufacturing Solicitation

[From www.energy.gov] Washington D.C. --- Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a new loan guarantee solicitation for renewable energy manufacturing projects. The Commercial Technology Manufacturing Systems and Components solicitation is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through Section 1705 of the Loan Guarantee Program. The solicitation will support the deployment of renewable energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help increase employment in the nation's green manufacturing sector, which is part of the Administration's long-term plan to create new green energy jobs.

The solicitation will seek applications for projects that manufacture commercial technology renewable energy systems, such as an energy storage system, and components, such as wind turbine systems, blades or solar photovoltaic components.

"The Department's manufacturing solicitation will help more Americans get back to work while accelerating economic development," said Secretary Chu. "To keep pace in the global market, we need to build and expand U.S.-based state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities."

The Department has recently implemented a number of improvements to its loan guarantee program that will help facilitate a more efficient application process. For example, the Department designed and organized the manufacturing solicitation to provide greater transparency into application requirements, evaluation processes, schedules and fees. Additionally, applicants can apply to the solicitation via the newly launched, user-friendly online application portal.

As with earlier solicitations, the manufacturing solicitation will consist of a two-step process with rolling deadlines. The first Part I deadline is August 31, 2010, and the first Part II deadline is October 31, 2010. Final part I applications are due November 30, 2010 and final part II applications are due January 31, 2011. Applicants are strongly encouraged to get their applications in early since projects must meet all statutory and regulatory requirements and commence construction no later than September 30, 2011. The Department will make available up to $750 million to pay the credit subsidy costs of loan guarantees issued through this solicitation.

The Recovery Act created a new Section 1705 under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Title XVII) for the rapid deployment of renewable energy projects and related manufacturing facilities, electric power transmission projects, and leading edge biofuels projects that commence construction before September 30, 2011. This solicitation is the fourth issued in support of Section 1705. For more information on this program, please visit the Loan Guarantee Program Office.