Energy & Environment

Energy & Environment

Photo courtesy of Dennis Schroeder / NREL
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New smartphone apps can be connected to a home thermostat to monitor energy use. The tradeoffs associated with the development of such technologies is a primary focus of the Energy & Environment program.

Program Goal

To advance understanding about the economic, environmental, security, and policy trade-offs associated with the increased deployment of low- and no-carbon resources and technologies across the energy system and the resulting impacts on the quality of American life.

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Strategy

Grants in this program focus on advancing a series of interrelated strategies.

  • Generate Novel Research and Knowledge: The primary focus of this program is to build an impartial science, technology, engineering, economic, and policy knowledge base as a public good.
  • Train the Next Generation of Scholars and Practitioners: An important component of this program is introducing new voices into the field and training the next generation of individuals capable of anticipating and addressing energy challenges and opportunities.
  • Build Multidisciplinary Networks and Communities: Grantmaking aims to strengthen existing research networks and create longstanding communities of practice that will endure beyond the program’s timeline.
  • Educate Stakeholders and Disseminate Information for Decision-Making: Appropriate grantees will be engaged to apply impartial research findings to inform the development of policies and practices that address the deployment of low- and no-carbon technologies and resources.
  • Attract Additional Resources: This program aims to seed new ideas that stimulate additional support for research on these topics by government, industry, and philanthropy.
Call for Proposals: Transmission & Distribution Research
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Due to the significant funding available from both public and private sources for energy and environmental research, the Foundation is very selective in the grants it makes in this area. Interested scholars should send a letter of inquiry of no more than two pages to program director Evan S. Michelson. Please note:

  • The Foundation does not engage in or support energy policy advocacy of any kind. Support is only provided for non-partisan, balanced, evidence-based analysis.
  • This is not a climate change program.  Projects focusing exclusively on climate change are considered outside the program’s scope.
  • Grants in this program focus on investigating underexplored research questions related to energy sources (supply), transmission and distribution, energy use (demand), new energy technologies, the economics of energy transmission and distribution, big data, energy efficiency, and transportation.
  • Due to strict funding criteria and limited resources, it is often not possible to fund unsolicited grant inquiries.

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