Sustainable Energy Pathways

U.S. National Science Foundation · NSF

CFDA Numbers

47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.075

Award Ceiling

$2.0M

Award Floor

$500K

Expected Awards

Close Date

—

Section I

How to Apply

Apply Online ↗

View on grants_gov ↗

Program Contact

NSF grants.gov support <br/>grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov <br/>
grantsgovsupport@nsf.gov

Section II

Eligibility

*Organization Limit: Proposals may only be submitted by the following: - Proposals may be submitted by U.S. academic institutions that have research and degree-granting education programs in any area of research supported by NSF.U.S. academic institutions include universities as well as two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S., acting on behalf of their faculty members. Proposals may also be submitted by non-profit, non-academic organizations, including independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities. *PI Limit: A minimum of three investigators is required, the Principal Investigator (PI) and two or more co-PIs from the lead or participating institutions who are eligible to serve as PI or co-PI on NSF proposals submitted through their respective institutions. These investigators should represent more than one scientific discipline in order to ensure an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable energy.

Eligible Applicant Types

Section III

Description

A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Growing evidence for the role of energy use in global change and awareness of limitations in our energy choices are motivating a search for pathways that are technologically innovative as well as environmentally and economically sustainable at all scales of energy usage. This is a grand challenge to the scientific community that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. The creation of a secure and prosperous future for humanity depends on the contributions that science, engineering, and education will make towards building sustainable pathways to meet the energy needs of future generations. The dual roles of NSF - to support basic research and education - are ideally suited to stimulate vibrant science and engineering discovery and innovation efforts that will be needed to meet the challenge of building a sustainable energy future. Sustainable Energy Pathways is part of the NSF-wide initiative on Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES). The Sustainable Energy Pathways solicitation calls for innovative, interdisciplinary basic research in science, engineering, and education by teams of researchers for developing systems approaches to sustainable energy pathways based on a comprehensive understanding of the scientific, technical, environmental, economic, and societal issues. The SEP solicitation considers scalable approaches for sustainable energy conversion to useful forms, as well as its storage, transmission, distribution, and use. The following Topic Areas illustrate the broad scope of sustainable energy interest areas of this solicitation: Energy Harvesting & Conversion from Renewable Resources; Sustainable Energy Storage Solutions; Critical Elements & Materials for Sustainable Energy; Nature-Inspired Processes for Sustainable Energy Solutions; Reducing Carbon Intensity from Energy Conversion & Use; Sustainable Energy Transmission & Distribution; Energy Efficiency & Management.

Section IV

Key Dates

Posted: Sep 22, 2011
Archive: Jan 10, 2014