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In two decades, when the Distributed Energy Program's vision and mission are fulfilled, industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential customers will be able to choose from an array of ultrahigh-efficiency, ultralow-emission, fuel-flexible, and cost-competitive distributed energy (DE) products and services. These DE products and services will use natural gas and renewable energy and will be easily interconnected with the nation's infrastructure for the next generation of electricity.
Mission
To lead a national effort to:
- Develop the "next generation" of clean, efficient, reliable, and affordable DE technologies and integrate these technologies at end-user sites
- Document the energy, economic, and environmental benefits of the expanded use of DE resources and disseminate the findings widely
- Develop national and international standards that address infrastructure, energy delivery, and institutional and regulatory needs.
Vision
The Distributed Energy Program's vision is that, by 2020, the United States will have a flexible, secure, efficient, and reliable energy infrastructure by optimizing the use of DE resources.
Strategies
The Distributed Energy Program's strategies are to:
- Direct and coordinate a diverse portfolio of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) investments in distributed natural gas technologies, including:
- Advanced turbines and microturbines
- Natural gas engines
- Thermally activated technologies (desiccants, chillers)
- Cooling, heating, and power systems
- Conduct supporting RD&D in enabling technologies, including:
- Combustion systems
- Fuel processing
- Materials and manufacturing
- Power electronics
- Sensors and controls
- Coordinate with RD&D in energy generation and delivery systems architecture for DE resources, including:
- District energy
- Energy storage
- Grid interconnection
- Modeling and simulation tools
- Power parks and minigrids
- Superconducting materials for electric systems
- Transmission and distribution
- Conduct systems integration, implementation, and outreach activities aimed at addressing infrastructure, institutional, and regulatory needs, including:
- Building codes and standards
- Environmental permitting and siting
- Federal Energy Management Program
- International President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
- Standardized interconnection protocols
- State initiatives
- Tax provisions
- Utility restructuring
- Establish collaborative technology transfer partnerships with industry, state agencies, universities, and national laboratories, including:
- Multiyear plans, industry visions, and technology road maps
- Cost-shared research, development, and demonstration projects
- Cost-shared technology transfer activities
- Coordinate activities with RD&D in renewable and fossil energy development, including:
- Concentrating solar power and solar building systems
- Geothermal systems
- Photovoltaic systems
- Wind energy systems
- Hydrogen energy systems
- High-temperature fuel cell systems.
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