The Chemical Industry Vision 2020 Technology Partnership (Vision 2020) is an industry-led partnership/process among public and private sector stakeholders to accelerate innovation and technology development in the chemical industry. As a result of this partnership,the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), has issued an announcement seeking applications for cost-shared research, development, and demonstration of innovative energy systems that can be widely applied throughout the U.S. chemical industry.

Energy systems, referred to in the announcement as the energy supply chain, are defined as those technologies and systems, located on or near the chemical plant, that produce and/or transport energy (electrical, thermal, mechanical) to the process, and/or recycle waste energy streams resulting from the chemical process. The energy supply chain in this announcement excludes the chemical process itself. Technology areas to be addressed include a) energy conversion; b) energy recovery; and c) crosscutting/systems applications. DOE is not looking to make small incremental changes to existing equipment options or components, but is looking for breakthrough approaches, which affect plant systems and can measurably affect plant energy use.

Energy conversion system projects awarded from this announcement are expected to significantly advance/integrate the state of the art in technologies such as direct and indirect fired heaters, heat exchange systems, chillers, furnaces, compressed air systems, pumps, and others. Energy recovery systems projects are expected to advance/integrate technologies in the area of waste heat recovery and upgrade systems, separation and recovery of waste products and emissions with fuel or feedstock value, as well as technologies that allow a more robust handling of corrosive/polluted waste streams to allow energy recycle.

Finally, applications addressing systems integration should advance technologies in areas of optimization of heat and fuel use, combined heat and power systems, energy storage/transport systems, and other similar areas. The above technologies are examples when considering application topics and DOE encourages the responders to this announcement to be creative, innovative, and propose technology solutions to address real needs that have the potential to make significant improvements and be both technically and financially viable.

Industry studies show that of the approximate 5.07 quads (10 E15 Btus) of primary source (fossil) energy consumed annually by the U.S. chemical industry, only about 2.2 quads of heat and power is utilized directly in the chemical processes. This project is aimed at the 2.87 quads of energy lost in the generation, delivery, and distribution of heat and power supplying the actual chemical process. DOE expects that any technology/project resulting from this announcement, once fully marketed, has the potential to contribute at least 1% or 27 trillion Btu of energy savings.

Projects resulting from this announcement will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1 efforts will address concept definition, technology development, and commercialization plans/activities resulting in "proof of concept" for the proposed technology/system. It is anticipated that the Phase 1 contracts shall be 12 to 24 month duration. Phase 2 efforts shall include final engineering development and demonstration of the proposed technology/system. Phase 2 shall require the involvement and financial commitment of a chemical industry partner to install & test the concept at their facility. It is anticipated that the Phase 1 contracts shall be 12 to 24 month duration. Phase 2 efforts shall include final engineering development and demonstration of the proposed technology/system. Approximately $4,000,000 in federal funds is estimated to be available to fund between 4 to 8 Phase 1 awards.

The announcement document can be downloaded at www.grants.gov, or at DOE's e-Center at http://e-center.doe.gov, or directly at: http://e-center.doe.gov/iips/faopor.nsf/UNID/3E21C5CB3CA26ACD852570A00054E1AC/$file/Announcement_DE-PS36-06GO96009.pdf.