The US Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has allocated a minimum of US4 million of funding toward a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to accelerate wood heater innovation and develop the next generation of efficient and clean wood heaters.
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Approximately 11 million homes in the United States use cordwood or wood pellets for space heating.
Although these heaters are considered a renewable energy source, they produce harmful pollutants and contribute to about 7 percent of the nation’s total annual particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions.
To reduce these pollutants, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), funded by the US Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), will oversee a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to accelerate wood heater innovation and develop the next generation of efficient and clean wood heaters.
CRADA is a partnership between a government agency and a private sector company to collaborate on research and development activities, and the goal of a CRADA project is to leverage the expertise, resources, and capabilities of both parties to develop new technologies, products, or services that can benefit society.
Wood Heater Innovation Collaboration
The Wood Heater Innovation Collaboration’s (WHIC’s) goal is to enable US wood heater manufacturers and researchers to leverage WHIC partner laboratory capabilities to advance or accelerate the commercial readiness of their technologies.
WHIC supports the development and testing of new domestically manufactured low-emission, high-efficiency, residential wood heaters that supply easily accessed and affordable renewable energy and have the potential to reduce the national costs associated with thermal energy.
At least US$4 million will be available for this competitively selected CRADA call, and up to four projects will be selected with a project duration of 12-18 months. Applicants are expected to provide a 20 percent cost share of the requested funding.
Applicants will work collaboratively with BNL and LBNL to develop a scope of work and appropriate budget and to leverage their unique expertise to develop and validate the performance of innovative wood heater technologies.
Applicants’ scope of work should include their technology advancement goals, the laboratory’s capabilities being leveraged (e.g., real-time emissions measurements, domain expertise, etc.), SMART milestones, and a Go/No-Go decision point.
Research projects may include the following:
- Improving the performance of commercial wood heaters through design optimization/modifications;
- Developing and validating the performance of wood heater retrofit devices;
- Developing and validating the performance of post-combustion wood heater technologies (e.g., catalysts ESPs); and
- Supporting field testing to better quantify heater performance, including advising on data collection of best practices and equipment, interpreting data collected, and understanding how collected data could be used to improve heater performance.
The deadline to submit a concept paper is August 11, 2023, and final proposals are due November 3, 2023.
