Today, the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of State launched the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB) to accelerate the development of a robust, secure, domestic industrial base for advanced batteries. The Consortium provides a framework for cooperation and coordination among federal agencies having a stake in developing advanced battery technology and establishing a domestic supply of lithium batteries.
“Batteries power our daily lives, from consumer electronics to national defense,” said Daniel R Simmons, Assistant Secretary of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Improving battery technology is key to increased electric vehicle acceptance and creating the grid of the future with integrated resiliency and flexibility.”
The FCAB is part of the strategy outlined in DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge (ESGC) Draft Roadmap. The ESGC was announced earlier this year as a comprehensive, agency-wide program to accelerate the development, commercialization, and utilization of next-generation energy storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in energy storage. The ESGC draws on the extensive research capabilities of the DOE National Laboratories, universities, and industry.
By expanding collaborations to include other federal agencies, the FCAB exemplifies DOE’s commitment to accelerating the development of energy-storage technologies and sustaining American global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future.