Evaluating and funding new technologies to support the US aluminum industry

Proposals for the research and development of new technologies that reduce energy consumption in the U.S. aluminum industry are evaluated and funded by The U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP). These proposals offer real opportunities to encourage and accelerate the development of new technologies that improve energy efficiency while strengthening the U.S. aluminum industry. ITP is currently partnering with 52 firms in 27 R&D projects that will reduce the energy consumed per unit of output of manufacturing aluminum. These projects range from high-risk energy and emissions reduction technologies to high-value melting technologies. This paper reports on how the current Aluminum portfolio is performing and how new proposals are evaluated, selected and funded. The paper provides researchers with working knowledge of the baselines, benchmarks and bandwidths used to evaluate new technologies and with the proposal merit review selection process.