Clean Energy

As energy use in the United States continues to grow, the use of clean, sustainable energy sources must increase to meet demand. These sources include energy from biomass, geothermal, wind, hydropower, tidal power, and solar sources. For NSF, clean energy represents new efficient technology based on novel fundamental concepts, the energy saved through increased energy efficiency and conservation measures for existing technologies, as well as energy derived from renewable sources.

Funding Opportunities

NSF invites interdisciplinary groups of Principal Investigators to develop proposals in the area of clean energy technologies in two Dear Colleague Letters. Themes of interest for conference and research proposals include:

• Hydrogen, fusion, and/or geothermal technologies
• Industrial heat and/or energy efficiency technologies
• Offshore wind/wave technologies
• Critical materials for clean energy technologies
• Net-zero fuels and bioenergy
• Education and workforce development efforts

Learn about the thematic areas, submission instructions, contact information and more:

• Dear Colleague Letter: Conference Proposals on Clean Energy Topics (NSF 23-108) invites conference proposals to initiate new collaborations that will advance clean energy technologies and increase their use to benefit the economy, to ensure social justice and to serve the public good.
• Dear Colleague Letter: Clean Energy Technology RAISE or EAGER Proposals (NSF 23-109) invites Research Advanced by Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (RAISE) and EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposals to all NSF Directorates in the area of clean energy technologies.

Clean Energy Technology Webinar

NSF program directors held a webinar on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, about NSF's new clean energy funding opportunities. During the webinar, Program Directors shared information about themes of interest, submission instructions, and more.

Watch a recording of the webinar below and access the slides.