(120a) Fundamental Research Needs to Advance Energy Technologies

The U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) supports fundamental research in chemical and materials sciences to provide the foundations for new energy technologies and to support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security. This presentation will discuss opportunities for fundamental research to impact DOE’s energy mission “to catalyze the timely, material, and efficient transformation of the nation’s energy system and secure U.S. leadership in energy technologies” with a focus on the way we generate, store and use energy nationally. I will provide an overview of BES strategic planning over the past decade that identified priority research directions for advancing energy applications, highlight key scientific advances in these areas, and discuss some future opportunities for modern science, particularly chemical sciences, to accelerate the transformation of the U. S. energy portfolio.