NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing clean energy technologies in the Piedmont region to Generate Innovative New Economic Systems (NC, SC)

This NSF Engines Development Award is focused on clean energy (CE) resource technologies, including land-based and offshore wind, solar, clean hydrogen, marine energy, and the electric-energy delivery and storage systems that support their integration with the grid. Leveraging the creativity, research, and development expertise, infrastructure, and professional networks of partner organizations, this project will benefit the communities in the renewable energy resource basin of the Carolinas through use-inspired research and technology creation, translation to practice, and workforce development leading to regional economic development. The project's activities will support the CE transformation of the Carolinas for a net-carbon-neutral electric grid in 2050. The ecosystem will lead to a more just and equitable distribution of wealth through upward economic mobility enabled by education and employment in high-wage jobs typical of a knowledge-driven economy. The region of service is centered in Charlotte. It encompasses the Piedmont and Coastal Plains of North and South Carolina, focusing on areas in the eastern parts of both states, especially the Southeast Black Belt. The region is the most representative of the nation’s emerging CE economy through significant existing carbon-free power production and capabilities to invent, design, build, and manufacture CE technologies. The project is led by UNC Charlotte and comprises a diverse coalition of currently identified and aspirational partners from higher education, industry, government, and consortia/community organizations. This NSF Engines Development award will accelerate use-inspired research to improve the competitiveness of numerous products related to renewable energy (solar, wind, and marine) and smart grid technologies that are needed to integrate large increases in CE. When successful, the future NSF Engine will develop disruptive technology for clean hydrogen as a second energy carrier to support a cluster of hydrogen companies in the Southeast. This project will embrace, through a pervasive diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and accessibility (DEIA) culture, engagement with economically distressed communities in the region. Innovative workforce development activities coordinated with NC A&T State University will help prepare competitive communities in the knowledge-based economy that will rapidly grow CE production. The Development Award will support these activities through four thrusts: (1) an innovation inventory of regional scientific and technical expertise in CE; (2) workforce development for CE innovations and manufacturing; (3) demonstration of the culture of DEIA; and (4) organizational activities leading to an effective leadership team and a roadmap for transitioning to the nascent phase of a future NSF Engine. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.