The industrial sector produces over 20 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which represents the second largest source of emissions in California. The industrial sector also accounts for about one third of the State’s energy consumption,[1] which includes a wide variety of processes. Process heating accounts for approximately 70 percent of the total industrial energy use. For certain applications, up to 85 percent of heat is eventually wasted. Industrial processes are heavily reliant on natural gas for manufacturing needs and there are few cost-effective options. This solicitation focuses on testing and evaluating promising approaches that could be cost-effective and help industries reach statewide decarbonization goals.
A. Purpose of Solicitation
The purpose of this solicitation is to fund applied research and development projects that enable cost-effective decarbonization of California’s industrial sector.
The projects must be within Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3-5 and must be within the following project groups:
Group 1: Fractional freezing, freeze distillation, or freeze concentration. These technologies focus on using electric chilling systems that would replace natural gas heating and evaporation.
Group 2: Industrial heat pumps for waste heat harvesting. These technologies will recover low-grade waste heat and use heat pumps to boost temperature, as higher temperature heat has more potential for re-use within the facility.
Group 3: Emerging refrigeration technologies, including non-vapor-compression for industrial use, use of advanced heat carriers, heat exchangers, or thermoelectric materials.
See Part II of this solicitation for project eligibility requirements. Applications will be evaluated as follows: Stage One proposal screening and Stage Two proposal scoring. Applicants may submit multiple applications, though each application must address only one of the project groups identified above. If an applicant submits multiple applications that address the same project group, each application must be for a distinct project (i.e., no overlap with respect to the tasks described in the Scope of Work).
Sign Up 
