The CCEFP is pleased to share that the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Energy Efficiency R&D for Fluid-Power Systems in Off-Road Vehicles.”
In the fiscal year 2017 budget signed by the President, Congress appropriated $5,000,000 for a fluid power energy efficiency improvement research program for commercial off-highway vehicles. This program, created as a result of efforts by CCEFP with support of our industry partners, is the result of three years of hard work advocating for fluid power initiatives within the Department of Energy and Congress. The program will sponsor research projects that improve fluid power efficiency in commercial off-highway vehicles (construction, agriculture, forestry, material handling and mining). The CCEFP’s goal is to establish and nurture a permanent fluid power research program within DOE. This initiative requires CCEFP’s continuous cultivation and communication with DOE and Congress.
Recently, the CCEFP assisted the DOE in identifying research areas of focus and scope during a recent Mobile Fluid Power Workshop held at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, CO. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office sought input from stakeholders in the commercial, off-road vehicles sector to understand and prioritize the research needs necessary to increase the energy efficiency and reduce emissions of mobile fluid power systems. Over 75% of workshop attendees were affiliated with the CCEFP in some way.
This success for mobile fluid power research demonstrates that the CCEFP’s strategy is effective. Using CCEFP resources to identify, cultivate, and convince government agencies to fund fluid power research works. Other examples include campaigning for and successful incorporation of fluid power actuation in the $250,000,000 Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, of which six CCEFP companies have joined.
This level of government support for fluid power research is long overdue and critical to the ongoing health of the fluid power industry. These successes would not have been possible without concerted effort by the CCEFP and your continued support.
If you are interested in learning more about CCEFP’s efforts to promote fluid power technology within the U.S. Department of Energy, please contact Director Kim Stelson and/or Industrial Relations Director Mike Gust.
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