IB 

Union Calendar No. 528 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5638 

[Report No. 114–680] 

To provide for the establishment at the Department of Energy of a Solar 

Fuels Basic Research Initiative. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 6, 2016 

Mr. KNIGHT (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. WEBER

of Texas, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. POSEY, Mr. 

MOOLENAAR, and Mr. BABIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

JULY 11, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 6, 2016] 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5638 RH

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment at the Department of 

Energy of a Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5638 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Solar Fuels Innovation 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SOLAR FUELS BASIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 973 of the Energy Policy 

8 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16313) is amended to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 973. SOLAR FUELS BASIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 

11 ‘‘(a) INITIATIVE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

13 out a research initiative, to be known as the Solar 

14 Fuels Basic Research Initiative, to expand theoretical 

15 and fundamental knowledge of photochemistry, elec16 trochemistry, biochemistry, and materials science use17 ful for the practical development of experimental sys18 tems to convert solar energy to chemical energy. 

19 ‘‘(2) LEVERAGING.—The Secretary shall leverage 

20 expertise and resources from the Basic Energy 

21 Sciences Program and Biological and Environmental 

22 Research Program within the Office of Science, and 

23 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En24 ergy, as provided under subsections (b) and (c). 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5638 RH

1 ‘‘(3) TEAMS.—The Secretary shall organize ac2 tivities under the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initia3 tive to include multidisciplinary teams leveraging ex4 pertise from the National Laboratories, universities, 

5 and the private sector to the extent practicable. These 

6 multidisciplinary teams shall pursue aggressive, mile7 stone-driven basic research goals. The Secretary shall 

8 provide sufficient resources for those teams to achieve 

9 those goals over a period of time to be determined by 

10 the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary is 

12 authorized to organize additional activities under this 

13 subsection through Energy Frontier Research Centers, 

14 Energy Innovation Hubs, or other organizational 

15 structures. 

16 ‘‘(b) ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, as part 

18 of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, carry 

19 out a program to support research needed to bridge 

20 scientific barriers and discover knowledge relevant to 

21 artificial photosynthetic systems. In carrying out ac22 tivities under this subsection, the Director of the Of23 fice of Basic Energy Sciences shall support basic re24 search to pursue distinct lines of scientific inquiry, 

25 including photoinduced production of hydrogen and 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5638 RH

1 oxygen from water, and the sustainable photoinduced 

2 reduction of carbon dioxide to fuel products including 

3 hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbon monoxide, and natural 

4 gas. The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency 

5 and Renewable Energy shall support translational re6 search, development, and validation of physical con7 cepts developed under this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(2) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary 

9 shall review the program activities under this sub10 section to determine the achievement of technical 

11 milestones. 

12 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub14 section (d), there are authorized for carrying out 

15 activities under this subsection for each of fiscal 

16 years 2017 through 2020— 

17 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 from funds within the 

18 Basic Energy Sciences Program account; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) $25,000,000 from funds within 

21 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En22 ergy account. 

23 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—No funds authorized 

24 under this subsection may be obligated or exVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Jul 12, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5638.RH H5638

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5638 RH

1 pended for commercial application of energy 

2 technology. 

3 ‘‘(c) BIOCHEMISTRY, REPLICATION OF NATURAL PHO4 TOSYNTHESIS, AND RELATED PROCESSES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, as part 

6 of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, carry 

7 out a program to support research needed to replicate 

8 natural photosynthetic processes by use of artificial 

9 photosynthetic components and materials. In carrying 

10 out activities under this subsection, the Director of the 

11 Office of Basic Energy Sciences shall support basic 

12 research to expand fundamental knowledge to rep13 licate natural synthesis processes, including the 

14 photoinduced reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia, ab15 sorption of carbon dioxide from ambient air, molec16 ular-based charge separation and storage, 

17 photoinitiated electron transfer, and catalysis in bio18 logical or biomimetic systems. The Associate Director 

19 of Biological and Environmental Research shall sup20 port systems biology and genomics approaches to un21 derstand genetic and physiological pathways con22 nected to photosynthetic mechanisms. The Assistant 

23 Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable En24 ergy shall support translational research, developVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:23 Jul 12, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5638.RH H5638

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5638 RH

1 ment, and validation of physical concepts developed 

2 under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(2) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary 

4 shall review the program activities under this sub5 section to determine the achievement of technical 

6 milestones. 

7 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub9 section (d), there are authorized for carrying out 

10 activities under this subsection for each of fiscal 

11 years 2017 through 2020— 

12 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 from funds within the 

13 Basic Energy Sciences Program and Bio14 logical and Environmental Research Pro15 gram accounts; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) $25,000,000 from funds within 

17 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En18 ergy account. 

19 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—No funds authorized 

20 under this subsection may be obligated or ex21 pended for commercial application of energy 

22 technology. 

23 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—No additional funds are authorized to 

24 be appropriated under this section. This section shall be 

25 carried out using funds otherwise authorized by law.’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5638 RH

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The item re2 lating to section 973 in the table of contents of such Act 

3 is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 973. Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative.’’. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 528 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5638 

[Report No. 114–680] 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment at the Department 

tiative. of Energy of a Solar Fuels Basic Research IniJULY 11, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS