I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5638 

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 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment at the Department of 

Energy of a Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative. 

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 

9 follows: 


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

2 ‘‘(a) INITIATIVE.— 

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

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

5 Fuels Basic Research Initiative, to expand theo6 retical and fundamental knowledge of photo7 chemistry, electrochemistry, biochemistry, and mate8 rials science useful for the practical development of 

9 experimental systems to convert solar energy to 

10 chemical energy. 

11 ‘‘(2) LEVERAGING.—The Secretary shall lever12 age expertise and resources from the Basic Energy 

13 Sciences Program and Biological and Environmental 

14 Research Program within the Office of Science, and 

15 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En16 ergy, as provided under subsections (b) and (c). 

17 ‘‘(3) TEAMS.—The Secretary shall organize ac18 tivities under the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initia19 tive to include multidisciplinary teams leveraging ex20 pertise from the National Laboratories, universities, 

21 and the private sector to the extent practicable. 

22 These multidisciplinary teams shall pursue aggres23 sive, milestone-driven basic research goals. The Sec24 retary shall provide sufficient resources for those 

25 teams to achieve those goals over a period of time 

26 to be determined by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary 

2 is authorized to organize additional activities under 

3 this subsection through Energy Frontier Research 

4 Centers or other organizational structures. 

5 ‘‘(b) ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS.— 

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

7 part of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, 

8 carry out a program to support research needed to 

9 bridge scientific barriers and discover knowledge rel10 evant to artificial photosynthetic systems. In car11 rying out activities under this subsection, the Direc12 tor of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences shall sup13 port basic research to pursue distinct lines of sci14 entific inquiry, including photoinduced production of 

15 hydrogen and oxygen from water, and the sustain16 able photoinduced reduction of carbon dioxide to fuel 

17 products including hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbon 

18 monoxide, and natural gas. The Assistant Secretary 

19 for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy shall 

20 support translational research, development, and val21 idation of physical concepts developed under this 

22 subsection. 

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

24 shall review the program activities under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Jul 07, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5638.IH H5638

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1 section to determine the achievement of technical 

2 milestones. 

3 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub5 section (d), there are authorized for carrying 

6 out activities under this subsection for each of 

7 fiscal years 2017 through 2020— 

8 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 from funds within 

9 the Basic Energy Sciences Program ac10 count; and 

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

12 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En13 ergy account. 

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

15 under this subsection may be obligated or ex16 pended for commercial application of energy 

17 technology. 

18 ‘‘(c) BIOCHEMISTRY, REPLICATION OF NATURAL

19 PHOTOSYNTHESIS, AND RELATED PROCESSES.— 

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

21 part of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, 

22 carry out a program to support research needed to 

23 replicate natural photosynthetic processes by use of 

24 artificial photosynthetic components and materials. 

25 In carrying out activities under this subsection, the 


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1 Director of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences shall 

2 support basic research to expand fundamental 

3 knowledge to replicate natural synthesis processes, 

4 including the photoinduced reduction of dinitrogen 

5 to ammonia, absorption of carbon dioxide from am6 bient air, molecular-based charge separation and 

7 storage, photoinitiated electron transfer, and catal8 ysis in biological or biomimetic systems. The Asso9 ciate Director of Biological and Environmental Re10 search shall support systems biology and genomics 

11 approaches to understand genetic and physiological 

12 pathways connected to photosynthetic mechanisms. 

13 The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

14 Renewable Energy shall support translational re15 search, development, and validation of physical con16 cepts developed under this subsection. 

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

18 shall review the program activities under this sub19 section to determine the achievement of technical 

20 milestones. 

21 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub23 section (d), there are authorized for carrying 

24 out activities under this subsection for each of 

25 fiscal years 2017 through 2020— 


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1 ‘‘(i) $50,000,000 from funds within 

2 the Basic Energy Sciences Program and 

3 Biological and Environmental Research 

4 Program accounts; and 

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

6 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En7 ergy account. 

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

9 under this subsection may be obligated or ex10 pended for commercial application of energy 

11 technology. 

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

13 to be appropriated under this section. This section shall 

14 be carried out using funds otherwise authorized by law.’’. 

15 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The item 

16 relating to section 973 in the table of contents of such 

17 Act is amended to read as follows: 

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

Æ 


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