IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5638 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SOLAR FUELS BASIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 

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

6 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16313) is amended to read as 

7 follows: 

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

9 ‘‘(a) INITIATIVE.— 

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

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

12 Fuels Basic Research Initiative, to expand theo13 retical and fundamental knowledge of photo14 chemistry, electrochemistry, biochemistry, and mate15 rials science useful for the practical development of 

16 experimental systems to convert solar energy to 

17 chemical energy. 

18 ‘‘(2) LEVERAGING.—The Secretary shall lever19 age expertise and resources from the Basic Energy 

20 Sciences Program and Biological and Environmental 

21 Research Program within the Office of Science, and 

22 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En23 ergy, as provided under subsections (b) and (c). 

24 ‘‘(3) TEAMS.—The Secretary shall organize ac25 tivities under the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initia26 tive to include multidisciplinary teams leveraging exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jul 13, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5638.RFS H5638

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1 pertise from the National Laboratories, universities, 

2 and the private sector to the extent practicable. 

3 These multidisciplinary teams shall pursue aggres4 sive, milestone-driven basic research goals. The Sec5 retary shall provide sufficient resources for those 

6 teams to achieve those goals over a period of time 

7 to be determined by the Secretary. 

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

9 is authorized to organize additional activities under 

10 this subsection through Energy Frontier Research 

11 Centers, Energy Innovation Hubs, or other organiza12 tional structures. 

13 ‘‘(b) ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS.— 

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

15 part of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, 

16 carry out a program to support research needed to 

17 bridge scientific barriers and discover knowledge rel18 evant to artificial photosynthetic systems. In car19 rying out activities under this subsection, the Direc20 tor of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences shall sup21 port basic research to pursue distinct lines of sci22 entific inquiry, including photoinduced production of 

23 hydrogen and oxygen from water, and the sustain24 able photoinduced reduction of carbon dioxide to fuel 

25 products including hydrocarbons, alcohols, carbon 


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1 monoxide, and natural gas. The Assistant Secretary 

2 for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy shall 

3 support translational research, development, and val4 idation of physical concepts developed under this 

5 subsection. 

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

7 shall review the program activities under this sub8 section to determine the achievement of technical 

9 milestones. 

10 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub12 section (d), there are authorized for carrying 

13 out activities under this subsection for each of 

14 fiscal years 2017 through 2020— 

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

16 the Basic Energy Sciences Program ac17 count; and 

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

19 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En20 ergy account. 

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

22 under this subsection may be obligated or ex23 pended for commercial application of energy 

24 technology. 


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1 ‘‘(c) BIOCHEMISTRY, REPLICATION OF NATURAL

2 PHOTOSYNTHESIS, AND RELATED PROCESSES.— 

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

4 part of the Solar Fuels Basic Research Initiative, 

5 carry out a program to support research needed to 

6 replicate natural photosynthetic processes by use of 

7 artificial photosynthetic components and materials. 

8 In carrying out activities under this subsection, the 

9 Director of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences shall 

10 support basic research to expand fundamental 

11 knowledge to replicate natural synthesis processes, 

12 including the photoinduced reduction of dinitrogen 

13 to ammonia, absorption of carbon dioxide from am14 bient air, molecular-based charge separation and 

15 storage, photoinitiated electron transfer, and catal16 ysis in biological or biomimetic systems. The Asso17 ciate Director of Biological and Environmental Re18 search shall support systems biology and genomics 

19 approaches to understand genetic and physiological 

20 pathways connected to photosynthetic mechanisms. 

21 The Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

22 Renewable Energy shall support translational re23 search, development, and validation of physical con24 cepts developed under this subsection. 


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

2 shall review the program activities under this sub3 section to determine the achievement of technical 

4 milestones. 

5 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to sub7 section (d), there are authorized for carrying 

8 out activities under this subsection for each of 

9 fiscal years 2017 through 2020— 

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

11 the Basic Energy Sciences Program and 

12 Biological and Environmental Research 

13 Program accounts; and 

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

15 the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En16 ergy account. 

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

18 under this subsection may be obligated or ex19 pended for commercial application of energy 

20 technology. 

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

22 to be appropriated under this section. This section shall 

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


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

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

3 Act is amended to read as follows: 

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

Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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