THE FUTURE OF ARPA-E HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Serial No. 116–2 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 35–232PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas, Chairwoman ZOE LOFGREN, California FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma, DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois Ranking Member SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California, BILL POSEY, Florida Vice Chair RANDY WEBER, Texas CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania BRIAN BABIN, Texas LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas ANDY BIGGS, Arizona HALEY STEVENS, Michigan ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas KENDRA HORN, Oklahoma NEAL DUNN, Florida MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina BRAD SHERMAN, California MICHAEL CLOUD, Texas STEVE COHEN, Tennessee TROY BALDERSON, Ohio JERRY MCNERNEY, California PETE OLSON, Texas ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado ANTHONY GONZALEZ, Ohio PAUL TONKO, New York MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida BILL FOSTER, Illinois JIM BAIRD, Indiana DON BEYER, Virginia VACANCY CHARLIE CRIST, Florida VACANCY SEAN CASTEN, Illinois KATIE HILL, California BEN MCADAMS, Utah JENNIFER WEXTON, Virginia SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY HON. CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania, Chairman DANIEL LIPINKSI, Illinois RANDY WEBER, Texas, Ranking Member LIZZIE FLETCHER, Texas ANDY BIGGS, Arizona HALEY STEVENS, Michigan NEAL DUNN, Florida KENDRA HORN, Oklahoma RALPH NORMAN, South Carolina JERRY MCNERNEY, California MICHAEL CLOUD, Texas BILL FOSTER, Illinois SEAN CASTEN, Illinois (II) C O N T E N T S February 26, 2019 Page Witnesses .................................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Conor Lamb, Chairman, Subcommittee on En- ergy, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................. 8 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 10 Statement by Representative Randy Weber, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Energy, U.S. House of Representatives ........................................................ 11 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 13 Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman, Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 15 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 16 Statement by Representative Frank Lucas, Ranking Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ..................... 20 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 22 Witnesses: Dr. Arun Majumdar, Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor, Stanford Uni- versity, and Faculty Member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 25 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 27 Dr. Ellen D. Williams, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Physics at the University of Maryland Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 32 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 34 Dr. John Wall, Retired Chief Technical Officer, Cummins, Inc. Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 37 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 39 Dr. Saul Griffith, Founder and CEO, Otherlab Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 46 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 48 Mr. Mark P. Mills, Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 57 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 59 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 63 Appendix I: Additional Material for the Record Report submitted by Dr. John Wall, Retired Chief Technical Officer of Cummins, Inc. ...................................................................................................... 84 (III) THE FUTURE OF ARPA-E TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY, COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY, Washington, D.C. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:04 a.m., in room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Conor Lamb [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. (1) 2 U::ongrcss ilOilSC Of l\cprtllClltatiOC!l COMMITIEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY RAYBURN HOUSE WASHINGTON, DC 20515···6301 (202) 225-6375 The Future ofARP A-E Tuesday, F cbruary 26, 2019 !O:OOa.m. 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Dr. Arun Majumdar, Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor, Stanford University Dr. Ellen Williams, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland Dr. John Wall, Retired CTO of Cummins, Member of the Committee on Evaluation for the 2017 National Academies review of ARPA-E Dr. Saul Griffith, Founder and CEO, Otherlab Mr. Mark P. Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute 3 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HEARING CHARTER The Future ofARPA-E Tuesday, February 26,2019 !O:OOAM EST 2318 Rayburn House Office Building PURPOSE The purpose of the hearing is to assess the value of the role that the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E) currently plays in accelerating the development of innovative energy technologies, and to examine ways that Congress and the Administration may be able to improve ARPA-E's capabilities to spur transformational technological advances in pursuit of the agency's energy and environmental missions. WITNESSES • Dr. Arun Majumdar is the Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor at Stanford University and a faculty member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Majumdar was the founding Director of ARPA-E from 2009 to 2012. During his time at the Department of Energy (DOE) he also served as acting Under Secretary for Energy. His current research explores chemical processes in clean energy technology, next­ generation materials science, and efforts to improve the efficiency of the electric grid. 1 Dr. Ellen D. Williams is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland (UMD). Dr. Williams was the Director of ARPA-E from 2014 through the end of the Obama Administration. Prior to joining DOE, she served as Chief Scientist to BP and founded the UMD Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Her research currently focuses on surface physics and nanotechnology.2 1 "Arun Majumdar Bio." Stanford University. Accessed 12 Feb 2019. https://profiles.stanford.edu!arun-majumdar '"Ellen Williams Biography.•· University ofMary1and Department of Physics. Accessed 13 Feb 2019. https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/news-from-the-chair/383-ellen-williams-to-serve-as-chief-scientist-at-bp.htm1 1 4 • Dr. John Wall, now retired, served as the Chief Technology Officer for Cummins Inc. from 2000 to 2015, where he oversaw the company's worldwide commercial engine emissions reductions activities. Dr. Wall served on the Committee on Evaluation for the 2017 National Academies review of ARPA-E. Dr. Wall currently serves as a technical advisor for DOE's Joint BioEnergy Institute and as an advisor for Cyclotron Road. an energy technology incubator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory3. • Dr. Saul Griffith is the Founder and CEO of Otherlab, a privately held research and development lab that develops clean energy, robotics and automation, and engineered textiles, among other technology areas. In its ten years of existence, Other lab has been the recipient of multiple ARPA-E awards. Over the course of his career Dr. Griffith has 4 5 founded a number of companies and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2007 . • Mr. Mark P. Mills is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a faculty fellow at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science where he co-directs an Institute on Manufacturing Science and Innovation. He is also a strategic partner with Cottonwood Venture Partners, an energy-tech venture fund, and an advisory board member of Notre Dame University's Reilly Center for Science. Technology. and Values. BACKGROUND History In 2005, Congress requested a report from the National Academies to identify what federal actions could ''enhance the science and technology enterprise so that the United States