Programs in energy conservation: Inventions and Innovation Programs

Technical Report · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6270358· OSTI ID:6270358

DOE's Inventions and Innovation Programs--the Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP) and the Innovative Concepts Program (ICP)--are a unique federal response to the needs of individual and small businesses with creative ideas that could make a difference in our national use of energy. ERIP was established by Congress in 1974 to focus and nourish the creative powers of American inventors, no matter what the level of sophistication of the technology or its creator. This strategy, developed to recognize the potential contributions inherent in independent inventors and small businesses, has successfully supported innovators whose ideas are not yet attracting private investors but have technical and commercial potential. ERIP is, above all, a process. An unusual feature of the program is its joint operation by DOE and the US Department of Commerce through its National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST (formerly NBS, the National Bureau of Standards). This process involves increasing the awareness of ERIP in the community of inventors; NIST performing technical evaluations and feasibility studies; and DOE awarding grants, holding commercialization workshops, and performing periodic program evaluations. These activities are directed toward developing energy-related inventions closer to the stage where the private sector is willing to finance development and commercialization.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst. (SERI), Golden, CO (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6270358
• Report Number(s): DOE/CH/10093-33; ON: DE89000805
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
INVENTIONS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
REVIEWS
COMMERCIALIZATION
ECONOMICS
FINANCING
MARKETING
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
US DOE
DOCUMENT TYPES
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
US ORGANIZATIONS
320000* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization
290500 - Energy Planning & Policy- Research
Development
Demonstration
& Commercialization