Note: Email Ben Schafer for Zoom info and signup sheet if you would like to attend

Funding in sustainable energy from the Department of Energy whether ARPA-E, EERE, BES or others increasingly requires integrated partnerships with commercial entities to be viable. In many cases foundations and other non-DOE funding sources are also requiring such partnerships.

The Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI) aims to facilitate partnerships between its energy researchers at Johns Hopkins University and critical industry partners to secure external funding that can lead to impactful sustainable energy solutions.

Steel manufacturing and its downstream applications particularly in construction are critical to the economy, currently have a relatively large carbon footprint, and have been earmarked as important areas for sustainability innovation by federal agencies and advocacy organizations.

Leveraging previous work ROSEI has connected with the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) to facilitate matching of ROSEI researchers and their sustainability ideas in steel with AISI and its member companies.

The vision of AISI: “The vision of the Institute and its members is for a sustainable American steel industry strategically positioned for growth and innovation and as a leader in the global marketplace.” AISI’s membership is comprised of integrated and electric arc furnace steelmakers, including: ArcelorMittal, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., DTE Energy Resources, Harsco Environmental, North American Stainless, Nucor Corporation, Outokumpu, SSAB Americas, and Tenaris Bay City; and 79 associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.

The next meeting of the AISI Sustainability Committee is in the first week of January 2023. ROSEI has agreed to provide summaries of potential ROSEI/JHU sustainability efforts with AISI and its members companies in advance of this meeting. Projects of interest to AISI and/or its members will then be connected directly for further discussion and further alignment with FOA’s etc. from DOE.

The scope of the potential ROSEI/JHU efforts is not limited to any specific funding opportunity – rather – the scope is intended to encompass the complete sustainability needs of the steel industry and therefore span from mining and manufacturing to adaptive re-use of end products. Further, no one field nor approach is preferred, ideas from chemistry, materials science, structural engineering, economy, finance, systems etc. all may be valued/desired.

Note: Email Ben Schafer for Zoom info and signup sheet if you would like to attend