[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 249 (Thursday, December 29, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-32115]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 29, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Research
Energy Research Financial Assistance Notice 95-12: Global Change
Assessment Research
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER) of the
Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hereby
announces its interest in receiving applications to support research
and analysis of Global Change Assessment Research. This notice follows
a notice published December 9, 1992, in the Federal Register (Notice
93-04) for the Economics of Global Change Research Program. The
refocused program has expanded since 1992 to include core support for
integrated assessment activities, research on assessment in direct
support of global change policy, and broader issues of sustainable
development. The research program supports the Department's Global
Change Research Program, the U.S. Global Change Research Program
(USGCRP), and the Administration's goals to understand and mitigate the
rise in greenhouse gases.
DATES: Formal applications submitted in response to this notice must be
received by 4:30 PM, EST, February 23, 1995, to permit timely
consideration for awards in Fiscal Year 1995.
ADDRESSES: Formal applications referencing Program Notice 95-12 should
be forwarded to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research,
Acquisition and Assistance Management Division, ER-64 (GTN),
Washington, D.C. 20585, ATTN: Program Notice 95-12. The following
address must be used when submitting applications by U.S. Postal
Service Express Mail or any commercial mail delivery service, or when
hand-carried by the applicant: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of
Energy Research, Acquisition and Assistance Management Division, ER-64,
19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John C. Houghton, Office of Health
and Environmental Research, Environmental Sciences Division, ER-74
(GTN), U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585, (301) 903-
8288, fax (301) 903-7363, or by Internet address,
john.houghton@mailgw.er.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: There are two topics that are included in
the DOE Global Change Assessment Research (GCAR) Program for FY 1995.
Approximately 70 percent of the funds are expected to be allocated to
the first topic and 30 percent for topic B.
The determination of energy policy, such as that contained in the
Department of Energy's National Energy Policy Plan and the President's
Climate Change Action Plan, is tied to understanding the benefits and
costs of potential actions with respect to the control of greenhouse
gases and possible climate change. The research described in this
notice supports the analysis of those benefits and costs as well as
helps in presenting the results of the U.S. Global Change Research
Program to the policy-setting process.
This research will be judged in part on its potential to improve
and/or support the analytical basis for policy development. For
instance, research that supports integrated assessment, which in turn
supports the policy process, is considered relevant. More broadly
applicable research will be preferred to narrowly focussed research on,
for example, particular energy technologies, or narrowly-defined
geographic regions. One of the requirements of the application is to
define the linkage to policy questions that the research expects to
address. Applications that involve development of analytical models and
computer codes will be judged in part on the basis of proposed tasks to
prepare documentation and make the models and codes available to other
groups.
A background document that describes the supplementary information
in more detail is available from Dr. Houghton. For topics A and B,
applicants are expected to be familiar with literature on global
climate change. A representative list of relevant literature is also
available from Dr. Houghton.
A. Integrated Assessment of Climate Change
Integrated Assessment (IA) of climate change is the analysis of
climate change from the cause, such as greenhouse gas emissions,
through impacts, such as changed energy requirements for space
conditioning due to temperature changes. The analysis should include
feedbacks and be oriented to evaluating policy options. IA is
sometimes, but not always, implemented as a computer model. The GCAR
program will support research that either (a) develops IA's for use by
the policy-setting process, or (b) conducts more narrowly defined
research topics, the results of which would be used by the IA
community. Note that the research supports the development of
methodologies or information rather than the exercise of a model to
evaluate specific policy options. In case a), a criterion for selecting
awards will be the potential contribution to the policy decision
process and the added value of that particular proposed IA effort over
other ongoing IA activities. In case b), a criterion will be the
importance of the research results to the IA community.
The following categories are examples of focused research topics
that would support IA. They are listed in order of importance.
1. Technology Innovation and Diffusion
This category has been a primary focus of the GCAR program for the
last two years. Potential research projects include such issues as:
Estimates of future overall costs to society of reducing future
greenhouse gas emissions. This is also sometimes considered as the
degree to which energy efficiency will improve independent of price and
specific policies. The issue is commonly known as the top/down versus
bottom/up controversy and is parameterized in some IA models as the
autonomous energy efficiency improvement index.
The rate of technology diffusion from the U.S. to developing
countries and the prediction of the energy-use path for developing
countries.
The portrayal of technology and related assumptions consistently
across different parts of an IA model.
2. Representing and valuing non-market impacts in integrated
assessments
A major challenge before the integrated assessment modeling
community is to expand the range of representations in integrated
assessment models of the response of ecosystems and socio-economic
systems to potential climate changes. This is especially true for
estimates of the value of the consequences of climate change on the
``non-market'' goods and services provided by ecosystems. Applications
should seek to develop new methods for including potential consequences
of climate change into integrated assessment models, including how to
value non-market goods.
3. Reduced form models
This category would support the development of selected simplified
models that portray an important aspect of the overall problem and can
be used by several of the IA modelers. This category would also support
research that addresses paradigms for coordinating research on process
studies so that they are more easily reformulated as reduced form
models.
4. Uncertainty
Research subjects include how to estimate uncertainty in IA models,
how uncertainty affects the effectiveness of policy options, the
utility of different representations of uncertainty including
surprises, and the value of research on different topics based on an
analysis of the utility of uncertainty reduction.
5. Scale Differences
In linking the physical, biological, and social science systems
together, information and sub-models are often collected and
constructed at different geographical scales and timeframes. For
example, impacts averaged across large latitude and longitude cells do
not correspond to nations, which are often the appropriate unit in
political science models of international negotiating. This category
includes research on combining different scales in a consistent manner.
6. Data
Some data sets are so important and common to so many assessment
activities that support for collection of that data would prevent
duplication. This category includes two subjects. The first is to
conduct the research necessary to define specific data sets that are
needed by the IA community. The second is to conduct the research
necessary to collect and provide a needed data set.
7. Driving Forces
This research will help understand the underlying economic forces
that drive global change and that form a foundation for most economic
modeling of global change.
8. Definition of Sustainability
This research pertains to defining sustainability and how to
augment integrated assessment models of climate change to include
sustainability concepts, such as including information on other
sustainable indices, for example water resources, arable land, health,
and the environmental options available to future generations through
increased economic growth.
B. Assessment in Direct Support of Policy
The following subject areas are defined by categories of policy
concerns rather than by research categories themselves. Successful
research applications in this area will concentrate on the broader
issues of policy activities rather than, for example, specific policy
proposals. Although particular examples or case studies may be
important to understanding the broader theme, the major goal is the
general understanding that can be applied to the broad policy. The
categories are listed in order of importance.
1. U.S. Emission Abatement Strategies
The research would help predict the direct and indirect
effectiveness of emission abatement strategies, such as cost, impacts,
and timing. For example, assessing effectiveness of voluntary actions
would be important for some short-term abatement actions.
2. Developing Country Abatement Strategies
The goal of this category is to understand other countries' general
abatement options so that, for example, constructing guidelines for
joint implementation projects can be analyzed.
3. Adaptation
Research in this area would help energy sector planners plan for a
potentially changing climate. The energy sector includes electric
generation from fossil fuels, hydroelectric, nuclear, renewable,
transmission and storage, and others. Adaptation in other sectors, such
as water and transportation, would be important to the extent that the
issues, for example temperature and quantity of cooling water supply,
relate to the energy sector.
4. Global Change in the Context of Other Social and Environmental
Policy Options
Often global change policy issues are discussed in the context of
broader social and environmental goals. This category would support the
extension of global change assessment to include measures and concepts
that would benefit the broader debate, such as international trade, job
formation, and economic competitiveness.
5. International negotiations
This category includes research on past roles or future prospects
for science and integrated assessments in international environmental
negotiating processes and the formation and stability of international
agreements, for instance, whether agreements can be generated that are
both effective in reducing emissions and that do not encourage
countries to ``drop out.''
Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a brief
preapplication in accordance with 10 CFR 600.10(d)(2), which consists
of two to three pages of narrative describing research objectives.
Preapplications will be used to identify potential opportunities for
coordinated research, to enable DOE to advise potential applicants of
DOE's interest in their research ideas, and to serve as a basis for
arranging reviews of formal applications.
Preapplications should include no more than two to three double-
spaced pages (10 pt.), including proposed research; names and telephone
numbers for all principal investigators (PIs), coprincipal
investigators, and collaborators; and telefax number, Internet address
(if available) and mail address for the PI. Preapplications referencing
Program Notice 95-12 should be received by January 16, 1995, and sent
to Dr. Houghton, Office of Health and Environmental Research, ER-74,
Washington, D.C. 20585, or to Internet address
john.houghton@mailgw.er.doe.gov. A response to the preapplication will
be communicated to the PI by February 1, 1995.
Preapplications and formal applications will be reviewed relative
to the DOE interests described by this notice and in reference to scope
and research priorities of the U.S. Global Climate Change Research
Program (USGCRP). Preapplications will be reviewed for relevance to
Program needs and interests. Formal applications will be subjected to
merit review and will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria set
forth in 10 CFR Part 605 as well as the specifics referenced above.
It is anticipated that approximately $1.5 million will be available
for grant awards in Fiscal Year 1995, contingent upon availability of
appropriated funds. Previous awards for this type of research have
ranged from $50,000 up to $250,000 per year, with most not exceeding
$150,000. While most awards are expected to range from $50,000 to
$150,000 per year, a few larger awards may be granted for integrated
assessment activities. Funding of multiple year grant awards of up to
three years is available and is also contingent upon availability of
appropriated funds.
Information about the development and submission of applications,
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other
policies and procedures, may be found in the Application Guide for the
Office of Energy Research Financial Assistance Program and 10 CFR Part
605. The Application Guide is available from the U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Health and Environmental Research, Environmental
Sciences Division, ER-74, Washington, D.C. 20585. Telephone requests
may be made by calling (301) 903-4902.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this program
is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 CFR part
605.
D. D. Mayhew,
Director, Office of Management, Office of Energy Research.
[FR Doc. 94-32115 Filed 12-28-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
