The EPA Clean School Bus Program has announced awards in 37 states to receive nearly $1 billion through EPA’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants competition. Among the selected recipients are two Tennessee school districts, Hardin and Warren Counties, which will each receive funding to replace five older diesel school buses with new all-electric school buses, totaling ten new electric school buses.

U.S. DOE recently announced over $71 million for 27 projects to develop innovative and equitable clean mobility options, alleviating supply chain concerns for EV batteries and increasing EV drive range. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will receive $1 million for the development of low-density alloys for lightweighting vehicle structural components. Additionally, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority will receive over $3.2 million to implement AI-powered, autonomy-aware neighborhood mobility zones, which will look at equitable solutions for revamping transportation options.

TDEC invites Tennesseans to submit nominations for the 2024 Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements by individuals, local governments, businesses, organizations, educational institutions, and agencies for successful environmental projects and conservation measures. The honors include ten categories: Agriculture and Forestry, Building Green, Clean Air, Energy and Renewable Resources, Environmental Education and Outreach, Materials Management, Natural Resources, Water Quality, Sustainable Performance, and Lifetime Achievement.

The Energy and Renewable Resources award recognizes projects that further the widespread use and adoption of alternative fuels or novel domestic fuel sources, energy conservation and energy efficiency strategies, or innovative energy or alternative fuel devices or techniques. Additionally, the Clean Air award will demonstrate measurable progress in reducing hazardous air pollutants, volatile organic compounds, acid rain precursors, greenhouse gases and other air emissions sources, outdoor exposure to toxic air contaminants, and/or air deposition loading to land and water. Self-nominations are encouraged. For more information about each category, judging criteria, and nomination forms, visit the TDEC Governor's Environmental Stewardship Awards web page. Nominations will be accepted until March 15.

Energizing Tennessee, a podcast from the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) and FirstBank, explores the latest news and insights about the advanced energy sector with experts sharing their thoughts on transportation electrification, workforce development, and the growing sector of advanced energy in Tennessee’s economy.

In episode fifteen, host Cortney Piper interviews Dr. Kevin Heaslip, Director of the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Heaslip also serves as the Chief Executive Officer of TEAM TN, a partnership with the National Science Foundation and an alliance of 100 academic, industry, and technical representatives led by UT Knoxville. Piper and Dr. Heaslip discuss how to advance mobility solutions for all Tennesseans.

In episode sixteen, Piper interviews Liliana Ramirez, Global Director of Workforce Development at Ford,  who oversees strategies to build the manufacturing workforce required for BlueOval City and BlueOval SK Battery Park. The episode includes a discussion on Ford’s approach to workforce development, including the BlueOval Learning initiative and how it plans to fill 6,000 new jobs in West Tennessee.

All episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Click here to listen.

Unitech North America, LLC recently announced a $30 million investment in Morrison, TN, where it will locate its first U.S. operations. This facility will specialize in the production of thermal adhesives and battery compression pads for EV battery manufacturers across the Southeast, as well as industrial adhesives and sealers for its automotive customers. In phase one of the project, Unitech will create 75 new jobs in Warren County, with plans to grow through future expansions.

TEAM TN, a partnership between the National Science Foundation and an alliance of Tennessee academic, industry, and technical representatives, invites its partners to the inaugural TEAM TN Summit from January 30-31 in Cleveland, Tennessee.

TEAM TN working group leaders will update partners on their progress toward positioning Tennessee at the leading edge of transportation electrification and digitization, and TDEC Commissioner Salyers will speak to the State’s commitment to transportation electrification. Additionally, attendees will learn about industry technology trends and will have the opportunity to provide feedback on how Tennessee can capture these trends to benefit diverse communities, workforce, entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems, and the economy.

Subsequent summits will highlight different focus areas of TEAM TN’s working groups and will provide opportunities for community feedback and networking. Summit feedback will inform TEAM TN’s strategic roadmap.

Register for the TEAM TN Summit here.

The Safe Routes Partnership, as part of the Walk, Ride, and Roll Webinar Series, will host a webinar, Supporting Safe Routes and Sparking Joy Through Community Partnerships, on February 7 at 1:00 PM Central. The webinar will explore creative partnerships that support safety and spark joy in Safe Routes programs. Whether your organization is looking for new outreach venues, evaluation experts, or fun ways to change up its programs, this webinar will provide insights, partnership models, and solutions to explore.

The 2024 Appalachian Carbon Forum, hosted by the University of Kentucky and Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL), will take place March 7-8 in Lexington, KY. The two-day forum brings together a diverse range of thought leaders and innovators to identify and develop energy solutions for the Appalachian region. 

The forum will feature discussions on the representative needs, challenges, and opportunities unique to the area with participants from local communities, private industry, national laboratories, academia, and government located along the Appalachian mountain range. A session on mobility and buildings in Appalachia will highlight the EV ecosystem, emerging construction technologies, and innovative processes to reduce emissions in both sectors.

Register for the 2024 Appalachian Carbon Forum here.

The U.S. DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office recently announced $59 million to accelerate the research, development, demonstration, and deployment of affordable clean-hydrogen technologies and support the vision of the U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap. Projects supported by this funding will reduce the cost and improve the performance of critical elements of hydrogen infrastructure, demonstrate innovative end-use applications for clean hydrogen, and streamline and improve processes essential to the efficient, timely, and equitable deployment of clean hydrogen technologies.

Funding is available for the following topic areas:

U.S. DOE encourages applicant teams that include stakeholders within academia, industry, and national laboratories across multiple technical disciplines. U.S. DOE is compiling a teaming partner list to facilitate the formation of project teams for this funding opportunity.

View the funding opportunity announcement for additional information. Concept papers are due January 26, and full applications are due March 22.

EPA recently announced the 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program, which anticipates awarding at least $500 million in funding. Eligible applicants can apply to receive funding for the purchase of up to 25 zero-emission and/or clean school buses, along with charging infrastructure and eligible workforce development costs. Selectees may also be eligible for tax credits, such as the Clean Vehicle tax credit, to apply to their bus and infrastructure purchases.

Eligible applicants include:

EPA is prioritizing applications that will replace buses serving high-need local education agencies and rural areas. View the detailed list of prioritized school districts here. EPA will host informational webinars on the program through January 2024; view the list of upcoming webinars here. Additional resources are available from the World Resource Institute on electricschoolbusinitiative.org. Applications are due January 31.

The Transportation Network Growth Opportunity (TNGO) initiative, supported by the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development in partnership with Launch Tennessee and TEAM (Technology Enabled Advanced Mobility) TN, is an economic development tool designed to connect statewide research assets, communities, and talent to spark new research and innovation in the transportation sector.

The TNGO Mobility and Automotive Discovery initiative aims to partner communities, companies, and/or economic development applicants with researchers across the state to provide innovative solutions to the state’s most pressing mobility and transportation-related issues.

TNGO Mobility and Automotive Discovery survey responses are due February 2.

U.S. DOE recently announced $37 million in funding to reduce costs associated with recycling EV batteries. This funding opportunity is the second phase of funding from a $200 million total allocation provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for electric drive vehicle battery recycling and second life applications. This second phase will reduce the costs associated with transporting, dismantling, and preprocessing end-of-life electric drive vehicle batteries for recycling of plastic and polymer electric drive battery accessory components.

View the funding opportunity announcement for additional information. Concept papers are due February 7, and full applications are due April 19.

EPA announced $2 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for the Community Change Grants Program. Funding is available for projects that deploy clean energy, reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input.

There are two separate tracks available:

Eligible applicants include partnerships between two community-based non-profit organizations and partnerships between a community-based non-profit organization and a local government, institution of higher education, or federally-recognized tribe. View the Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Grants.gov page for additional information. Applications are due November 21.

Tennessee Tech University and Tennessee Clean Fuels are actively welcoming fleets interested in testing a medium-duty, all-electric step van for their organizational operations. The Medium-Duty eTruck Pilot Project is a federally funded testbed initiative that offers the opportunity for Tennessee fleets to test the all-electric Xos FXSV01 at no cost to evaluate how it performs within their operations. Participating fleets will be able to trial the vehicle for up to one month and will be provided with Level 2 charging infrastructure at no cost.

Fleets will provide information and feedback to the project team on successes and challenges related to driving and charging the vehicle, as well as utilization data, and will receive valuable insight into how an EV can be the right fit for their organization. Interested fleets are encouraged to complete the form linked here. For more information or for answers to any questions, please contact Mark.Finlay@tn.gov.

Tennessee Clean Fuels announced the launch of the EMPOWER TN Workplace Charging assistance program. The program provides up to $2,000 in no-cost technical assistance and consulting to assist workplaces with implementing EV charging through funding from the U.S. DOE Vehicle Technologies Office. The first round will allow for 24 workplaces to participate.

Available assistance includes:

Complete the interest survey to get started. Additional workplace charging guidance is available on the EMPOWER TN Workplace Charging website, including the newly released Drive Electric Tennessee Workplace Charging Guide, which covers how employers can get started on a workplace charging plan.

The Shared-Use Mobility Center partnered with 70 organizations, including the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA), to launch the Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda in 2022. The Agenda aims to make shared mobility more accessible and affordable. The Action Agenda Network has recently released the inaugural Shared Mobility 2030 Action Agenda Annual Report to provide updates on the progress of its work since it began in 2022.

Argonne National Lab developed the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) Tool to help stakeholders estimate petroleum use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollutant emissions, and cost of ownership of light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. AFLEET can be accessed via spreadsheet and online versions, including an online Heavy Duty Vehicle Emissions Calculator (HDVEC). Using the AFLEET suite of tools, fleet managers and planners can estimate the environmental and economic costs and benefits of alternative fuels and infrastructure. In addition, the ATRAVEL Tool has been built using AFLEET data to examine the costs and benefits of different modes for personal travel.

Visit the TDEC Office of Energy Programs Website at http://www.tn.gov/environment/energy.

Past Monthly Newsletters: 

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

For more information or to submit an idea for a future Monthly Transportation Edition, contact:

Audrey Jackson, Communications Officer
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-917-6683 or audrey.jackson@tn.gov

OR

Alexa Voytek, Deputy Director, OEP Programs
U.S. DOE State Energy Program / Innovation & Transportation / Communications
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
 615-613-1096 or alexa.voytek@tn.gov

OR

Mark Finlay, Senior Energy Analyst, TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-772-6011 or mark.finlay@tn.gov

Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the State Energy Program Award Number DE-EE0009487

Disclaimer: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government.  Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.