Research Roadmap for Advancing Technologies in California's Industrial, Agriculture and Water Sectors

The California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Program funds clean energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) projects that improve electricity reliability, affordability, and safety. Meeting those goals requires a strategic portfolio, so a roadmap was commissioned to identify the most important opportunities to produce the greatest benefit for electric ratepayers. The roadmap focuses on the industrial, agricultural, and water sectors. The process was tailored to identify critical technology gaps in these sectors and offer potential solutions. The project included a technical assessment and roadmapping activities. For the technical assessment, analysts conducted an extensive literature review of existing technologies across six technology areas: (1) industrial processing, (2) industrial facilities, (3) industrial power, (4) agriculture, (5) bioenergy, and (6) water and wastewater. The roadmapping effort consisted of 19 webinars and 34 online surveys to engage experts and stakeholders in the different technology areas. Participants identified and discussed high-impact technologies, their potential impacts, barriers to market entry, actions that could support market entry, and success indicators. This project resulted in 123 recommendations of energy-saving technologies in the six technology areas, 81 are state-of-the art and 42 are in the research and development stage. This roadmap provides a path forward for the EPIC Program, helping inform decision-making for California’s energy RDD&D portfolio.