[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10481-10484]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4584]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Science


Office of Science Financial Assistance Program Notice 00-08: 
Integrated Assessment of Global Climate Change Research

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting research grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of 
the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby 
announces its interest in receiving applications for the Integrated 
Assessment of Global Climate Change Program. This notice is a follow on 
to five previous notices published in the Federal Register. The program 
funds research that contributes to integrated assessment of global 
climate change, including specialized topics to improve specific 
features. The research program supports the Department's Global Change 
Research Program, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and the 
Administration's goals to understand, model, and assess the effects of 
increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere on climate and 
within that framework to evaluate the options to mitigate the long term 
rise in greenhouse gases.

DATES: Applicants are encouraged (but not required) to submit a brief 
preapplication for programmatic review. Early submission of 
preapplications is suggested to allow time for meaningful dialogue.
    The deadline for receipt of formal applications is 4:30 p.m., 
E.D.T., April 24, 2000, to be accepted for merit review and to permit 
timely consideration for award in Fiscal Year 2000 and early Fiscal 
Year 2001.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications, referencing Program Notice 00-08, should be 
sent E-mail to [email protected].
    Formal applications, referencing Program Notice 00-08, should be 
sent to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Grants and 
Contracts Division, SC-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, ATTN: Program Notice 00-08. This address must also be used when 
submitting applications by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or any 
other commercial overnight delivery service, or when hand-carried by 
the applicant.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. John Houghton, Environmental 
Sciences Division, SC-74, Office of Biological and Environmental 
Research, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, telephone: (301) 903-8288, 
E-mail: [email protected], fax: (301) 903-8519. The full 
text of Program Notice 00-08 is available via the Internet using the 
following web site address: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Integrated assessment of climate change is 
defined here as the analysis, including costs and benefits, 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. Integrated assessment is sometimes, but not 
always, implemented as a computer model. A description of integrated 
assessment may be found in Chapter 10: ``Integrated Assessment of 
Climate Change: An Overview and Comparison of Approaches and Results,'' 
in Climate Change 1995: Economic and Social Dimensions of Climate 
Change, edited by Bruce, James P.; Lee, Hoesung; and Haites, Erik F., 
Cambridge University Press, 1996.
    The results of research in integrated assessment of global climate 
change help the U.S. Global Climate Change Research Program (USGCRP) in 
several ways. First, this program sponsors research that focuses on the 
connection of two or more different aspects of the entire analysis of 
global climate change. This research can lead to insights that would be 
otherwise unavailable if investigating a more narrowly focused aspect 
of climate change. Second, results from integrated assessments can be 
used to highlight high priority research topics for the rest of the 
USGCRP. A representation of the salient aspects of climate change, from 
emissions through impacts, is able to provide useful information 
regarding the degree to which underlying uncertainty in specific topics 
influence the results. And third, the models may be used outside this 
research program by the policy community to evaluate specific options. 
The research described in this notice provides a foundation so that 
others may analyze benefits and costs, not necessarily measured 
monetarily, in a policy context. This research will be judged in part 
on its potential to improve and/or support the analytical basis for 
policy development. Policy analysis will not be funded.
    The program is narrowly focused and will concentrate support on the 
topics described below. Applications that involve development of 
analytical models and computer codes will be judged partly on the basis 
of proposed tasks to prepare documentation and to make the models and 
codes available to other groups. The following is a list of topics that 
are high priority. Topics proposed by principal investigators that fall 
outside this list will need strong justification.

A. Technology Innovation and Diffusion

    This category has been a primary focus of the Integrated Assessment 
of Global Climate Change Program since its inception. The research in 
this element is not a stand-alone activity. Its purpose is to fill 
critical gaps in current integrated assessment modeling.
    Assumptions regarding technology innovation and diffusion are one 
of the most important uncertainties in integrated assessment models, 
especially for the prediction of greenhouse emissions over long time 
scales. Making good predictions and being consistent across different 
modules of the models are crucial to good modeling. The representation 
of backstop technologies; resource depletion; labor and capital 
productivity improvements; capital, labor and energy substitutability; 
and adaptation are all based on technology assumptions. Technology 
innovation and diffusion affects energy sector consumption and 
technology characteristics, carbon emissions, economic growth, and many 
other factors in integrated assessment.
    Sometimes it is difficult to identify and separate the driving 
forces behind the prediction of future changes in activities, 
particularly greenhouse gas emissions. Information on these driving 
forces that direct change, such as GDP (gross domestic product), 
productivity, energy mix, and invention, innovation, and diffusion, are 
important for integrated assessment. Another way to view technology 
innovation and diffusion is through three aspects of learning that are 
relevant to integrated assessment. The first is ``learning-by-doing'' 
for manufacturing, or returns to adoption, which reduces the unit cost 
of manufacturing. The second is ``learning-by-using'' for consumers, 
which affects consumer hurdle rates by increasing consumers' 
willingness to adopt new technologies. The third is ``learning through 
information'', which affects consumer decisions through information 
programs.
    The rate and nature of technology diffusion from the OECD 
(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to 
developing countries is not well understood. Predicting economic 
structural change in those developing countries is also difficult. 
These issues are important for many reasons. The reasons include the 
impact on the rest of the world of the invention of new technologies by 
the OECD countries and the debate on ``carbon leakage'', the movement 
of emissions of greenhouse gases away from relatively regulated 
countries to relatively unregulated countries.
    Other relevant questions include:

    Can research and development accelerate the speed with which 
innovations that would mitigate climate change are moved to the 
manufacturing production line? What

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evidence is there of this and what are the relationships between R&D 
and adoption?
    How do innovation and/or diffusion relate to measurable 
parameters such as public and private research and development 
investments or regulations?

B. Development of Metrics and Measures of Economic Costs of Climate 
Change Policies

    There are at least five measures of macro-economic losses that are 
used to compare climate change policies. These include: (a) the area 
under a marginal cost curve plus payments for permits, (b) loss in 
consumption, (c) equivalent variations losses, (d) loss in potential 
GDP (gross domestic product), and (e) loss in real GDP. These measures 
are incomplete or flawed under certain limiting conditions. The purpose 
of this research would be to describe the pros and cons of these 
measures and to demonstrate the differences for actual case studies.

C. Develop Consistent International Data

    Certain data sets are important to collect and distribute to the 
integrated assessment community so they can be used by several 
researchers. The focus of this research would be to fill in important 
integrated assessment data gaps. Past data collection programs funded 
by this program include improvement of energy sector and usage 
information, energy quantity flows, fossil fuel resource and reserve 
estimates, non-market energy sources in developing countries, and 
carbon dioxide emissions and land use changes by country.

D. Supply Curves for Non-Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Gases

    Carbon dioxide provides about two-thirds of the total atmospheric 
forcing potential of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. The remainder is 
supplied by such gases as methane, nitrous oxide, and the halocarbons. 
The emissions scenarios for the other greenhouse gases and particularly 
the cost of reducing those emissions are much more poorly understood 
than those for carbon dioxide. This research topic would provide 
information on global emissions of the other greenhouse gases under 
business-as-usual scenarios as well as under plausible alternative 
scenarios that might result from policy actions.

E. Representation of Anthropogenic Release or Sequestration of 
Carbon Dioxide Through Land Use Changes and Carbon Sequestration 
Technologies

    Integrated Assessment models do not represent with desirable 
accuracy forecasts of carbon dioxide release or sequestration through 
anthropogenic activities such as land use changes and carbon 
sequestration. Research in this element is not a stand-alone activity. 
Proposed research will be judged on the use made by integrated 
assessment models of the results.
    Research is ongoing that will improve our understanding and ability 
to develop innovative carbon sequestration technologies and procedures 
that will help reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Such 
developments may rely on the continued use of fossil fuels with the 
sequestration of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere, in underground 
formations, and in the ocean. New modes of supplying and using 
substantial amounts of energy, such as hydrogen and fuel cells, may 
alter future energy and emission parameters substantially. Research in 
this topic would identify reasonable technology scenarios that will 
guide the prediction of such integrated assessment scenarios of energy, 
fossil fuel use, costs, and emissions, in response to various policy 
options. Research funded under this topic might also develop new 
information on global carbon dioxide emissions from various land use 
change and land use management scenarios, including forests and 
agricultural lands. The emphasis is on global scale estimates, perhaps 
regionally disaggregated. What potential is there for enhancing carbon 
dioxide uptake? What changes in the global carbon balance could be 
expected from policy options?

F. Representing Adaptation in Integrated Assessment Models

    The emphasis in this research topic is to generate information that 
will improve the analysis of impacts on most or all of the sectors in 
an integrated assessment model by including autonomous adaptation in 
the analysis. Case studies of adaptation for particular sectors, such 
as agricultural, water resources, or unmanaged ecosystems, may be 
proposed, but a criterion will be the degree to which the case study 
can be generalized to other sectors. The focus of this topic is 
autonomous adaptation, that is, either adaptation that occurs naturally 
in, for example, unmanaged ecosystems, or adaptation taken by 
individuals in response to actual or perceived climate change. The 
focus is not on non-autonomous adaptation, that is, adaptation that is 
instigated by government agency. However, research on the effectiveness 
of possible government-sponsored adaptation may be necessary to 
understand individual adaptation alternatives.

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that up to $1 million will be available for 
multiple awards to be made in Fiscal Year 2000 and early Fiscal Year 
2001 in the categories described above, contingent on the availability 
of appropriated funds. Applications may request project support up to 
three years, with out-year support contingent on the availability of 
funds, progress of the research, and programmatic needs. Annual budgets 
are expected to range from $30,000 to $150,000 total costs. Funds for 
this research primarily will come from the Integrated Assessment 
Research program; some funds may come from the Carbon Management 
Science program.

Collaboration

    Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with researchers in other 
institutions, such as: universities, industry, non-profit 
organizations, federal laboratories and Federally Funded Research and 
Development Centers (FFRDCs), including the DOE National Laboratories, 
where appropriate, and to include cost sharing and/or consortia 
wherever feasible. Additional information on collaboration is available 
in the Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program that is available via the Internet at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/Colab.html.

Preapplications

    A brief preapplication is strongly encouraged but not required 
prior to submission of a full application. The preapplication should 
identify on the cover sheet the institution, Principal Investigator 
name, address, telephone, fax and E-mail address, title of the project, 
and proposed collaborators. The preapplication should consist of a one 
to two page narrative describing the research project objectives and 
methods of accomplishment. These will be reviewed relative to the scope 
and research needs of the Integrated Assessment of Global Climate 
Change Research Program. Please note that notification of a successful 
preapplication is not an indication that an award will be made in 
response to the formal application.
    Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer 
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria 
listed in descending order of importance as codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):

    1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project,
    2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach,

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    3. Competency of Applicant's Personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources,
    4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.

    The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the 
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement and 
the agency's programmatic needs. Note, external peer reviewers are 
selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence 
of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal reviewers may be used, and 
submission of an application constitutes agreement that this is 
acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.
    Information about the development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the 
Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program. Electronic access to the Guide and required forms is made 
available via the World Wide Web at: http://www.sc.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. DOE is under no obligation to pay for any costs 
associated with the preparation or submission of applications if an 
award is not made.
    The research project description must be 15 pages or less, 
exclusive of attachments and must contain an abstract or summary of the 
proposed research. On the SC grant face page, form DOE F 4650.2, in 
block 15, also provide the PI's phone number, fax number and E-mail 
address. Attachments include curriculum vitae, a listing of all current 
and pending federal support, and letters of intent when collaborations 
are part of the proposed research. Curriculum vitae should be submitted 
in a form similar to that of NIH or NSF (two to three pages), see for 
example: http://www.nsf.gov:80/bfa/cpo/gpg/fkit.htm#forms-9.
    Although the required original and seven copies of the application 
must be submitted, researchers are asked to submit an electronic 
version of their abstract of the proposed research in ASCII format and 
their E-mail address to Karen Carlson by E-mail at 
[email protected].
    Related Funding Opportunities: Investigators may wish to obtain 
information about the following related funding opportunities:
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Within the context 
of its Human Dimensions of Global Change Research Program, the Office 
of Global Programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration will support research that identifies and analyzes how 
social and economic systems are currently influenced by fluctuations in 
climate, and how human behavior can be (or why it may not be) affected 
based on information about variability in the climate system. The 
program is particularly interested in learning how advanced climate 
information on seasonal to yearly time scales, as well as an improved 
understanding of current coping mechanisms, could be used for reducing 
vulnerability and providing for more efficient adjustment to these 
variations. Notice of this program is included in the Program 
Announcement for NOAA's Climate and Global Change Program, which is 
published each spring in the Federal Register. The deadline for 
proposals to be considered in Fiscal Year 2001 is expected to be in 
late summer 2000. For further information, contact: Caitlin Simpson; 
Office of Global Programs; National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration; 1100 Wayne Ave., Suite 1225; Silver Spring, MD 20910; 
telephone: (301) 427-2089, ext. 152; Internet: [email protected].

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 81.049, and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 
CFR part 605.

    Issued in Washington, DC on February 17, 2000.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 00-4584 Filed 2-25-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-U