$132 Million For Advanced Energy Projects

Last week, the Department of Energy awarded $132 million in energy R&D grants for projects to encourage use or development of better technologies for carbon sequestration ($24 million), hydrogen fuel cells ($100 million), and alternative transportation fuels ($8 million). Eight grants were awarded to projects to develop systems to capture carbon dioxide from post- and precombustion gases of coal-fired power plants using membranes, enzymes, regenerable sorbents, and other technologies. In the transportation area, 16 projects will be funded to create 180 facilities in 25 states to pump and blend ethanol and biodiesel fuels for vehicles. For hydrogen fuel cells, 25 projects are funded to improve fuel-cell technologies, such as better membranes, advanced cathode catalysts, and cell hardware, as well as to study the impact of impurities. For more information, see www.energy.gov.