Obama awards $3.4 billion in ’smart grid’ grants
Posted by Big Gav in smart grids
The Christian Science Monitor has an article on US federal stimulus funding for smart grid projects - Obama awards $3.4 billion in ’smart grid’ grants.
A major proposal of the Obama administration’s national energy makeover has been to build a next-generation “smart” power grid that enables integration of more renewable energy and maximizes efficiency. Most stimulus funding has so far gone to fix roads and other infrastructure, but on Tuesday the smart grid began catching up.
President Obama announced the winners of $3.4 billion in stimulus funding for projects in 49 states, except Alaska, which did not apply for funds.
Just 100 utilities of more than 400 applicants won federal grants, which officials say will leverage more than $4.7 billion in matching private sector investment. These grants comprise the lion’s share of the $4.5 billion stimulus money set aside for smart grid development, and is expected to create tens of thousands of new jobs.
The measure, announced by Mr. Obama at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, may be the largest single investment in energy-grid modernization in US history. It funds a range of technologies intended to speed the nation’s transition to a more efficient and reliable electric system that promotes savings and integrates renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
“There’s something big happening in America in terms of creating a clean-energy economy,” Obama said, adding that more needs to be done.
Wired has an article looking at where the new Department of Energy Adavnced projects money is going - Chart: How the ‘Darpa for Energy’ Is Slicing Its $150-Million Pie.
The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency announced its first grant awards Monday morning, handing out more than $150 million for what the agency describes as “bold, transformational” energy projects.
The fledgling “Darpa for energy” bet between half a million and 9 million dollars on 37 companies and universities.
The lion’s share of the grant money went to energy-storage projects followed by biomass-energy technologies and then renewable power like wind and solar. That said, the money was spread pretty evenly among the agency’s areas of interest. Of the 10 technological categories, seven of them received more than $10 million, and none received more than $30 million. Oil and gas received the least money with a sole project garnering $1 million.
The largest wards went to Foro Energy and DuPont, which received $9.1 and $9 million, respectively. Foro, which does not appear to have a website, has a new geothermal drilling technique that could provide faster drilling with less wear on drill bits. DuPont is trying to produce butanol from seaweed.
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