DOE: $256 Million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funding to Industry for Energy Efficiency

June 2, 2009 -- On June 1, 2009, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu announced plans to provide $256 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) to support energy efficiency improvements in major industrial sectors across the American economy.

The funding is targeted at reducing the energy consumption of America's manufacturing and information technology (IT) industries, while creating jobs and stimulating economic growth. These programs will help create manufacturing jobs quickly, along with jobs for technicians and experts who will be needed in the long-term to maintain and operate the new equipment.

Article continues below...

"Supporting the development of the latest industrial technologies plays an important role in helping U.S. industry to lead the world in energy efficiency and productivity," said Secretary Chu. "Working together with American manufacturing and IT industries, we will be able to create new jobs, reduce industrial energy use and limit damaging greenhouse gas emissions."

Projects being funded under the Recovery Act will focus on the following three main areas:

* Combined Heat and Power (CHP), District Energy Systems, Waste Energy Recovery Systems, and Efficient Industrial Equipment ($156 Million)—This funding is targeted toward projects that represent proven and effective near-term energy options that can be deployed in industrial and residential settings to improve efficiency, control costs, and limit greenhouse gas emissions—making U.S. industry more productive and competitive. Learn more about DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) Industrial Distributed Energy research and development projects, including CHP.

* Improved Energy Efficiency for Information and Communication Technology ($50 Million)—This project will select and fund applicants to conduct research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects to promote new technologies that improve energy efficiency in the growing information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Read the draft ICT vision and roadmap, Routing Telecom and Data Centers Toward Efficient Energy Use. Learn more about ITP’s data center efficiency activities.

* Advanced Materials in Support of Advanced Clean Energy Technologies and Energy-Intensive Processes ($50 Million)—DOE will support RD&D projects for advanced industrial materials that can be used in fuel flexibility programs, CHP technologies, energy intensive processes, and nanomaterials and nanomanufacturing. These projects will help the American industrial sector increase competitiveness, while rapidly introducing advanced technologies. Learn more about ITP’s crosscutting technologies RD&D efforts.

Source: DOE