US taps stimulus fund for more than $300m in clean tech investment

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has this week once again opened up its stimulus funding war chest, announcing $256m (£155m) in fresh investment for energy-efficiency projects and a further $50m of funding for geothermal heat pump technologies.

The energy-efficiency funding, which has been made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be targeted at projects designed to improve energy efficiency across heavy industries and the IT and communications sector.

Energy secretary Steven Chu said the new funding would help "create new jobs, reduce industrial energy use and limit damaging greenhouse gas emissions".

The bulk of the investment will be targeted at heavy industry and energy firms, with $156m earmarked for combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat recovery projects. The DoE said waste heat recovery systems deployed at both industrial sites had the potential to save 17GW of wasted energy each year, while CHP systems represent a proven technology that can achieve conversion efficiencies of 80 per cent, compared to conventional efficiencies of just 45 per cent.

An additional $50m is to be invested in advanced material technologies such as nanomaterials that could boost energy efficiency, while $50m has also been earmarked for investment in R&D and demonstration projects designed to improve the energy efficiency of IT infrastructure.

The announcement was followed by plans to invest a further $50m to accelerate the development and commercialisation of geothermal heat pumps.

Under the proposals, firms can apply for funding to support heat pump demonstration projects and research to assess the cost of heat pumps. The DoE said it would also fund a new project to develop a certification and accreditation scheme for the fledgling industry, intended to bolster consumer confidence in the technology.