DOE Awards $377 in Funding for 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers Across America-

DOE Secretary Steven Chu has announced the funding for 46 multi-million dollar Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) sited at universities, nonprofit groups, national laboratories and private organizations throughout the country. $277 of the $377 million was made available via the Recovery Act, while the $100 million was acquired through the DOE’s FY2009 budget. The EFRCs are being awarded $2-5 million per year each for an intended five-year period and were chosen from a collection of submissions that were received in reply to a proposal delivered by the U.S. DOE Office of Science in 2008 and announced on April 27, 2009. Applicants were selected based on a demanding merit evaluation course which involved a diverse panel of scientific experts. The new program will utilize new capabilities in high intensity light sources, supercomputing, nanotechnology, neutron scattering sources, and other advanced machinery which will set the foundation for major progression in energy efficiency, biofuels, transportation, electricity storage and transmission, solar energy, clean coal and carbon capture and sequestration, and nuclear energy. The EFRC project is just a portion of a DOE commitment of $777 million over a total of five years for renewable energy financing projects. “As global energy demand grows, there is an urgent need to reduce our dependence on imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions,” said Secretary Chu. “Meeting the challenge to reduce our dependence on imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions will require significant scientific advances. These centers will mobilize the enormous talents and skills of our nation’s scientific workforce in pursuit of the breakthroughs that are essential to expand the use of clean and renewable energy.”