April 15, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC ­- To expand the use of clean and renewable energy sources and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced $41.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for fuel cell technology.

These efforts will accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells and will create jobs in fuel cell manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and support services.  The new funding will improve the potential of fuel cells to provide power in stationary, portable and specialty vehicle applications, while cutting carbon emissions and broadening our nation’s clean energy technology portfolio.

“The investments we’re making today will help us build a robust fuel cell manufacturing industry in the United States,” said Secretary Chu.  “Developing and deploying the next generation of fuel cells will not only create jobs – it will help our businesses become more energy efficient and productive.  We are laying the foundation for a green energy economy.”

 The $41.9 million will support immediate deployment of nearly 1,000 fuel cell systems for emergency backup power and material handling applications (e.g., forklifts) that have emerged as key early markets in which fuel cells can compete with conventional power technologies.  Additional systems will be used to accelerate the demonstration of stationary fuel cells for combined heat and power in the larger residential and commercial markets.

 The increase in manufacturing volume in key early markets will also bring costs down and encourage the growth of a domestic supplier base. A variety of technologies will be developed and deployed, including polymer electrolyte, solid oxide and direct-methanol fuel cells.

 The funding includes:

• $41.9 million from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund 13 projects to deploy fuel cells – helping to build a consumer base for U.S. fuel cell manufacturers.
• Approximately $72.4 million in cost-share funding from industry participants—for a total of nearly $114.3 million. This cost share demonstrates private sector commitment to developing and deploying these clean, energy efficient technologies.

For more information about DOE’s fuel cell activities, please visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/. A detailed, state by state list of awards is below:

Fuel Cell Market Transformation Projects

Arkansas

FedEx Freight East (Harrison, AR)

This project will deploy 35 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at FedEx’s existing service center in Springfield, Missouri. Success at this service center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of FedEx’s other 470 service centers. $1.3 million

California

Jadoo Power (Folsom, CA)

Jadoo, together with Acumentrics Corporation, NASCAR Media Group, Lynch Diversified Vehicles, California’s Police and Fire Departments of the City of Folsom, and Airgas, Inc., will establish the environmental and cost benefits of using a 1-kW fuel cell power system to generate electricity, as opposed to traditional gas/diesel generators and lead acid battery power sources.  This demonstration will provide operating data from each field unit at customer sites, as well as degradation analysis and projected system lifetime. $1.8 million

PolyFuel, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)

The objective of this project is to further integrate and miniaturize the components of PolyFuel’s portable power system for use in mobile computing, and analyze failure modes to increase durability.  Polyfuel will also conduct a design for manufacturability and assembly review to ensure that the systems meet the cost targets for commercialization. $2.5 million

Colorado

Anheuser-Busch (St. Louis, MO)

Anheuser-Busch will deploy 23 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a complete fleet of electric lift trucks at their facility in Fort Collins, Colorado, demonstrating the economic benefits of large fleet conversions of forklifts from lead-acid batteries to fuel cell power units. Success in this project will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Anheuser-Busch’s other 11 U.S. facilities. $1.1 million

Massachusetts

Nuvera Fuel Cells (Billerica, MA)

To accelerate market penetration of fuel cells, East Penn Manufacturing (an industrial and automotive battery manufacturer) and Nuvera will deploy 10 fuel cell forklifts in East Penn’s facility in Topton, PA.  Fuel will be supplied by Nuvera’s natural gas reformer, storage, and dispensing system. $1.1 million

Michigan

Delphi Automotive (Troy, MI)

Delphi will develop, test and demonstrate a 3- to 5-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) auxiliary power unit (APU) for heavy duty commercial class 8 trucks. The demonstration will improve upon Delphi’s current generation SOFC technology by increasing net output power and fuel processing efficiency, decreasing heat loss and parasitic power loss, and establishing diesel fuel compatibility. $2.4 million

New York

MTI MicroFuel Cells (Albany, NY)

To accelerate fuel cell use in consumer markets, MTI will demonstrate a one-watt consumer electronics power pack.  The project will focus on improving reliability to meet the standards required by the electronics market and will include testing of individual components, subsystems and complete direct methanol fuel cell systems.  MTI will also develop manufacturing processes to improve product yields and reduce overall costs. $2.4 million

Plug Power, Inc. (Latham, NY)

This demonstration project will validate the durability of Plug Power’s 5-kW stationary combined heat and power fuel cell system and verify its commercial readiness. Plug Power will carry out a three-year project to test its units in residential and light commercial applications in California. $3.4 million

Plug Power Inc. (Latham, NY)

This project will demonstrate the market viability of the GenCore® rack-mounted fuel cell product that provides clean and highly reliable emergency backup power. Plug Power will install and operate new systems in real-world applications at geographically-diverse sites, providing for as much as 275 kW of backup power. $2.7 million

Pennsylvania

GENCO (Pittsburgh, PA)

This project will deploy 156 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for fleets of electric lift trucks at six of GENCO’s existing distribution centers (South Carolina, Pennsylvania - 3 locations, and Ohio - 2 locations).  Success at these distribution centers will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of GENCO’s other 109 distribution centers. $6.1 million (six awards)

Texas

Sysco of Houston (West Houston, TX)

Sysco will deploy 90 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a fleet of pallet trucks at Sysco’s new distribution center in Houston, Texas, due to open in August 2009. This installation will be the first ever green field installation in the world without battery infrastructure for a pallet truck fleet. Success at this distribution center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Sysco’s other 169 distribution centers. $1.2 million

Virginia

Sprint Communications (Reston, VA)

Sprint Nextel will demonstrate the viability of packaged 1-kW to 10-kW fuel cell systems with 72 hours of on-site fuel storage for backup power to communication infrastructure used by state and local first responders and by public safety answering points (911 centers). Sprint will address siting and permitting issues, and will benchmark the lifecycle costs, performance, and operational characteristics against the incumbent technologies (batteries, generators, and diesel fuel). $7.3 million

Washington

ReliOn Inc. (Spokane, WA)

ReliOn will add reliability to a utility communications network where no backup power was previously available at 25 sites throughout central and northern California. They will deploy 180 fuel cells with a new refillable 72-hour fuel system to locations across the AT&T Mobility Network. This project will provide DOE with installation, fueling logistics, and operating data for fuel cells in voice and data communications networks in mountain, desert, and urban locations. $8.6 million (two awards)

 For more information about DOE’s fuel cell activities, please visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells

Media contact(s):
(202) 586-4940

Upton, NY — Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $1.2 billion in new science funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for major construction, laboratory infrastructure, and research efforts sponsored across the nation by the DOE Office of Science.  Secretary Chu made the announcement during a visit to the Brookhaven National Laboratory. 

“Leadership in science remains vital to America’s economic prosperity, energy security, and global competitiveness,” said Secretary Chu.  “These projects not only provide critically needed short-term economic relief but also represent a strategic investment in our nation’s future.  They will create thousands of jobs and breathe new life into many local economies, while helping to accelerate new technology development, renew our scientific and engineering workforce, and modernize our nation’s scientific infrastructure.”

The DOE Office of Science is the steward of ten National Laboratories in eight states across the nation and constructs and operates large-scale scientific facilities such as advanced light sources and nanoscale science research centers that provide the cutting-edge tools of today’s advanced energy and physical science research.  Many of the Recovery Act projects are focused on these widely used National Laboratory facilities. The package also provides substantial support for both university- and National Laboratory-based researchers, working on problems in fields ranging from particle and plasma physics to biofuels, solar energy, superconductivity, solid state lighting, electricity storage and materials science, among others. 

The Department is poised to move aggressively on these projects–many already existing, some new–to ensure maximum jobs impact and scientific payoff.  At the same time, the Department has put in place controls to ensure a high level of accountability, transparency, and responsibility in the deployment of these taxpayer dollars.

Included among the approved projects are, among others:

• $150 million to accelerate ongoing construction on the National Synchrotron Light Source-II at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in Upton, New York.  This new, state-of-the-art high intensity light source is expected to facilitate major breakthroughs in next-generation energy technologies, materials science and biotechnology. Ultimately, it could lead to advances in battery technology and photovoltaics.
• $123 million for major construction, modernization, and needed decommissioning of laboratory facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in Oak Ridge Tennessee; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in Berkeley, California; and Brookhaven National Laboratory.
• $65 million to accelerate construction of the 12-Billion Electron Volt Upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF) in Newport News, Virginia.  The CEBAF upgrade will provide an international community of physicists with a cutting-edge facility for studying the basic building blocks of the visible universe. The advanced particle accelerator technology being developed for this project also has had important medical applications.
• $277 million for Energy Frontier Research Centers, to be awarded on a competitive basis to universities and DOE National Laboratories across the country. These centers will accelerate the transformational basic science needed to develop plentiful and cost-effective alternative energy sources and will pursue advanced fundamental research in fields ranging from solar energy to nuclear energy systems, biofuels, geological sequestration of carbon dioxide, clean and efficient combustion, solid state lighting, superconductivity, hydrogen research, electrical energy storage, catalysis for energy, and materials under extreme conditions.
• $90 million for other core research, providing support for graduate students, postdocs, and Ph.D. scientists across the nation. This will create jobs and stimulate the economy both directly – in creating and saving research jobs – as well as through scientific advancements that ultimately can be applied in the marketplace.
• $69 million to create a national scale, prototype 100-gigabit per second data network linking research centers across the nation.  This effort will enhance the Office of Science’s networking capabilities and benefit the commercial telecommunications sector.
• $330 million for operations and equipment at Office of Science major scientific user facilities, used annually by over 20,000 researchers.  Facilities supported by Recovery Act funding include, among others, the Spallation Neutron Source at ORNL, the world’s most intense pulsed accelerator-based neutron source, used in advanced materials science, chemistry, and biology research; the Nanoscale Science Research Centers, located at five National Laboratories nationwide, which provide world-leading nanotechnology instrumentation; the ARM Climate Research Facility, a collection of climate measurement facilities located around the globe that gather atmospheric data needed to reduce uncertainty about climate change; the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which provides unique instrumentation and computational capabilities for environmental science; and the Linac Coherent Light Source, currently under construction at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) in Menlo Park, CA, which will enable scientists for the first time to observe chemical reactions at the molecular level in real time.
• In addition, the Recovery Act funding provides $125 million for needed infrastructure improvements across nine DOE national laboratories: Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa; Argonne National Laboratory, in Argonne, Illinois; Brookhaven National Laboratory; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois; LBNL; ORNL; PNNL in Richland, WA; SLAC; and TJNAF.  

The Department of Energy is the nation’s leading sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences, with 17 national laboratories, and also supports researchers at more than 300 colleges and universities nationwide. History has shown that investments in science pay for themselves many times over.

The $1.2 billion is the first installment of a total of $1.6 billion allocated to the DOE Office of Science by Congress under the Recovery Act legislation.  Officials are working on details remaining to enable approval and release of the balance of $371 million.

Attached is a more detailed breakdown of how today’s funding announcement affects a number of DOE’s National Laboratories around the country.  Also attached is a fact sheet on how investments in science can generate jobs and economic recovery.

Media contact(s):
(202) 586-4940

February 24, 2009

The National Science Foundation is humbled and honored by the recognition of the Foundation’s role in stimulating the American economy with its inclusion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $3 billion provided to NSF will go directly into the hands of the nation’s best and brightest researchers at the forefront of promising discoveries, to deserving graduate students at the start of their careers, and to developing advanced scientific tools and infrastructure that will be broadly available to the research community. With both long-term and short-term investments in basic science, the United States is poised to continue its leadership in science-based innovation.

NSF’s task is to keep science and engineering visionaries focused on the furthest frontier. Our aim is to recognize and nurture emerging fields, and to prepare the next generation of scientific and engineering talent and leaders. When you add world-class facilities to advance transformative research to this effort, you have the recipe for success that has been a hallmark of NSF and the scientific enterprise for nearly 60 years. America’s prosperity, global competitiveness and the well being of our citizens depend, more than ever before, on the steady stream of new ideas and the highly skilled science, technology, engineering and mathematics talent that NSF supports.

During the ARRA signing ceremony, President Obama said that “this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs that will make our economy stronger, our nation more secure and our planet safer for our children.” NSF will ensure that this eloquent statement translates into reality. It seemed especially appropriate that the Act was signed, and these remarks expressed, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a long-time recipient of NSF funding aimed at the very thing the President hoped for, namely, “to ignite our imagination once more” in science and innovation.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Dana Topousis, National Science Foundation (703) 292-7750 dtopousi@nsf.gov

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the award of a new contract to Princeton University for the management and operation of DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in New Jersey. The contract is a cost-plus, award-fee contract for five years, with an award term provision under which Princeton can earn up to five additional years of contract term. The base performance period of the contract will be from April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2014. A 60-day transition period will begin in January 2009. Based on current funding, the five-year base term of the contract is valued at approximately $390 million. Under the agreement, Princeton University can earn an award fee of up to $1.8 million each year.

DOE issued a Request for Proposals July 3, 2008 to solicit proposals from entities interested in managing and operating the Laboratory, with proposals due on September 8, 2008. After evaluation by the Office of Science’s Source Evaluation Board, the Source Selection Official selected Princeton University to receive the contract award.

PPPL is the nation’s leading laboratory for research in plasma physics and magnetic confinement fusion. Research at PPPL primarily involves innovative experiments that use powerful magnets to confine and control high temperature plasmas. These plasmas can yield fusion energy in a process similar to that powering the Sun and stars. Fusion power systems have the potential to produce abundant energy without producing long-lived nuclear wastes or air pollution.

Further information can be found from the Office of Science, the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, or PPPL.

Media contact(s):
Jeff Sherwood, (202) 586-5896
Brian Quirke, (630) 252-2423

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest in a 21st century military to maintain our conventional advantage while increasing our capacity to defeat the threats of tomorrow. They will ensure our troops have the training, equipment and support that they need when they are deployed.

Invest in a 21st Century Military

• Rebuild the Military for 21st Century Tasks: Obama and Biden believe that we must build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply; invest in foreign language training, cultural awareness, and human intelligence and other needed counterinsurgency and stabilization skill sets; and create a more robust capacity to train, equip, and advise foreign security forces, so that local allies are better prepared to confront mutual threats.
• Expand to Meet Military Needs on the Ground: Obama and Biden support plans to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 Marines. Increasing our end strength will help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families.
• Leadership from the Top: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will inspire a new generation of Americans to serve their country, whether it be in local communities in such roles as teachers or first responders, or serving in the military to keep our nation free and safe.
• Lighten the Burdens on Our Brave Troops and Their Families: The Obama-Biden administration will create a Military Families Advisory Board to provide a conduit for military families’ concerns to be brought to the attention of senior policymakers and the public. Obama and Biden will end the stop-loss policy and establish predictability in deployments so that active duty and reserves know what they can and must expect.

Build Defense Capabilities for the 21st Century

• Fully Equip Our Troops for the Missions They Face: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must get essential equipment to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines before lives are lost.
• Review Weapons Programs: We must rebalance our capabilities to ensure that our forces can succeed in both conventional wars and in stabilization and counter-insurgency operations. Obama and Biden have committed to a review of each major defense program in light of current needs, gaps in the field, and likely future threat scenarios in the post-9/11 world.
• Preserve Global Reach in the Air: We must preserve our unparalleled airpower capabilities to deter and defeat any conventional competitors, swiftly respond to crises across the globe, and support our ground forces. We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities, to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refueling aircraft, which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power.
• Maintain Power Projection at Sea: We must recapitalize our naval forces, replacing aging ships and modernizing existing platforms, while adapting them to the 21st century. Obama and Biden will add to the Maritime Pre-Positioning Force Squadrons to support operations ashore and invest in smaller, more capable ships, providing the agility to operate close to shore and the reach to rapidly deploy Marines to global crises.
• National Missile Defense: The Obama-Biden administration will support missile defense, but ensure that it is developed in a way that is pragmatic and cost-effective; and, most importantly, does not divert resources from other national security priorities until we are positive the technology will protect the American public.
• Ensure Freedom of Space: The Obama-Biden administration will restore American leadership on space issues, seeking a worldwide ban on weapons that interfere with military and commercial satellites. They will thoroughly assess possible threats to U.S. space assets and the best options, military and diplomatic, for countering them, establishing contingency plans to ensure that U.S. forces can maintain or duplicate access to information from space assets and accelerating programs to harden U.S. satellites against attack.
• Protect the U.S in Cyberspace: The Obama-Biden administration cooperate with our allies and the private sector to identify and protect against emerging cyber-threats.

Restore the Readiness of the National Guard and Reserves

• Equip, Support, and Modernize the National Guard and Reserves: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide the National Guard with the equipment it needs for foreign and domestic emergencies and time to restore and refit before deploying. They will make the head of the National Guard a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure concerns of our citizen soldiers reach the level they mandate. They will ensure that reservists and Guard members are treated fairly when it comes to employment, health, and education benefits.

Develop Whole of Government Initiatives to Promote Global Stability

• Integrate Military and Civilian Efforts: The Obama-Biden administration will build up the capacity of each non-Pentagon agency to deploy personnel and area experts where they are needed, to help move soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines out of civilian roles.
• Create a Civilian Assistance Corps (CAC): Obama and Biden will create a national CAC of 25,000 personnel. This corps of civilian volunteers with special skill sets (doctors, lawyers, engineers, city planners, agriculture specialists, police, etc.) would be organized to provide each federal agency with a pool of volunteer experts willing to deploy in times of need at home and abroad.

Restore Our Alliances

• Engage Our Allies in Meeting Our Common Security Challenges: America’s traditional alliances, such as NATO, must be transformed and strengthened, including on common security concerns like Afghanistan, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Obama and Biden will renew alliances and ensure our allies contribute their fair share to our mutual security.
• Organize to Help Our Partners and Allies in Need: The Obama-Biden administration will expand humanitarian activities that build friendships and attract allies at the regional and local level (such as during the response to the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia), and win hearts and minds in the process.

Reform Contracting

• Create Transparency for Military Contractors: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will require the Pentagon and State Department to develop a strategy for determining when contracting makes sense, rather than continually handing off governmental jobs to well-connected companies. They will create the transparency and accountability needed for good governance, and establish the legal status of contractor personnel, making possible prosecution of any abuses committed by private military contractors.
• Restore Honesty, Openness, and Commonsense to Contracting and Procurement: The Obama-Biden administration will realize savings by reducing the corruption and cost overruns that have become all too routine in defense contracting. This includes launching a program of acquisition reform and management, which would end the common practice of no-bid contracting. Obama and Biden will end the abuse of supplemental budgets by creating a system of oversight for war funds as stringent as in the regular budget. Obama and Biden will restore the government’s ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps. They will order the Justice Department to prioritize prosecutions that will punish and deter fraud, waste and abuse.

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families
• Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.
• Swap Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Cut Prices.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

• Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
• Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
• Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
• Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
• A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

• Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
• Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
• Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
• Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
• Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.