Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will invest $100 million in stimulus money to support renewable energy projects.
It’s not clear if this is a new batch of stimulus money (on top of the $400 million the agency already allocated) or already announced funding for grant applications the DOE received in December.
ARPA-E is not your mother’s venture fund. The government agency steps in to finance risky renewable energy technologies that would have a hard time finding a private sector funder — See here for the full press release posted today.
ARPA-E recipients are all developing cleantech technologies set to meet the DOE’s broad mandate in the Obama age: Cut carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency, and lower oil exports.
As part of its first batch of grants, in October ARPA-E awarded $157 million to dozens of startup companies and university labs.