department of energy (doe)

It was the Huntsman who kissed Snow White to wake her up In a popular movie now in theatres, and in a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman is ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed. But he winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen. In the traditional fairy tale, a handsome prince...[read more]

Four consortiums line up but only two can win This is an updated version of my coverage in Fuel Cycle Week, V11, N474 May 24, 2012, published by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DCAn overflow crowd at the Platts Third Annual Small Modular Reactor conference held last week in suburban Washington, D.C., got an up-close and...[read more]

Can algal biofuel actually be competitive with petroleum? Recent DoE studies suggest it will.[read more]

Westinghouse gets support from Missouri for 225 MW reactorThe race to win $452 million in cost shared funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for licensing and technical support to bring a small modular reactor (SMR) to market by 2022 got a new entry April 19. Westinghouse has partnered with Ameren to submit a proposal based on...[read more]

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY2013 Energy and Water Appropriations bill on Thursday, delineating funds for the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. Overall, the legislation enacts $33.36 billion in appropriations for FY2013, with $27.13...[read more]

Manny Oliver, Director of the Small Business Innovation Research & Small Business Technology Transfer Programs for the Department of Energy, discusses the objectives of these programs and how companies can apply for funding. Full transcript:Ben Lack:What does the SBIR do and how can businesses get funding from your program?...[read more]

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) co-chairs of the recent Smart Grid study titled “The Future of the Electric Grid”  just visited Silicon Valley to discuss their report with investors and entrepreneurs.   If you haven’t read the study, I recommend it because it’s an interesting read.  The study co-...[read more]

Image by Tom Raftery via Flickr

Many of the barriers to deploying distributed energy storage arise, not from a lack of federal policy, but from inconsistent and antiquated state regulations that restrict how storage and other assets located on the distribution portion of the grid can be owned and used.[read more]

The microgrid is defined in the Smart Grid Dictionary as “A small power system that integrates self-contained generation, distribution, sensors, energy storage, and energy management software with a seamless and synchronized connection to a utility power system and can operate independently as an island form that system.”  The...[read more]

 The next ten and half months hold little promise of Congress producing a coherent national clean energy strategy.  The same legislative gridlock over the federal budget that stalled debate on key issues last year looks to come back in force this year as well. But that doesn’t mean high-impact clean energy policy can’t be...[read more]

President Obama said in his State of the Union address that it was time to “double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising.” Apparently, he includes cellulosic ethanol in that category, despite the industry’s many woes and skeptics.With the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) largely out of the clean energy loan-...[read more]

Before adjourning to watch yule logs and eat holiday hams, Congress actually managed to pass a 2012 budget bill. ITIF's Matthew Stepp provided us with an early analysis of the bill's impact on energy innovation funding. Funding for key Department of Energy (DOE) innovation offices are up by a modest 2.5 percent relative to the 2011...[read more]

In short, we need to adopt the China clock. Smaller, more numerous, more diverse and more rapid demonstration projects are the key to developing DES technology and realizing the advantages it holds for the grid. Money for DES demonstration projects is good, and more money is better. But what is really needed is a sense of urgency. Time to completion must become a major focus for government-funded demonstration projects going forward. We must learn to push the time envelope and to push it consistently as a matter of practice, just as they do in China.[read more]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub.L. 111-5, Recovery Act, ARRA) is the economic stimulus package passed by Congress on February 13, 2009, and signed by President Obama four days later. As of February 2011, the package was expected to total $821 billion in costs through 2019 delivered through a combination of federal...[read more]

American University’s Investigative Journalism Workshop has published reports detailing the extensive political connections in the United States developed by Chinese wind power company A-Power Energy in its effort to build a 600-MW wind farm in West Texas.  A-Power and their partners were seeking $450 million in section 1603 grants...[read more]