From Cooperative News (dated March 2, 2009)
The $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law last week, allocates $45.2 billion to energy-related programs and authorizes nearly $20 billion in tax credits for renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrical transmission projects, according to Platts.
The stimulus act provides $4.5 billion for the Smart Grid Investment Program and includes $16.8 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)—nearly 10 times the funding received in 2008. The new law is expected to create thousands of “green collar” jobs and the president said the act would double renewable energy use in three years by spurring $100 billion in new “clean energy” projects.
The act includes $6 billion to support loan guarantees for renewable energy and electric transmission technologies. The funds are expected to guarantee more than $60 billion in loans. Projects receiving guarantees must start construction by September 30, 2011, and involve renewable energy, electric transmission or leading-edge biofuel technologies.
Carbon capture and sequestration-related programs receive $4.7 billion, with $1 billion of this amount for fossil energy research and development, $800 million for the Clean Coal Power Initiative Round III Solicitation and $1.5 billion for competitive solicitations including a range of industrial carbon capture and energy-efficiency improvement projects.
The act directs $5 billion toward the Weatherization Assistance Program to make homes energy efficient and $2 billion toward grants for the manufacture of advanced battery systems.
Most of the EERE funding supports direct grants and rebates, but it also includes $2.5 billion for applied research development and deployment activities, including $800 million for biomass, $400 million for geothermal technologies and $50 million to increase the energy efficiency of information and communications technologies. Another $400 million will support electric technologies for vehicles.
The act also stipulates that $3.1 billion of EERE funds go toward the State Energy Program for additional grants that do not need to be matched with state funds. But these funds are for states that intend to adopt strict building energy codes and provide utility incentives for energy efficiency measures.
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