U.S. DOE to put $130M into advanced fuel cells

The U.S. Department of Energy announced that it plans to invest up to $130 million in advanced fuel cell technology.

The DOE said the cash would go toward the development and use of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications.

"Through the president's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, we have made great progress in reducing the cost and improving the durability of fuel cells," said John Mizroch, principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

"Hydrogen fuel cell research and development is a critical component of our comprehensive strategy to commercialize and deploy advanced clean, renewable technologies that will allow us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and become less reliant on carbon-based fossil fuels."

In addition to seeking proposals for research and development projects in the areas of  transportation, stationary, and portable power, the DOE said it is also seeking proposals to demonstrate fuel cells in distributed energy systems and to support market transformation that provide real-world operation data.

The department expects to make up to 50 awards through this competitive funding opportunity, which is open to industry, universities, and national laboratories.

With a minimum 20 percent private sector cost share for the research and development projects and a minimum 50 percent applicant cost share for the demonstration projects, the DOE said the total government and private sector investment under this funding opportunity could exceed $170 million.