Energy Department Announces $30 Million Expansion of U.S.–India Clean Energy Partnership The Energy Department's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability on August 10 released a new funding opportunity announcementfor joint research on smart grid and energy storage technologies under the U.S.–India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R). The new funding opportunity provides resources for a fourth consortium under PACE-R that will focus on smart grid and energy storage for grid applications. The Energy Department and the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology are each committing $1.5 million per year for five years to the expanded research effort, subject to congressional appropriations. The United States and Indian private sectors will match the respective government commitments, resulting in a combined $30 million public-private research investment over the next five years. In 2009, the United States and India launched the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) to support research and deployment of clean energy technologies. PACE is the core mechanism of bilateral energy research and development collaboration between the United States and India. See the Energy Department news release. Energy Department Awards Nearly $1.3 Million to Encourage Data-Driven Local Energy Planning The Energy Department on August 11 selected three projects to help cities integrate energy analysis and data into their strategic decision making across all clean energy sectors. As part of the Cities Leading through Energy Analysis and Planning (Cities-LEAP) project, the awardees will play a key role in developing data-driven energy policies, programs, and projects that support local energy and climate goals. The selected projects, which will receive a total of nearly $1.3 million, will produce strong evidence of effective practices and processes. These practices will increase the ability of local or tribal governments to understand varied datasets in order to pursue opportunities to improve energy intensity and to incorporate those insights into government actions to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The projects selected are: -
The City of Bellevue, Washington, will lead a team to isolate the effects of external factors from GHG emissions inventories, allowing governments to see the impacts of their local actions. -
The City of Portland, Oregon, and its partners intend to bridge the gap between the city's building energy disclosure ordinance and commercial building permitting process. -
The Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments in North Carolina and its partners plan to develop a framework for integrating data on energy efficiency program participation, demographics, housing, and energy use. See the Energy Department news release. Army Reaches $1 Billion Milestone in Energy-Saving Projects The Army announced on August 11 that it has engaged in 127 energy-saving projects with the private sector that now exceed $1 billion in investments. The projects were undertaken in response to a challenge in December 2011 from President Obama to all federal agencies to partner with companies to save energy. The Army's $1 billion milestone was surpassed with a contract signed on August 11 by Anniston Army Depot and its utility company. Under the Anniston contract, Alabama Power is providing $20.8 million to fund new high-efficiency chillers, a new compressed-air plant and new heating systems at the installation, along with other initiatives that include high-efficiency lighting, a water conservation project, new ventilation fans, and decentralization of the depot's steam system. See the Army news release. |
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