07/08/2008 11:57 AM

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: July 8, 2008

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DOE and Volvo Extend Fuel-Efficient Truck Partnership for 3 Years

DOE and the Volvo Group announced on Monday that they will work together for an additional 3 years to develop fuel-efficient trucks. DOE and Volvo, the parent company of Mack Trucks, Inc., originally signed an agreement in June 2007 with the goal of demonstrating heavy-duty engine systems with at least 10% higher fuel efficiency than conventional diesel engines.

The new agreement between DOE and Volvo focuses on testing and analyzing the effects of various biofuels on diesel engine performance, developing hybrid vehicle technology for heavy-duty engines, and creating an engine and advanced transmission system that are designed to operate within a narrow range, making them ideally suited for use in a hybrid vehicle.

Under the new agreement, DOE will invest $9 million over the next 3 years, matched by $9 million from the Swedish government. When added to the original commitment of $18 million from Volvo Group and $12 million commitment from the United States, up to $48 million will be invested in this partnership. Both the new and the earlier cooperative efforts support an ongoing agreement between DOE and the Swedish government. See the DOE press release and an overview of the June 2007 Implementing Agreement on the International page of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web site.

DOE to Guarantee $10 Billion in Loans for Efficiency, Renewables

DOE is offering $10 billion in loan guarantees for projects involving energy efficiency, renewable energy, and advanced transmission and distribution. The agency is seeking projects relating to biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind energy, as well as projects involving hydropower, alternative fuel vehicles, and energy efficiency. In addition to general energy efficiency projects, the solicitation specifically requests projects relating to energy efficient building technologies and efficient electricity transmission, distribution, and storage.

DOE intends to issue loan guarantees for stand-alone projects, as well as projects relating to manufacturing technologies and the large-scale integration of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage technologies into the electrical grid. The agency issued a solicitation on Monday for the loan guarantees, along with two solicitations for nuclear power that increase the total loan guarantee package to $30.5 billion.

DOE's Loan Guarantee Program was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and is intended only for projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions and employ "new or significantly improved technologies as compared to commercial technologies in service in the United States." A technology is considered to be commercialized if it has been installed in three or more commercial projects in the United States and has been in service for at least 5 years. The solicitation includes an illustrative list of technologies, but does not restrict applications to technologies on that list. The guarantees can be issued for loans of up to 80% of a project's total cost. Applications are due on December 31. See the DOE press release, the Loan Guarantee Program Web site, and the full solicitation (PDF 542 KB).

New "Freedom Prizes" to Reward Innovative Energy Deployments

DOE and the Freedom Prize Foundation announced last week that more than $4 million will be awarded to efforts that reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil while enhancing the nation's security, economic prosperity, and health. The new "Freedom Prize" will provide awards of $500,000 to $1 million for the innovative deployment of existing technologies in each of five broad categories: industry, K-12 schools, the military, state and local governments, and communities.

Final guidelines and application instructions for the prize will be released this fall, and applications will be due in January 2009, culminating in the award of the prizes in spring. The Freedom Prize was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorized DOE to support the prize. See the Freedom Prize Foundation Web site and press release (PDF 67 KB).

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