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DOE Provides $37.5M for U.S.-Chinese Clean Energy Research
DOE announced on March 29 the availability of $37.5 million in U.S. funding over the next five years to support the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC).
Grantees will need to match the funding, generating a total of $75 million to support research on advanced technologies for building energy efficiency, clean vehicles, and carbon capture and storage. China will contribute an additional $75 million to CERC, which will be a virtual research center, located in existing facilities in both the US and China. The program unites teams of scientists and engineers from both countries.
President Obama and President Hu Jintao formally announced the establishment of the CERC during their meeting in Beijing last November. Because the US and China are the world's top energy consumers, producers, and greenhouse gas emitters, they have share a strong interest in advancing key technologies.
DOE will provide one award for each of CERC's three initial work areas: building efficiency, clean vehicles, and carbon capture and storage for coal. Universities, national labs, private companies, and other relevant entities are eligible to apply through the Grants.gov Web site by May 14. DOE expects to select awardees this summer. See the DOE press release, the Grants.gov entry, and the full Funding Opportunity Announcement.
Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle to Sell for Under $33,000
On March 30, Nissan announced its new electric vehicle (EV), the Leaf, will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $32,780 for the standard model.
The vehicle, designed to travel 100 miles on an average battery charge, will be available in some markets this December, with nationwide sales beginning in 2011. Nissan will accept online reservations for the Leaf on April 20 for a fully refundable fee of $99. The vehicle will be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit, as well as state tax rebates.
Nissan will offer to install personal charging docks that operate on a 220-volt supply. The company said the average cost of the docks would be $2,200, but they too would be eligible for rebates. Using current national electricity averages, Nissan estimates the Leaf will cost less than $3 to recharge. It will also be available for leasing, with monthly payments starting at $349.
In January, DOE closed a $1.4 billion loan to Nissan to retool and expand its factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, for the production of the Leaf and the battery packs used in the vehicle, with the goal of eventually producing 150,000 vehicles per year. See the Nissan press release, the Leaf Web site, and the DOE press release on the loan.
The Nissan Leaf also will be the sole vehicle participating in The EV Project, under which the Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec) will provide free home charging stations and installations for up to 4,700 Nissan Leaf owners in 10 cities in five states: Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona; San Diego, California; the Oregon cities of Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland; the Tennessee cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga; and Seattle, Washington. The EV Project will also deploy a 6,510 EV charging stations in those cities.
Under the Recovery Act, the project was awarded a DOE grant of $99.8 million in August 2009. It was officially launched in October 2009 and will continue for three years, with the aim of gathering lessons learned from these initial deployments and applying them to future efforts to deploy EVs and charging infrastructure. See
The EV Project Web site.
