In August, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the delivery of $377 million in funding for 46 new Energy Frontier Research Centers. The centers will be hosted by universities, national laboratories, non-profit organizations, and private companies. The research domains that were chosen offer a good sampling of those technologies the US Department of Energy (DOE) sees as potentially important in the energy landscape of the future. The funded projects are focussed on:
Improving the efficiency of photovoltaic systems; with particular projects dedicated to hybrid inorganic/organic PV cells and nanometre-sized PV cells
Advanced nuclear techniques
Carbon capture and geological storage (CCS)
Hydrogen, including the production of hydrogen as well as hydrogen fuel cells
Biomass, including energy-rich plants and the conversion of biomass into chemicals and fuels
Energy storage systems
Superconductivity (1 project)