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The DOE has finally reached the $1 billion mark in funds paid out, but it’s still just the tip of the iceberg considering that $19 billion (93%) remains committed but unpaid. Thus, the cash flow problem is still a major cause for concern.

The Recovery Act homepage boasts that over 640,000 jobs have been saved due to the distribution of recovery funds. But how many jobs have been cut because this money is being allocated at a snail’s pace? Come on people, let’s get this ball rolling. The money is there, what exactly is the hold up?

NSF’s cash flow is even more constipated with only 2% actually doled out:

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Secretary Steven Chu announced new investments in wind energy research facilities that aim to produce the most advanced and efficient wind turbines in the world. The funding is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the research will focus on improving both land-based and offshore wind generation.

$24 million will support university research and development programs to improve land-based and offshore wind turbine performance and reliability, as well as provide career educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in wind energy technologies.

“Wind power has the potential to provide 20 percent of our electricity and create hundreds of thousands of jobs,” says Chu. “We need to position the United States as the clear leader in this industry, or watch these high-paying jobs go overseas. The investment we’re making today will help ensure that America has both the talent and the technology we need to compete.”

Over the next two years, the universities will acquire utility-scale and prototype wind turbines. DOE funds will also be used to enhance their wind technology curricula and provide financial assistance to students for research fellowships and internships with the wind industry.

Pulled from the DOE press release, the following projects have been selected for negotiation of an award:

• Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago) – up to $8 million
  The Institute will use this funding to install a test turbine, a GE 1.5 MW turbine, at an existing wind project owned by a consortium partner at Marseilles, Ill. The university consortium’s research and development plan includes advanced concepts for rotor control and drive train control, robust sensors for blades, and improved aero elastic models to improve wind turbine performance and reliability. The close proximity of the university’s turbine to an existing wind farm provides an ideal opportunity to study turbine to turbine wake interaction, wind farm interaction, and wind energy efficiencies. The Institute will develop and offer wind energy courses addressing the technical, operational, social, and environmental aspects of wind energy in consultation with industry. Fellowships will be offered annually to masters and undergraduate students in wind energy engineering fields of study.
• University of Maine (Orono) - up to $8 million
  The UM plans to design and deploy two 10 kW and one 100 kW floating offshore turbine prototypes. Two turbines are to operate at the university’s Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site that will be located in state waters, and one turbine will operate at an offshore test site in the Isle of Shoals by the University of New Hampshire. The university consortium’s research and development plan includes optimization of designs for floating platforms by evaluating: (1) options for using more durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials, (2) manufacturability, and (3) deployment logistics. Educational initiatives include a model master of science degree in renewable energy and the environment with a focus on deepwater wind energy and a new undergraduate minor in deepwater wind energy. The school will target educational grants at individuals who are participating in Maine-based wind energy education and training in order to enter the job market.
• University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) – up to $8 million
  The university plans to install a new Siemens 2.3 MW turbine research facility at its Outreach Research and Education Park in Rosemount, Minn., to study novel mechanical power transmission and electric generator systems. A consortium research and development plan includes active and passive flow control strategies to increase energy capture, broaden the operational envelope of the turbine, and reduce structural loads and fatigue. The school’s turbine will be in close proximity to an existing wind farm, providing an opportunity to further validate and reinforce research findings regarding turbine wake interaction, wind farm interaction, and wind energy efficiencies. The educational initiatives include new graduate and undergraduate web-based course modules, programs specifically focused on wind power technologies and integration with other renewables, and student internships with industrial partners at consortium field sites.

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Credit: Badagnani

Referring, of course, to the still glacial flow of Recovery Act funds from these agencies to those who, you know, will actually spend it and have it flow ever onward through the economy.

I really have no insight as to what is going on at DOE or NSF, but when you look at the numbers (below) of how fast other federal agencies are actually distributing their Recovery Act monies, either some agencies are being reckless or the main science agencies are too distracted with coming up with a way to make sure no one scams them.

But, the differences in real Recovery spending between the sciences and everyone else appears to be very stark and increasingly suggests to me that there is some tone deafness at DOE, NSF and NASA when it comes to detecting how difficult things are in the U.S. science community right now, particularly in academia and with companies who make a living providing lab equipment, lab supplies, testing services, etc.

So, here is the comparison (data as of 10/14/09 via the official Recovery website).

For comparison purposes, I’ve included the amounts the agencies already have earmarked to illustrate that there doesn’t seem to be a correlation between the size of the pot and what has been spent. Again, I find the entire situation bizarre, and if any reader has some insight as to what’s going on, I’d appreciate hearing about it.

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FuelCell Energy Inc., a maker of fuel cells for institutional and utility applications, says it will be receiving about $1.9 million from the DOE to develop a part designed to improve fuel cell cost and performance.

The funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will support the development of a microchannel high temperature recuperator for fuel cell systems. Microchannels are tiny passages in heat exchangers, or recuperators, that significantly enhance heat recovery and potentially reduce recuperator cost.

The project includes the testing of prototype recuperators, test analysis, model validation and design of units sized appropriately for a MW-class fuel cell system, according to FuelCell Energy (pdf). In a news release, the company says the recuperator will be developed using its DFC/Turbine and solid oxide fuel cell systems that are supposed to be nearly 60 percent electrical efficient.

In partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the company says it will fabricate and test a 15-kilowatt and a 150-kilowatt thermal recuperator. This project involves the development of design, scalability analysis, fabrication, and commercial applicability of microchannel-based recuperators for fuel cell systems.

The program’s goal is to improve the performance and cost of fuel cell power plants that are integrated with unfired gas turbines in combined cycle applications, the company says.

The company says it is also developing coal-based solid oxide fuel cell systems under a $30 million DOE agreement.

FuelCell energy is also awaiting word on several other ARRA grant applications submitted to the DOE.

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Lawrence Berkley National Lab has been commissioned to beef up the energy efficiency of several federal agencies. A press release from LBNL states that $1.8 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used to implement advanced technologies in lighting, HVAC and control systems.

“This funding will help implement energy efficiency projects across the federal government and will support training programs for energy managers to ensure the equipment is operating as effectively as possible,” says Arun Majumdar, Director of Berkley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division. “The Recovery Act funding will also go to developing and delivering advanced energy assessment tools that will provide energy managers with the resources and training to launch additional efficiency improvements in their facilities for years to come.”

The mission is to transfer new energy-efficient building technologies from the laboratory to the real world, and to stimulate the use of underutilized, high-performance technologies through innovative deployment programs.

The following projects will receive technical support from Berkeley Lab:

• Improving efficiency in federal data centers;
• Energy efficiency in Department of Agriculture labs;
• Advanced lighting for the National Institutes of Health; and
• Helping the armed forces be “as Energy-Efficient as They Can Be.”

With $663,000 in DOD funding, EETD researchers will cooperate on a project to test a whole-building monitoring system at two DOD sites. The system will continuously measure the energy performance of the HVAC, lighting and water systems, and compare these measurements in real time to a reference simulation model that represents the design intent for each building.

These types of efforts are could go a long way toward addressing a complaint by energy experts that architects are paying too much attention to design but not enough to ongoing assessment standards, methods and tools.

“Identifying the causes of water and energy waste in buildings can be challenging because energy flows and water usage are largely invisible,” says EETD researcher Philip Haves.

The Army’s Fort Detrick in Maryland will receive an assessment of the viability of supplying all or part of the electric load in selected areas with photovoltaic solar panels.

“We look forward to helping these agencies make the progress on energy efficiency and renewable energy that America needs to address global climate change as well as meeting the goals of the Recovery Act by helping to jumpstart the economy,” says Charles Williams, an energy expert in BNL’s Applications Team.

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