Recovery Act Continues to Invest in NREL and Create Jobs
November 18, 2009
$2 Million Received for Battery Research Facility
Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) applauded the Department of Energy for its continued investment in the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), located in the 7th Congressional District. NREL is scheduled to receive an additional $2 million to establish a Battery Thermal and Life Testing Facility to allow researchers to develop more efficient and robust battery designs. This funding is part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) passed by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Obama at the Denver Museum of Science & Nature.
“I would like to congratulate the talented staff at NREL on receiving this grant. This investment in battery technology will help our nation produce more fuel efficient vehicles and help wean us from foreign sources of oil. NREL continues to benefit from the Recovery Act because of their world-class work force and facilities. This funding will further bolster the amazing job growth NREL has seen in the past two and half years. Investing in renewable energy research is good for national security, good for the climate and good for jobs,” stated Perlmutter.
NREL will build upon their leadership in the development of battery storage technologies to ensure we will meet the nation’s goal of having one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Battery storage technologies are critically important to further improvement of advanced, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Since the passage of the Recovery Act, NREL has created or saved 42 jobs and received approximately $159 million to continue and build upon their renewable energy research and development. This includes:
· Construction of the state-of-the-art Research Support Facility - $68 million;
· On campus renewable energy and infrastructure improvements - $49.2 million;
· Upgrades to the Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility, support for solar energy, and weatherization programs - $21 million;
· National Wind Test Center research facility improvements - $9.5 million;
· Solar power development and storage research - $3.3 million;
· Investments in the Energy Frontier Research Center to provide basic research into transformative energy technology - $8 million.
