According to Business Green, the US renewable energy industry received a major boost recently as the release of new budget proposals from Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (DOI) confirmed that billions of dollars of new investment will flow into the sector next year.
The budget runs parallel to plans to invest a further $38.8 billion of economic stimulus spending in clean energy projects that will see an increase in spending on low-carbon projects, including an 83% year-on-year increase in investment in solar energy projects to $145m, a 60% increase in spending on green buildings to $98m, a 36% increase in wind energy investment to $20m and a 22% increase in spending on low-carbon vehicles to $60m.
The DOI’s $12 billion budget similarly focussed heavily on clean energy, including $183m in increased funding for clean energy projects on federal land and initiatives to mitigate the impacts of unavoidable climate change.
Russ Kidder, CEO of Advanced Clean Technologies, said, “Our recent successful testing of our clean technology for the production of Canadian and Utah oil sands is an excellent example of how well qualified our company is to apply for funding under these programs being budgeted for 2010.”
