Wal-Mart Commits to Powering 360 Sites in Texas with Wind

By Ylan Q. Mui

(Washington Post November 20, 2008) Wal-Mart has signed a contract to help power hundreds of its stores using wind energy, one of the largest investments in the field by a U.S. retailer. The four-year agreement with Duke Energy is expected to provide up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of power each year to about 360 stores and distribution centers in Texas, about 15 percent of the total electricity used. The company said the purchase will result in the reduction of about 139,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of what 25,000 cars would emit. Read more

Electric Boat to add $6.2M of Naval sub work

(Mass High Tech November 11, 2008) General Dynamics Corp.‘s Electric Boat subsidiary has landed $6.2 million from the U.S. Navy for work on nuclear submarines, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The deal is a modification to a previously won contract. Under the deal, Electric Boat will maintain and modernize facilities and equipment on operation nuclear submarines for the Nuclear Regional Maintenance Department. The Groton, Conn.-based company will also perform off-hull support of submarine maintenance. Electric Boat will provide supervisory personnel, program management, engineering and planning, training, inspection and nuclear services. The company will also provide planning, scheduling, coordination, integration, training and certification of nuclear work tasks on the submarines. Read more

Florida Energy

(Clean Tech) Is 2008 the year of the algae? It appears so, given that VC investment in this biofuels sub-sector reached a record $95 million in the third quarter, topping off a record $84 million investment in the second quarter of 2008, according to the Cleantech Group^TM. This is a sharp reversal in investment patterns for VCs who just two years ago put $495 million in grain ethanol production and zero dollars this year. Read more

Non-Competing Grant Awards under the Current Continuing Resolution

(NIH Release October 2, 2008) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to operate on a continuing resolution (CR) [Public Law 110-329 Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009] that currently extends through March 6, 2009.  The CR applies the terms of the FY 2008 appropriations for the period covered by the CR. Until the final FY 2009 appropriation is enacted, NIH will issue non-competing research grant awards at a level below that indicated on the most recent Notice of Award (generally up to 90% of the previously committed level). Read more

Long Island Sound Grants

RYE, New York, September 29, 2008 (ENS) – Grants for improving water quality in Long Island Sound were announced Friday at a gathering of federal and state environmental officials in Westchester County near the shore. The water quality grants were among 35 grants to state and local governments and community groups made to upgrade the Sound’s environment under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund.

The $913,000 in grants will be leveraged by $1.4 million raised by the recipients themselves, providing a total of nearly $2.3 million towards conservation in Connecticut and New York. Read more

DOE to Offer $25 Billion in Loans for Advanced Vehicles

(EERE News November 12, 2008) DOE issued an Interim Final Rule last week for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which will distribute up to $25 billion in direct loans to automakers and component manufacturers. The loans will help those manufacturers establish new U.S. manufacturing facilities or reequip or expand existing ones within the United States for the production of advanced technology vehicles and the components for such vehicles. Read more

Continuing Resolution Includes $25 Billion in Automakers Loans

(EERE News October 8, 2008) President Bush signed a continuing resolution bill on September 30 that keeps the federal government operating through March 6, 2009, but also includes funds for automaker loans that will encourage the development of plug-in hybrids and other advanced technology vehicles. H.R. 2638—the “Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009″—includes as part of its continuing resolution an appropriation of $7.51 billion for DOE to support up to $25 billion in direct loans to automakers and auto part suppliers. Read more

California Streamlines Approvals for Renewable Energy Projects

(EERE News November 19, 2008) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order on Monday to streamline the state’s approval process for renewable energy projects. Executive Order S-14-08 requires the California Resources Agency to lead a joint collaboration between the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Department of Fish and Game to create a “one-stop” permitting process. The collaboration, called the Renewable Energy Action Team, will allow for concurrent reviews of permit applications, and will also work with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help expedite the permit process. Read more

Advocating for R&D in the Budget

(AAAS Policy Alert November 19, 2008) Both chambers of Congress return this week for a lame-duck session. Although priorities will center on the bailout, the Senate is also expected to begin laying out a roadmap for a stimulus package. In anticipation of such discussion, the research community has begun to make a case for including research and development (R&D) in the package. The Association of American Universities sent a letter to House and Senate leaders that argued for the critical role that research universities play in stimulating the economy. Read more

R&D Federal Funding – What Can We Expect?

by Susan Ward

We asked some of the ITECS associates to weigh in on next years budgeting process.  This is what they had to say.

“Our expectation is the entire process will become more transparent.  Our clients should benefit from this transparency because their technology focus has already received aggressive due diligence from both their internal marketing groups and the agencies.”  Rick Carne, Rick Carne Consulting Read more

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