Washington, D.C. - Today, Reps. David Price (NC-04) Bob Etheridge (NC-02) and Brad Miller (NC-13) announced that two local clean energy projects will receive a total of $4.7 million in Recovery Act funding awarded through the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). A North Carolina State University based project, which uses organisms that thrive in high-temperature environments to produce biofuels directly from Hydrogen and CO2, will receive $2.7 million. A $2 million award will go to RTI International's CO2 solvents project, designed to aid carbon capture.

"America's economic, energy, and national security depend on the development of American-made, alternative energy sources that can reverse our dependence on foreign oil," Rep. Price said. "While we work to make energy sources that will never run out—like wind and solar—more competitive, we need to take steps to make our current energy sources cleaner, protecting the air we breathe and the water we drink. These Recovery Act projects advance both of those goals."

"In America, we pride ourselves on our ingenuity and our leadership in the development of new industrial technologies," Rep. Miller said. "However, for years, our dependence on foreign petroleum products and other non-renewable energy sources has stifled clean energy technology innovation. These kinds of projects help us move forward."

"This cutting edge energy initiative is a win-win for NC. It creates good jobs now and helps free us from the grip of foreign oil," said Rep. Etheridge.

The $106 million in awards announced across the country today are targeted to projects that could produce advanced biofuels, help design new batteries to make electric vehicles more affordable and the cost-effective removal of carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants.

"I'm extremely pleased to see that the Recovery Act is funding work at NC State University by Dr. Robert Kelly," Dr. Terri Lomax, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at NC said. "The ARPA-E grant from DOE will accelerate research using ancient organisms that thrive in high temperature environments like underwater thermal vents and hot water pools heated by geothermal activity to produce biofuels directly from Hydrogen and C02 as a replacement for fossil fuels."

"Our carbon capture technologies represent a practical solution for controlling carbon dioxide emissions," said David Myers, Vice President RTI's Engineering Technology Unit. "This new award will help us further develop those technologies and ultimately reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change."

The Recovery Act, signed into law in March of 2009, includes over $100 billion for investments in job creation through innovation, science and technology. After the Recovery Act became law in March of 2009, job losses trended downward, gross domestic product (GDP) increased, and the economy is once again creating jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 162,000 jobs were created in the month of March, the most recent month for which data are available.

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