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The Department of Energy today released a list of awardees to receive stimulus funds for research on energy. 37 projects around the country were chosen because of their potential to "change the way we use and produce energy," the department said. Seven of those projects are in the state, two in Southern California.
The biggest local award when to Ceres, Inc. in Thousand Oaks. The DOE explains: "Genes that enable energy crops to produce more biomass using less land (and lower quality land), less water, and less fertilizer than standard energy crops. This approach would provide sustainable biofeedstocks to displace oil and coal for fuels and power production."
Nearly $5 million is going towards the project. $760,705 will also go to University of California, Riverside for research that will hopefully lead to the reduced cost of fuel cells so they can be used more widespread.
Worth a look: Huell Howser this year visited a jojoba plant farm near Joshua Tree National Park. The native desert plant can be used as a fuel. You can watch the full episode here.