Congress has passed the nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package, and alternative fuels and energy saving measures will get nearly $62 billion in spending and another $20 billion in tax credits and bond provisions from the measure that Pres. Obama has promised to sign on Monday.
This article from ItsGettingHotinHere.org details how some of the money will be spent:
Research, Development and Demonstration – Subtotal: $8.2 billion
* $2.5 billion for applied research and development activities relating to renewable energy and energy efficiency. It looks like this is to be directed to programs administered by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), including $800 million directed to biomass project, $400 million for geothermal projects, and $50 million to improve the efficiency of information and communications technology.
* $2.0 billion for energy R&D programs at the Department of Energy Office of Science, including the National Laboratories.
o Includes $400 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-e) as authorized by the America COMPETES Act. This is the first time moneys have been appropriated to fund ARPA-e.
* $3.4 billion for the Fossil Energy Research and Development Program, including $1 billion for fossil energy R&D programs, $800 million for the Clean Coal Power Initiative, $1.52 billion for carbon capture and generation efficiency improvement project grants, and $70 million for geologic carbon sequestration R&D.
* $300 million for renewable energy and energy efficiency research, development, testing and evaluation for the Department of Defense (including $75 million each for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defense-wide programs).
Clean Energy Deployment – Subtotal: $6 billion
* $6 billion in loan guarantees for the Innovation Technology Loan Guarantee Program established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. These loan guarantees are expected to support more than $60 billion in loans for renewable energy technologies and modern transmission technologies.
Other highlights from the bill include $3 billion for electrifying transportation, alternative fuels and efficient vehicles; $600 million to help develop the workforce for the new energy economy; and more than $13 billion in a three-year extension of the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (through the end of 2012)… just to name a few.