US government announced Monday a second round of US$100 million funding to support the country's new energy technology.

At an event with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said that the Recovery Act funding will be made available to accelerate innovation in green technology, increase America's competitiveness and create jobs. This announcement comes in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark this week.

This project "demonstrates our commitment to lead the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies, creating thousands of new jobs while helping cut carbon pollution," said Chu.

The new funding opportunities for transformational energy research projects, known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), is the department's second solicitation on these projects. It focuses on three technology areas, including biofuels, carbon capture, and batteries for electric vehicles.

ARPA-E's first solicitation, announced earlier this year, was resulted in funding 37 projects aimed at transformational innovations in energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture, renewable power, building efficiency, vehicles, and other areas.

The Obama administration regards the new energy technology as a major engine to drive the economic recovery and lay the foundation of sustainable growth for the next generation.

On December 4, the Energy Department announced a US$3.18 billion investment to accelerate the development of advanced coal technologies with carbon capture and storage at commercial-scale.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2009)