Obama announces $30 million funding to support NGVs breakthroughs

“We’re launching a program that will bring together the nation’s best scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to figure out how more cars can be powered by natural gas, a fuel that’s cleaner and cheaper and more abundant than oil. We’ve got more of that.  We don’t have to import it. We may be exporting it soon,” said President Obama at the University of Miami.

ARPA-E’s new initiative, titled Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy -or ‘MOVE’- will focus on overcoming the market’s barriers by developing innovative, low-cost natural gas storage technologies and methods to lower pressure in vehicle tanks that will help enable the widespread adoption of NGVs.

Specifically, ARPA-E seeks to fund projects that will develop lightweight tanks for cars that can run on natural gas and fit into modern passenger vehicles. This approach includes developing affordable natural gas compressors that can efficiently fuel an NGV at home.

“As President Obama made clear in his State of the Union address, in order to build a strong economy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in developing American energy sources like natural gas and biofuels,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “Through the new programs announced today, we can help revolutionize the way Americans fuel their cars, saving money for families and businesses while building new industries here in the United States.”

Source: U.S. Department of Energy