Washington (Platts)--12Jun2012/226 pm EDT/1826 GMT
The Obama administration awarded more than $54 million for multiple projects across the country Tuesday in the latest effort to promote energy efficiency and reduce costs in the manufacturing industry. The Department of Energy said it would fund 13 projects, with Dow Chemical Co. winning the largest award of $9 million. Dow, in collaboration with Ford Motor Co. and DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will collaborate on a project that will use a better feedstock to make carbon fiber materials for automobiles, wind turbines and other applications. DOE says that using the new feedstock -- polyolefin -- will reduce production costs by 20% and carbon dioxide emissions by 50%. General Motors will receive $2.7 million in DOE funds for a project designed to reduce the weight of car doors by upward of 60%. By using magnesium inner plates instead of steel, the company says the lighter doors will require less energy to manufacture, while also boosting vehicle fuel economy. A slew of other projects selected for the award will use the funds to continue developing more efficient production methods by streamlining processes and creating single-step systems for manufacturing resources like iron and gallium nitride. The 13 companies receiving DOE funds will contribute some of their own money to the projects, totaling $17 million. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement the awards will "help manufacturers produce more while saving energy, saving money and protecting our air and water." The awards come as the Obama administration presses Congress to extend a tax credit for clean energy manufacturing that ran out of money at the end of 2011.--Linsey Isaacs, linsey_isaacs@platts.com --Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason_lindquist@platts.com