July 19, 2006—The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado welcomed Colorado legislation in June that provides funding to a new Colorado renewable energy research collaboration.
NREL and the three research universities have been working together since March to create the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, which will receive up to $2 million per year in matching funds for three years, beginning in fiscal year 2007. NREL and the universities will pay for all overhead costs of the Collaboratory from their existing budgets.
The Collaboratory will emphasize the development of new renewable energy technologies and the advancement of existing technologies for rapid transfer to private industry for commercial development. This research and technology transfer program is expected to attract new renewable energy enterprises to Colorado, adding to the state’s economic vitality.
According to NREL, renewable energy includes a broad range of current and potential energy sources, including solar and wind energy; biofuels that can be produced from agricultural crops and forest products such as ethanol and biodiesel; geothermal energy from beneath the Earth’s surface for heating and cooling; hydrogen fuel cells; and other emerging technologies.
