The U.S. Department of Energy in February announced that it would award nearly $88 million to 12 projects to develop more fuel-efficient passenger and commercial vehicles. The private sector will contribute another $87.5 million to the research.
Seven projects involve research in advanced combustion technologies; the other five focus on technologies that convert waste heat from engines into electrical or mechanical energy.
The projects were selected to support the Bush administration's goal of improving efficiency of internal combustion engines from 30% in 2004 to 45% by 2012 for passenger vehicles and from 40% in 2002 to 55% by 2013 for commercial vehicles, according to the DOE. The agency projects that vehicles using such technologies would use up to 15% less fuel than current vehicles, while also lowering harmful emissions.
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