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Congressman Paul Tonko announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded nearly $5 million in grants for two local companies for research on projects related to energy efficiency.

“These funds will help two local companies perform cutting edge research on projects that could help contribute to improved energy efficiency, which is crucial as we look to wean ourselves off of imported foreign oil,” said Congressman Tonko. “Government can and will play an important role in helping private industry bring these ideas to market, create jobs, complete globally, and improve our energy outcome.”

DOE awarded a $4,519,259 Recovery Act grant to Momentive Performance Materials, headquartered in Albany, for the development of alternative commercially-competitive lighting sources. This award is through an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funding opportunity announcement. Momentive will kick in $1,129,815 of its own money for this project.

Advanced Energy Conversion of Schenectady is receiving a $475,750 grant for its “Hydropower from Wastewater Advanced Energy Project.” This project is for the development and demonstration of a full-scale system at a municipal wastewater facility to draw energy from the effluent produced through the water treatment process. The energy that is harnessed will be used to offset the facility’s power demands. Advanced Energy Conversion is committing $380,600.

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