Tucson, AZ — Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva announced today that the University of Arizona will receive funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (ARRA) for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs).

As one of 46 EFRCs across the country, the University of Arizona will receive $15 million for five years to enhance the conversion of solar energy to electricity using hybrid inorganic-organic materials.

EFRC researchers will take advantage of new capabilities in nanotechnology, high-intensity light sources, neutron scattering sources, supercomputing, and other advanced instrumentation, much of it developed with DOE Office of Science support over the past decade, in an effort to lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, biofuels, transportation, energy efficiency, electricity storage and transmission, clean coal and carbon capture and sequestration, and nuclear energy.

“The University of Arizona will be in the forefront of the breakthroughs that are essential to expand the use of clean and renewable energy,” said Grijalva. “As our need to reduce our dependence on imported oil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions grows, this program will encourage energy efficiency and spur economic growth that creates and retains jobs.”

Of the $377 million awarded to the EFRCs, $277 million comes from funding made available through the Recovery Act with the remaining $100 million made from DOE’s FY2009 budget. The 46 EFRCs are being funded at $2-5 million per year each for a planned initial five-year period and were selected from a pool of applications received in response to a solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in 2008 and announced on April 27, 2009. In total, the EFRC initiative represents a planned DOE commitment of $777 million over five years.

A complete list of the 46 EFRCs, their lead institutions, funding levels and objectives, is available at: www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EFRC.html