The areas will include novel hydrogen storage materials, catalysts, and membranes.
The solicitation supports President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative which seeks to reduce dependence on imported oil by allowing mass-market penetration of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to begin by 2020.
The move forms part of the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), a 22% increase in clean-energy research at the Department of Energy (DOE). The 2007 budget requests more than $2.1 billion for AEI-related programmes.