DOE releases some, not all, delayed grant funding

An unusual episode continues with the Department of Energy delivering $20 million in research-project funding that had been held up for two months.

The grants were funded through the DOE’s ARPA-E program, which supports high-risk, high-reward energy research, often with an eye towards renewable sources. In April, the DOE ended contract negotiations on dozens of projects and ordered agency managers not to talk about the grants.

Now the DOE has released funding for half of the grants, which include research on autonomous vehicles and alternative fuels such as ammonia.