Obama’s administration to invest $2.8bn towards renewable energy projects

The Obama administration has planned to allot a total of $2.77bn funds towards renewable energy and energy efficiency projects as part of fiscal 2014 budget proposal.

The funds to be given to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) would reportedly be 50% more, compared to that allotted during the last budget.

According to the budget proposal, the two-fold increase in funds is aimed at reducing energy use and costs across all the sectors including federal buildings.

"These investments will support progress toward the President’s goal of cutting in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses, doubling our energy productivity over them next 20 years," the proposal stated.

The increase in funds comes as the government decides to cut off $4bn in subsidies to fossils fuels, reported The Daily Caller.

"As we continue to pursue clean energy technologies that will support future economic growth, we should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most pro?table companies in the world," the proposal stated.

Meanwhile, the budget also includes $615m to decrease the costs of clean energy from solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro energy and towards bio-fuels projects.

"It increases funding by 29 percent for innovative projects to make clean, renewable power, such as solar energy and off-shore wind, more easily integrated onto the electric grid and as affordable as electricity from conventional sources, without subsidies," according to the proposal.

The funding for bio-energy and bio-refineries is valued at $282m, representing a 42% increase over the last year’s budget.

In addition, the US President is planning to award $200m for the states that adopt policies to cut energy use and upgrade the electric grid.