$2 Billion of Proposed Economic Stimulus Goes Toward Battery Research

GM Battery Laboratory

A few weeks ago, we posted an article here on The Battery Times about the inclusion of a large sum in President Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus going toward the research and development of more advanced battery systems. At the time, it was estimated that the amount would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion in funding. As the proposed stimulus (an astounding $825 billion overall) becomes ever closer to becoming a reality, it appears that the actual amount being set aside for advanced battery research and development will be somewhere around $2 billion.
As the Democrats are now the majority in both the House and the Senate, they will obviously have great control over just how this money will be spent. While they both agree in large part on the figure of $2 billion, Senate Democrats are calling for all of the money to go toward advanced battery research, while Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives break up the money. They are calling for a $1 billion grant for battery research and a $1 billion loan for the development of advanced batteries. Either way, the determination to get the United States to the forefront of the development of advanced battery technology is very evident.
The U.S. has already fallen behind Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China, in the development of advanced batteries. While we’ve made steps in the right direction to move toward the forefront of such technology, we still have a long way to go. Hopefully the $2 billion included in the stimulus will help to close the gap that currently exists in advanced battery development while creating jobs and culminating in various other positive results in the process.