Funding the Fantastic

The Feds have given the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) $151 million to look at some highly unusual ways of creating energy. Are they so crazy they just might work -- or just plain crazy?

1 minute read

November 3, 2009, 11:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


37 projects are slated for funding through ARPA-E, including a new all-metal battery and a proposal to harvest waste heat from vehicles.

"In its own words, "ARPA-E's mission is to develop nimble, creative and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing America's technology leadership."

ARPA-E is modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the agency that helped develop technologies like the stealth fighter, the M16 assault rifle, and the Internet, among other transformative ideas."

Monday, November 2, 2009 in The Christian Science Monitor

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