This afternoon, U.S. Energy Secretary, Steven Chu announced plans to pony up $93 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support further development of wind energy. He also announced more than $100 million in funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and for infrastructure development.

Here's the breakdown for wind development support...

• $10 million for the National Wind Technology Center in Colorado

• $24 million for wind power research and development

• $14 million for technology develoment - which will focus primarily on advanced materials for turbine blades and towers.

• $45 million for wind turbine drivetrain R&D and testing

Here's the breakdown for NREL and infrastructure development...

• $68 million for a research support facility - this will create the nation's most energy efficient office building at the same cost as low efficiency commercial construction. Ultimately, the goal is to create a design process that can be replicated for future construction projects.

• $19.2 million for renewable energy and site infrastructure - which will focus primarily on solar, and possibly geothermal.

• $13.5 million for upgrades to the integrated biorefinery research facility - which will enable the further development of commercial scale cellulosic projects.

Jeff