An allocation of $187 million by the federal government for new energy projects will benefitlocations in Michigan and Indiana almost exclusively.

The money, announced Monday, will go to nine projects. Only one is outside the two Midwest industrial states.

Money for one of the projects was awarded to Robert Bosch, which has a manufacturing plant in Anderson, but the Bosch plant in Farmington Hills, Mich., was named as the recipient.

The locations are the primary recipients of the money but others within the companies and outside also will benefit, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The $12 million Bosch project is to build a demonstration of a turbo-charged engine that runs on regular gas but is ignited like a diesel engine, attempting to realize 30 percent fuel economy improvements.

The three largest projects, averaging $38 million each and awarded to Cummins Inc., Daimler Trucks and Navistar Inc., are for what the government terms supertrucks, which would have cleaner diesel engines, put otherwise wasted heat to use and use fuel cells to power the semi-trucks while idling.

The rest of the projects, and the Bosch one, are for passenger vehicle engine improvements.

Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all were awarded small-vehicle projects, Delphi Automotive Systems, Bosch and a second Cummins project round out the list of those to be funded.

All of the projects are expected to show results by 2015, with the goals of 50 percent more efficient long-haul freight trucks for the largest projects and of passenger vehicle fuel economy improvements of 25 to 40 percent for the rest.

The nine projects are expected to create 500 or more jobs in the research phase and as many as 6,000 jobs once the technology makes it to factory lines. The money for the projects comes from stimulus funds and private sources.

When the San Diego International Auto Show opens today, it will offer a peek inside a fractured industry trying to find long-term solutions for reviving sales and meeting demand for higher fuel efficiency.

Virtually every manufacturer will showcase a hybrid model or one of several power sources vying to become the dominant platform of the future — including electricity, ethanol, natural gas and hydrogen. In all, about a quarter of the 500 vehicles on the floor rely on alternative fuels, up from about 5 percent two years ago.

The array of choices highlights how tricky it is for manufacturers to predict the best development strategy, made more difficult because it takes billions of dollars to conduct research and ramp up production for a new generation of vehicles.

Hybrid engines have a big head start, thanks to the Toyota Prius, but industry analysts said no single technology is likely to replace the conventional gasoline engine in the foreseeable future. They predict it will take a “portfolio” approach to meet the multifaceted demands of the American consumer.

“There is so much confusion in the U.S. over which alternative technology is best,” said Patrick Serfass, a spokesman for the National Hydrogen Association, a trade group in Washington, D.C. “The fact is that you have many different kinds of vehicles and many different kinds of transportation needs.”

Nowhere is that more evident than at auto shows such as the annual affair in San Diego. It will feature alternative powertrains on dozens of vehicles, such as a concept electric coupe by Cadillac and a hydrogen-powered SUV from Chevy.

Next month in Detroit, Toyota is expected to unveil a subcompact, hybrid-only model designed to lower the entry price for a product line dominated by the Prius. Media reports also have said the company is developing an all-electric car for 2012.

Shares of solar energy stocks climbed Monday as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health and as an analyst turned bullish on several solar names, saying he expects strong demand to continue into the first half of 2010.

The so-called "endangerment finding" announced by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is necessary for the administration to move ahead with new light-duty vehicle emission standards and is the precursor to wide-ranging regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA said Monday that large emitters of greenhouse gases would come under new regulations next spring to limit such emissions.

The new regulations will require firms that are building or modifying power plants, refineries and other industrial emitters to install the "best available" technology. The EPA will soon begin determining what technology will be required.

The Obama administration has said it will issue tens of billions of dollars in tax credits and stimulus funds for companies and homeowners who buy solar energy products as it pushes clean energy alternatives.

Meanwhile, Barclays Capital analyst Vishal Shah boosted his ratings on JA Solar Holdings Co. (JASO), SunPower Corp. (SPWRA) and Suntech Power Holdings (STP) to overweight from neutral and said he expects the companies to report improving demand trends in the near term.

"Although concerns about German subsidy cuts could remain a potential overhang on the sector, we believe performance of solar stocks has recently lagged the broader markets rally and as such expect continued positive sector momentum in the near term," Shah said in a note.

Environmental activists determined to save a southern West Virginia mountain from strip mining demanded Monday that the state intervene in Massey Energy's plans for blasting at the site.

Activist Bo Webb urged the protesters to "stay cool and stay focused" as they were heckled by several hundred miners who chanted "coal" from across the parking lot outside state Department of Environmental Protection headquarters. About a half-dozen state troopers kept the two sides separated.

Horns on coal trucks attempted to drown out the speakers, including an opening prayer.

Environmental attorney Robert Kennedy Jr., son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was among those set to speak at the activists' rally. While the rally was about mountaintop removal mining in general, it was also about a particular site — Coal River Mountain.

Virginia-based Massey Energy has plans to blast and mine thousands of acres atop the mountain, which has enough coal reserves to feed power plants for 14 years. Coal River Mountain Watch, a citizens' group, wants Massey to stick with underground mining and allow the ridges to be turned into a 200-turbine wind farm.

Bob Kincaid of Coal River Mountain Watch asked for a moment of silence at the rally in honor of Pearl Harbor Day, then made an analogy to the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

"We don't have a day of infamy in West Virginia," Kincaid said. "We have an hour of infamy every hour of every day because of mountaintop removal, and it must end."

Coal miners wore U.S. flags and held signs that read, "Hey Kennedy clan, fix your morals before destroying our family's jobs" and "Don't like coal? Get your power disconnected."

Capstone Turbine has introduced the CMT-380, a hybrid-electric supercar powered by traditional batteries and an untraditional, ultra-low emission, range-extending microturbine.

Four New York advanced-energy projects will receive more than $88 million in funding to support Smart Grid demonstration and energy storage projects through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects were competitively selected with 28 other projects funded nationwide to help build a smarter, more efficient and more resilient electrical grid.

New York strengthened the applications by pledging a 10 percent match or $8.8 million from New York’s Innovation Economy Matching Grants Program. In total, the awards of $620 million announced Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu will be leveraged with $1 billion in funds from the private sector to support more than $1.6 billion in total Smart Grid projects nationally.

“The fact that our State is well represented among the states in receiving these funds is testament to New York’s position as leader in the New Economy. Smart Grid and energy storage efforts are critical pieces of my ‘45 by 15’ energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, and continue our path to creating a stronger clean energy economy and a cleaner environment for all New Yorkers,” Governor David Paterson said. “Three State authorities, including NYSERDA, LIPA and NYPA, are actively involved in these projects, and we are proud of the recognition they have received. I applaud President Obama, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and our entire Congressional Delegation for their work to secure these critical funds that promote economic recovery, development and environmental stewardship.”

The funding awards are divided into two topic areas. In the first group, New York received three out of 16 awards nationwide to support fully integrated, regional Smart Grid demonstrations. These included:

In the darkening recession, Gov. Deval Patrick and the Legislature have dialed back funding for education, social services and local aid. But energy efficiency and renewable energy development - promised as a salvation for economic growth - have been spared.

"We are in very difficult times, as you know, but we cannot afford to slow down or think small, especially in the clean energy field," Patrick told a conference of 400 energy entrepreneurs and investors in Boston earlier this month.

Over the last decade, Massachusetts has instituted dozens of tax incentives, loans and grant programs to encourage development of renewable energy. But in this withering financial climate, with Massachusetts facing a potential $600 million budget deficit, is the state's investment still on track to reap a bright, green economy?

The Patrick administration has set a goal of making Massachusetts No. 1 in the nation in producing and consuming renewable energy. The Legislature is on board with the plan, yet there have been pitfalls with the ambitious program.

In 2008, the Legislature showed its commitment to renewable energy with a package of bills that promised jobs and a stronger state economy. The legislation carried a total price tag of $118 million in loans and grants over five years. Supporters said the bills would create an estimated 14,000 to 17,000 jobs.

But timing was not kind to the programs. Nick d'Arbeloff, president of the New England Clean Energy Council, said the estimates of jobs and revenues were made shortly before the credit market collapsed, leading to a drop in private investment in renewable energy.

"In 2008 the whole sector started to just explode in terms of investment and in 2009 there was a pullback," d'Arbeloff said.

President Barack Obama is to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the US in several stages, beginning with a 17% cut by 2020, the White House has said.

The offer will be made at December's UN climate talks in Copenhagen, which Mr Obama will attend. But he does not plan to be there for the crucial last days, when delegates including other world leaders are hoping to pull together a deal. The talks aim to draw up a new treaty to supplant the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. UN climate chief Yvo de Boer said his attendance could be vital for a deal. "It's critical that President Obama attends the climate change summit in Copenhagen," he told journalists. The cuts Mr Obama has proposed are similar to those included in a bill passed by the US House of Representatives in June. But with legislation currently stuck in the Senate, correspondents say the president will be unable to commit to any of the figures he is proposing at the summit. So far more than 60 world leaders have said they will attend. Observers say the presence of such figures as Mr Obama will raise hopes for action on climate change, although the talks are not expected to result in a new treaty.

'Momentum for talks'

Power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators Wednesday adopted a first-in-the-nation mandate to reduce electricity demand.

On a unanimous vote, the California Energy Commission required all new televisions up to 58 inches to be more energy efficient, beginning in 2011. The requirement will be tougher in 2013, with only a quarter of all TVs currently on the market meeting that standard.

The commission estimates that TVs account for about 10 percent of a home's electricity use. The concern is that the energy draw will rise by as much as 8 percent a year as consumers buy larger televisions, add more to their homes and watch them longer.

Commissioners say energy efficiency standards are the cheapest and easiest way to save electricity.

"We have every confidence this industry will be able to meet the rule and then some," Energy Commissioner Julia Levin said. "It will save consumers money, it will help protect public health, and it will spark innovation."

TVs larger than 58 inches, which account for no more than 3 percent of the market, would not be covered by the rule, a concession to independent retailers that sell high-end home-theater TVs. The commission is expected to regulate them in the future.

Environmental groups supported the tougher standards and hoped they will prompt manufacturers to make new energy-efficient models for the rest of the nation. They said the rules would cut California's power bill by $1 billion a year, avoiding the need to build a 500-megawatt power plant.

Some manufacturers said implementing a power standard will cripple innovation, limit consumer choice and harm California retailers because consumers could simply buy TVs out of state or order them online.

Gas-guzzling Houston, bete noire of environmentalists worldwide, is planting the seeds of an electric future.

On Tuesday, mayor Bill White and local electricity retailer Reliant Energy launched a plug-in hybrid program that includes 10 vehicle-charging stations around the city. Seven of the stations will be available to the public, and electricity will be free the first year, mayor White said.

The move comes amid a marketing and lobbying push by several electric providers and car maker Nissan–which has an all-electric vehicle due in late 2010–to quicken the pace of car electrification and the same day that General Motors said its electric Volt is on track for commercial production a year from now. At The Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Tuesday, Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said that by 2020, 10% of all cars sold will be zero-emission vehicles.

The “Electrification Coalition” called for “electricity ecosystems,” or select cities where the electric-car revolution can take root. But who knew that would include Houston?

Last week, Reliant (a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc. and a member of the carmaker’s “Electrification Coalition”) and Nissan announced that they’d make the Texas city a “launch city” for the all-electric LEAF, due in late 2010. Reliant promised to install public charging stations and provide equipment to charge cars at home. Talk about taunting the devil in its own lair.

At first blush, it’s hard to imagine a city less amenable to electrification of the transportation fleet than this sprawling metropolis, criss-crossed by tentacular highways. Many of Houston’s more than 5 million inhabitants appear to think nothing of driving 30 miles to work on tricked-out pick up trucks getting 12 miles a gallon.