The US Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is investing $55 million (£34.65m) in combined heat and power (CHP) and biomass projects.

The funding will be divided in two different programmes.

The GENerators for Small Electrical and Thermal Systems (GENSETS) project is receiving $25 million (£15.9m) to make CHP systems affordable and more efficient.

The Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture (TERRA) programme has been awarded $30 million (£18.9m) to develop crops that are “sustainable, affordable and yield abundant plant feedstocks for bioenergy”.

ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams said: “By accelerating the development of residential CHP generators in GENSETS and by using cutting-edge robotics, plant physiology and information technology to make bioenergy crop development faster in TERRA, ARPA-E is pushing the boundaries of current energy technologies to create a more secure, sustainable and affordable American energy future.