The Department of Energy is licking its lips at the prospect of finding a way to turn algae into biofuel in a financially viable way so they have just invested $25 million to spur that research on.

Algue biofuels have represented a bit of a holy grail to the biofuel industry as it can yield 100 times more biofuel per acre than land-based sources like soy or corn. While this sounds nice, the cost of harvesting and using currently makes algae farming for biofuel cost-prohibitive.

Six of the DOE’s $25 million will go to an Arizona State University team who will be looking at the best ways to use algae biofuels. A University of California, San Diego will get $9 million to work on developing algae strains that are best for biofuel. The remaining money will go to Cellana, LLC and their work on developing large-scale production processes.

We received some very impassioned comments back in May when the Obama Administrations cut hydrogen fuel cell funding for research and development. Several readers felt that a huge opportunity for a long-term eco-friendly vehicle solution had been missed.

Well, those same readers will be pleased to know that Senator Byron Dorgan (D) and the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which he heads, has overturned the DOE’s initial slashing of the hydrogen fuel cell research budget.

The subcommittee has finished altering the DOE’s 2010 budget to now include $190 million for hydrogen research and development.

So tell us what you think? Waste of money or is hydrogen fuel research that might benefit the proliferation of hydrogen vehicles like the Honda FCX Clarity (pictured above) a good investment for the future?

While the Obama Administration is definitely behind green initiatives and reducing vehicular carbon emissions, they have officially started cutting ties with hydrogen fuel-cell technology in favor of plug-in electric vehicles.

The DOE secretary Steven Chu stated yesterday that hydrogen vehicles are still 10 to 20 years from being practical and consequently the federal government will be dropping millions of dollars of hydrogen fuel cell funding from next year’s budget.

This announcement was in stark contrast to what Chu stated several weeks ago when he announced that $41.9 million for hydrogen projects.

Obviously the latest announcement has ruffled some feathers. The National Hydrogen Association immediately fired off a statement that decries the cuts as stifling to hydrogen fuel cell technology development, which they claim is showing “exceptional promise and beginning to gain market traction.”

A sentiment reflected in the fact that this year’s New York Auto Show named the hydrogen fuel cell powered Honda FCX Clarity (pictured above) was named the World Green Car of the Year.

What do you think? Is hydrogen technology worth investing in or is the Obama Administration right to just focus on electric cars?

With all the talk about investing in electric and hybrid cars and the necessary infrastructure it’s easy to forget about hydrogen fuel cells.

There are still plenty of hardcore hydrogen proponents and with the Honda FCX Clarity (pictured above) winning the Green Car of the Year Award it’s no wonder.

It also seems the Department of Energy (DOE) has not forgotten about hydrogen powered vehicle either. In what they have described as an effort to lay “the foundation for a green energy eonomy,” the DOE is putting $41.9 million from the Stimulus Bill into hydrogen fuel cell technology. They predict this will lead to an immediate deployment of almost 1,000 new hydrogen fuel cell systems.

Bankrupt auto parts supplier Delphi will make use of a $2.4 million grant allowing for the development of a 3-5kW solid oxide fuel cell auxiliary power unit for class 8 trucks.

While this should help hydrogen fuel cells see more action while creating new jobs hydrogen vehicle proponents might still be a little ticked off that at the relative difference of the $41.9 million for hydrogen compared to the more than $2 billion that is going towards advanced battery research for electric vehicles.