The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Hartford conglomerate United Technologies a $4.4 million grant to develop better ways for vehicles to run on natural gas.
UTC will conduct the research out of its United Technologies Research Center facility in East Hartford. Using the $4.4 million, the company will engineer a low-cost natural gas tank for passenger vehicles, replacing the bigger tanks currently used that limit the viability for everyday use.
The company is one of only 13 recipients in the nation for this research grant, and the only one in Connecticut. Other states receiving grants are California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The grant comes from the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects-Energy Methane Opportunities for Vehicle Energy program. This program seeks to take advantage of the large domestic supply of natural gas, which is causing prices to drop drastically.
