Eight Energy Projects the Stimulus Bill Could Fund

(MoneyWatch)  The stimulus bill currently inching its way through Congress and Senate is intended to quickly add jobs, by pouring money into projects that can get underway immediately. Yet with over $800 billion poised to flood into the economy, it's surprising how hazy the details are. Most of the money is simply set aside in blocks that will later be distributed by the Federal government's web of agencies and departments.

Energy, of course, is a major part of the package. Since I've already taken a look at how money will be split among different sectors of the energy industry, for this round I went to Stimulus Watch to get an idea of some specific project that might get money.

To be up-front about this list, Stimulus Watch is not a perfect source. For starters, it only shows projects suggested by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Most of the proposals have very little detail. The majority are focused on city projects, and many look overpriced -- the worst offender being a $17.5 billion dollar request for "energy efficient industrial zones" in a small Puerto Rican town.

Other details seem similarly sketchy, giving the impression that passage of the stimulus would blindside the government at every level, ending in an illogical mish-mash of programs being submitted for consideration. But both good and bad ideas could slip through, given the speed the entire process is being pushed along at.

Disclaimers completed, here are some of the programs that caught my eye:
Electric vehicles -- Atlanta, Georgia wants to push hybrid, electric and biodiesel vehicles, spending $64 million and creating 550 jobs. The city would also run a pilot fuel cell program.

Gas and hydrogen vehicles -- Meanwhile, the city of Peoria, Arizona wants to head in the opposite direction, upgrading its fleet to run on natural gas or hydrogen at a cost of $2.5 million, employing 11 people.

Biodiesel -- Cities like San Francisco are already starting to gather used oil and grease to make biodiesel; others just want to use Fed funds to follow the example. Long Beach, California thinks it would take $40 million and employ only 46 people.

Solar -- A number of cities want to begin or expand existing residential solar programs. While ambitious (and expensive) plans like Los Angeles, California's thrust to have 10% solar power by 2020 may get passed over, projects like Miami, Florida's 1,000 solar thermal pilot projects, costing $7.5 million and directly employing 25 people, could have a better chance.

Hydrogen -- Will risky or unproven technology get funded by the stimulus? That's the big question for projects like the Beaumont, Texas landfill hydrogen plant, which would use solar energy to convert landfill methane into hydrogen and natural gas at a cost of $5 million, and employing 50 people.

Waste to energy -- While the above hydrogen technology adds in an unproven process, waste to energy programs using biomass gasification are fairly common; one of those being proposed is a Stamford, Connecticut plant that would cost $50 million and employ 75 people.

Lighting -- Another popular initiative is replacing existing bulbs in city-owned lights with energy-efficient LEDs. Doing so would not only employ workers, but save the cities on their power bills going forward -- although many would argue that the city budgets should not be a concern of the Fed. A San Jose, California project would cost $20 million and employ 100 people.

Coal -- President Obama's administration has made it clear that it intends to support the coal industry, while also pushing it to be cleaner. So it's possible that there could be some interest in Mobile, Alamaba's idea of revamping an existing coal plant to burn biomass, creating almost 200 jobs but costing $100 million.