A House science panel has advanced one bill focused on energy-storage technologies and another to enhance industrial energy efficiency research and development.

The House Committee on Science and Technology´s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment passed both bills on separate voice votes Wednesday.

Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., who chairs the science committee, wrote what´s called the Energy Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007. His bill authorizes $780 million to improve energy storage for electrical grids and hybrid- and electric-vehicle batteries. The funding would be allotted to the Energy Department between 2009 and 2014.

"Development of these technologies is critical as we transform our electricity and transportation sectors," Gordon said in a news release. The idea, he added, it to bump up diversified electricity sources such as wind and solar, and to reduce the country´s carbon footprint and dependence on foreign oil by making more reliable and longer-lasting batteries.

Rep., Nick Lampson, D-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee, wrote the other bill. What´s called the Industrial Energy Efficiency Research and Development Act of 2007 authorizes $750 million to the Energy Department between 2009 and 2013.

The Energy Department´s Industrial Technologies Program would collaborate with universities and energy-intensive industries ù aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum refining and steel among them ù to improve efficiency and explore alternative sources for heat and power.

To remain competitive, Lampson said in a news release, such industries must diversify their fuel sources and the raw materials they use for manufacturing.

Lampson´s legislation was prompted by recent cuts in the Industrial Technologies Program´s budget. Funding for fiscal year 2007 was $45.6 million, about a quarter of the $175 million devoted to the program in fiscal year 2000, according to subcommittee figures.

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