By Ari Bloomekatz
Enquirer staff writer

The Department of Energy gave $250,000 to researchers at the University of Cincinnati on Monday to develop cleaner and more efficient sources of fuel.

The grant focuses on the construction and application of hydrogen fuel cells, designed to be both environmentally friendly and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"This provides a really great advantage for our country in use of alternative fuels, and basically that gives us lots of energy independence," said UC professor Raj Singh, who is leading the project.

Singh said the new fuel cells could be used in cars and generators, and will use Ohio resources, such as coal, for development.

"The state of Ohio has a lot of coal reserves," Singh said. "The gases we can create from coal can be used to generate power using these fuel cells."

Congressman Steve Chabot said it is important that the United States create new sources of fuel so it is not at the mercy of a global petroleum market.

"We've put off solving the problem of relying on foreign sources of energy," the Cincinnati Republican said. "We're seeing at the gas pump today the consequences of that."

Singh said the project is split into two phases that will take nearly three years to complete.

The first phase is inventing the new fuel cells, and the second phase is developing ways to adapt the technology into everyday applications such as cars.

Depending on the results of the first phase, Singh said another $250,000 grant could become available for the second phase.

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E-mail abloomekatz@enquirer.com