The Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) has revised the contract with its corporate sponsors to allow for more sources of funding to the researchers it supports. The most significant change is that the contract lets GCEP co-fund research projects with the government.

The agreement “enhances our ability to fund high-risk, high-rewards research efforts that could have a tremendous impact in the energy arena,” said GCEP Director Sally Benson in an interview with the Stanford Report.

The nine-year-old program — a collaboration between Stanford and industry scientists sponsored by Exxon Mobil, GE, Schlumberger and Toyota — has so far supported 80 research programs with more than $100 million. Its mission is to support pre-commercial research on energy technologies that ultimately lead to greenhouse gas reductions.

Most recently, it announced nearly $4 million in grants to Stanford faculty researching solar technology, carbon storage and biomass energy.

“We are confident that the added flexibility of the updated GCEP agreement, along with these new innovative solar, carbon storage and biomass efforts, will continue to keep GCEP at the cutting edge of energy research,” GCEP management committee chair Gary Leonard said to Stanford Report.

–Tyler Brown