The Department of Energy wants to hear some great ideas about fuel cell technology; “clean” coal is pretty much the same dirty stuff as ever; and a 16-year-old’s science fair project may have the solution to plastic bag waste. Good Thursday morning from EcoTech Daily!

US DOE Seeks to Invest up to $130 Million in Advanced Fuel Cell Technology: The U.S. Department of Energy has $130 million in spare change to spend over the next three years, and they want to sink it into fuel cell development. The DOE would like to see progress in both automotive and portable fuel cell development. They’re accepting grant proposals through August 27th. DOE officials also signaled the intent to move more of their own vehicles to alternative fuel technologies. (Green Car Congress)

Clean Coal: Hype or Hard Slog?: What is this “clean coal” so heavily advertised these days? So far, not much more than a slogan. But General Electric — a major builder of coal-powered electric plants — announced a high-dollar partnership Wednesday with oil-field services firm Schlumberger to develop carbon sequestration equipment. But there are still obstacles ahead: cleaner coal, by anyone’s estimates, will be substantially more expensive than conventional fossil fuel power. Meanwhile, truly clean, renewable power technologies such as solar thermal appear on track to drop below coal’s cost-per-kilowatt-hour before the first clean coal plants could be built. (WSJ.com)

Satellite images link polluted clouds to lack of rain: Scientists may have found one cause of modern droughts: dirty clouds. NASA used a constellation of research satellites to survey clouds in drought areas. Aerosols — dust, smoke, and power plant waste — cause the buildup of ice crystals within polluted clouds. More ice means less rainfall. (CNET News)

Scientific breakthrough decomposes plastic bags in 3 months!: A 16-year-old’s science fair project may have the answer to those millions of plastic bags sitting around in clogged landfills. Daniel Burd has designed a system which breaks down buried bags in about 90 days. Burd isolated plastic-hungry bacteria to get the job done. Bags exposed to the bug were 43 percent decomposed after only six weeks, with no harmful by-products. (Inhabitat)

Honda motorcycles to get Variable Cylinder Management and more: Motorcycles are generally considered fuel-efficient transportation. But Honda wants to improve the economy of its two-wheeled fleet. They’ve announced technology which shuts down one or more of its V-6 motorbike engine cylinders when they aren’t necessary. Honda also said they’re finished with conventional carburetors, opting to fit their entire motorcycle line with the company’s VTEC series fuel injection systems, instead. (Autoblog Green)

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