The US has awarded $125 million (£81.2m) for 41 energy technology projects.

The fund from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) comes ahead of the COP21 conference in Paris.

The projects will pursue approaches to energy innovation led by universities and large businesses and non-profit organisations.

Some of the projects include using a technology for improved power-to-gas system, a retrofit window insulation system and a polymer-based energy-saving material that can be applied to windows.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said: “The ARPA-E projects selected today highlight how American ingenuity can spur innovation and generate a wide range of technology options to address our nation’s most pressing energy issues. As we look beyond COP21, the energy technologies the Department of Energy invests in today will provide the solutions needed to combat climate change and develop a global low carbon economy in the future.”