Eight Madison-area companies are among the recipients of $7.3 million in state grants and loans for clean-energy projects, Gov. Jim Doyle announced Tuesday.

The money will come from the Wisconsin Energy Independence Fund, which is part of Doyle's Clean Energy Wisconsin program.

The awards will leverage $44.2 million in investments and create jobs on farms, in forests, in research labs and for manufacturers.

These area companies will receive a total of $2,498,000:

• Steinbine Development, Deerfield, $55,000 grant. The company, which develops and manages small hydroelectric plants throughout the country, is working on an impulse turbine to recover unutilized hydropower resources and will use the grant to evaluate the turbine's efficiency and life cycle.

• Virent Energies, Madison, $500,000 grant and $500,000 loan. The company, which develops a technique for generating biofuels and bioproducts from carbohydrates in biomass, will design, build and operate a pilot production plant capable of producing up to 10,000 gallons of bio-gasoline per year.

• SolRayo, Madison, $250,000 grant. The company, which focuses on new nanotechnology-based materials for energy-storage applications, will commercialize a new material that will cut cost and increase the electrical energy storage of ultra-capacitators, making wind and solar energy more practicable for utility use.

• C5-6 Technologies, Middleton, $350,000 grant. The company, which develops enzymes for biofuel production, will use the grant to develop a group of new enzymes designed to significantly increase ethanol yield in current corn ethanol plants.

• Silatronix, Madison, $243,000 grant. The company will use the grant to develop expertise in clean-energy engineering and business development to advance the company's technology.

• GreenStone Technologies, Madison, $250,000 grant. The company, which develops photovoltaic products, will use the grant to develop a prototype of a solar window.

• Great Lakes Ag Energy, Fitchburg, $250,000 grant. The company, which has been a green energy developer and consultant to the biofuels industry, will use the grant to perfect the conversion of agricultural residues, byproducts and wood biomass to nano-porous cellulose for conversion to biofuel.

• Bio-Energy & Environment, Madison, $100,000 grant. The company will use the grant to help fund research into algae growth and the development of a small prototype cultivation plant.