The Agriculture Department has invested more than $300 million in projects and grants for a strategy promote the adoption of renewable energy and efficient energy sources among the nation’s small businesses.

USDA said Tuesday it provided $237 million in grants to 423 businesses as part of the Rural Energy for America Program to help them implement renewable energy systems, such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower and solar.

The selected small businesses may also utilize the funds to update their heating, ventilation and cooling systems, insulation and lighting and refrigeration units.

The agency has also invested close to $80 million for several energy initiatives in Texas that aim to assist farmers and ranchers, create jobs for rural-based citizens and support the availability of affordable housing.

REAP will award nine Texas-based firms to help in the development of programs that include the construction of a roof-mounted solar array, the replacement of four wood-fired boiler systems and the update of an evaporator at an ethanol refinery.

The Pedernales Electric Cooperative of Johnson City will receive a $68 million grant under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program to implement a system-wide overhaul for a rural portion of the co-op’s service area.

“Cutting our energy waste is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to help families save money on their energy bills while reducing harmful carbon pollution,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

He added that the country has provided new jobs, helped citizens to save on energy bills and cut carbon emissions through new upgrades and private sector partnerships.

REAP has helped fund more than 11,600 renewable energy initiatives that worked to mitigate costs of 15,000 businesses.

California’s Department of Industrial Relations has received a $1.8 million ApprenticeshipUSA grant from the Labor Department to develop and expand apprenticeship programs in the state.

DIR said Tuesday the federal grant will help the department boost its Division of Apprenticeship Standards plan that works to double the number of registered apprentices within the next 10 years in a push to engage non-traditional industries in apprenticeship and open opportunities for women and low-income groups.

“Apprenticeship programs are one of the best paths that workers can choose to find world-class on-the-job training that leads to good-paying careers,” said David Lanier, California labor and workforce development secretary.

Christine Baker, DIR director, said the grant will help the department expand into new industries as well as offer more career opportunities to workers.

The department added that the grants will support business engagement in advanced manufacturing, information and communication technology, transportation and health care as well as foster diversity and equity in apprenticeship opportunities and develop a data management system to track apprenticeship program outcomes.

The General Services Administration plans to refine its acquisition process under the second phase of an agency initiative to provide tools and support for companies that aim to do business with the government.

Kevin Youel Page, deputy commissioner of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, wrote in a blog post published Monday the agency plans to update its web resources for phase 2 of the Making It Easier initiative that was launched in April.

He added GSA currently develops plain language guides for each contract vehicle under the Multiple Award Schedules program to pattern after the IT Schedule 70 Plain Language Roadmap that was released during MIE’s first phase.

GSA will publish introductory guides called Quickstart Guides on how to use MAS contract vehicles and the eOffer Quickstart Guide is the first release, according to Page.

He also noted that FAS will train the National Customer Service Center in efforts to overhaul GSA’s help desk structure to provide a single point of contact for all inquiries.

GSA also published the “Making it Easier to do Business with the Government Report” to provide details on MIE initiatives in fiscal year 2016.

GSA programs during MIE’s first phase include FASt Lane and the IT Schedule 70 Startup Springboard, which are designed to reduce time it takes for companies to secure positions under the IT Schedule 70 contract vehicle.

Page said 108 companies got on Schedule during FASt Lane’s first six months and 195 companies have completed training under Startup Springboard since April.

NASA looks to utilize photonics to address what the agency sees as challenges in spaceflight such as data communications from space to Earth, mission payload sizes and altitude measurements from orbit.

NASA said Friday it looks to boost space communications for near-Earth and deep-space missions and the space agency has invested in new ways to bolster data rates and discover more efficient systems.

Photonics tackles different uses of photons, or particles of light that make up laser beams and a biennial event to raise public awareness with regards to field called “Day of Photonics” was held on Friday.

The space agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center aims to push through with a Laser Communications Relay Demonstration to build on previous work with the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration that proved space-based laser communications systems as a viable option in the launch and space environment.

LCRD is currently slated for launch in 2019 and will simulate real communications support for two years via a test payload on the International Space Station and two dedicated ground stations in California and Hawaii, NASA noted.

NASA added that its Glenn Research Center looks to launch an Integrated Radio and Optical Communications mission to place a laser communications relay satellite in orbit around Mars that will receive data from distant spacecraft and then relay the signal back to earth.

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Glenn will also follow up on the LLCD mission’s work and focus on how laser communications can be integrated on deep-space missions.