U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said that his department would provide $75 million in research grants to develop clean fuels and better pollution control devices for cars and trucks. The research money is part of the Clinton administration's efforts to cut sulphur levels in gasoline. Sulphur reduces the effectiveness of catalytic converters in cutting vehicle emissions. In December, the administration proposed new regulations requiring the nation's refineries to reduce sulphur levels in gasoline to an average 30 parts per million by 2005, way down from current levels of almost 300 parts per million.