WASHINGTON, D. C. --- In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Bush proposed a 22 percent increase in clean energy research that would include projects to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles, better batteries for hybrid-electric cars, and more efficient forms of ethanol fuel. Bush cited a need to “fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips, stalks or switch grass.” The goal, he said, is to “make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.” Such a breakthrough, combined with other new technologies, will help the nation replace more than 75 percent of its oil imports from the Middle East by 2025, Bush said.