USDA and DOE to award $18 million for research on improving biomass supply

In Washington, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC) that the two departments will award $18.4 million for 21 biomass R&D and demonstration projects. The projects will support the removal of barriers to cost efficient production of biomass.

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint USDA-DOE effort established in 200, will provide up to 80 percent funding for R&D projects, and 50 percent funding for demonstration projects. The USDA will provide up to $13.2 million, and DOE will provide up to $5.2 million in the next three fiscal years.

Overall, at least four US government departments are funding biofuel research.
The U.S. Department of Energy most recently awarded $33.8 million in research grants to four cellulosic ethanol projects in California and New Jersey. The four-year research grants come from a $1 billion fund the DOE established to finance cellulosic ethanol research. The grants are for projects researching advanced enzymes for converting cellulose into sugars.

The Department of Defense has issued a wide-ranging set of RFPs related to the use of biodiesel in support fleet as well as in vehicles and craft used in military operations. The US Defense Department is the world’s single-largest consumer of petroleum-based diesel. Algae-based biodiesel is reportedly a product of intense scrutiny at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA). Biofuels Digest sources say that both biodiesel and biocrude, or synthetic crude oil, are being investigated for their potential to give stealth-enabled aircraft a more difficult-to-detect heat signature.

The Department of Agriculture most recently granted $425,000 to esearchers at Washington University for a pilot butanol project. The university’s International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability is using microbes to produce butyrate from corn kernels. Butyrate can be fermented into butanol.

The US Department of Transportation awarded $435,000 in grants to develop improved conversion rates for cellulosic biomass into ethanol. The DOT awarded the four-year grants to a University of Wyoming team, which received $50,000 in matching funds from the UW School of Energy Resources.

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