BETO to issue funding for bio-propane, biochemicals and algae R&D

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) recently announced their intent to issue funding to support high-impact research and development (R&D) projects in two priority areas: sustainable propane and renewable chemicals and algal system cultivation and preprocessing. The intended Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC) funding opportunity would support R&D of domestic chemicals and fuels from biomass and waste resources to help secure domestic supply chains, support the growth of rural economies, and grow the nation’s competitiveness in biotechnology and biomanufacturing industry. The intended Maximizing Algal System Yield (MASY) funding opportunity would support applied algal system R&D to improve the affordable production of biofuels and bioproducts. The SPARC notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is expected to be released in January 2025, and could include up to $23 million in federal funding for the following topic areas:

Topic Area 1: Biobased Chemicals

Topic Area 2: Biobased Propane/LPG

The potential MASY NOFO could include up to $10 million in federal funding and is expected to be released in January 2025.