The US Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for research and development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased productss.
The funding announcement is for several types of projects aimed at creating a diverse group of economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass.
Section 9008(e)(3) of the Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 provides direction and guidance on the technical areas addressed by the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, (BRDI). The technical areas are:
- Feedstocks development
- Biofuels and biobased products development
- Biofuels development analysis
BRDI requires that each proposed project integrate all three of the technical areas. The intent of requiring integration is to encourage a collaborative problem-solving approach to all studies funded under BRDI, to facilitate formation of consortia, identify and address knowledge gaps, and accelerate the application of science and engineering for the production of sustainable biofuels, bioenergy and biobased products.
Pre-applications are due June 7, 2010, and must be submitted electronically. Applicants who are encouraged to submit full applications wil be notified by July 26, 2010.
The funding opportunity is available online at Grants.gov.
New DOE Video Highlights Impact of Biofuels on Rural Communities
DOE also released a new video which showcases how cellulosic biofuel technologies can help decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur growth in the domestic biofuels industry, and provide new revenue opportunities to farmers in many rural areas of the country. The video, shot at a harvesting equipment demonstration in Emmetsburg, Iowa, highlights a new way of producing ethanol from the cellulose fibers in corn cobs, not from the corn kernels. The technology generates a new opportunity for farmers to harvest and sell the cobs that they’d normally leave in the field. To date, DOE has committed over $1 billion to 27 cost-shared biorefinery projects.
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