USDA Articles
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USDA Announces State Finalists For Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership Grants
On September 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the 21 state finalists for Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) grants to add infrastructure to supply more renewable fuel to drivers. The program was announced in May 2015, to increase the number of gas pumps dedicated to higher ethanol blends, including E15 and E85. While $100 million was made available by the USDA's ...
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DOE Announces $22.7 million funding opportunity for integrated biorefinery optimization
On January 6, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and USDA announced a $22.7 million funding opportunity to support integrated biorefinery (IBR) optimization, with DOE providing up to $19.8 million and USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) providing up to $2.9 million. To date, there are only a limited number of pioneer-scale commercial IBRs in the early stages of ...
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USDA is now accepting applications from states for biofuels infrastructure partnership
On June 12, 2015, the USDA began accepting applications for grants under the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP). Through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), BIP will provide up to $100 million in grants to support infrastructure development to make renewable fuel options, including E15 and E85, an option for more American consumers. CCC funds will pay a portion of the costs associated ...
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BRDI Grants For Science And Engineering Research
USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) is accepting research and education grant applications for projects to integrate science and engineering research in: (1) feedstock development; (2) biofuels and biobased products development; or (3) biofuels development analysis. A description of the solicitation, eligibility requirements, and ...
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USDA Reports On Increasing Ethanol Production Capacity In The Philippines
On August, 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service released an annual report on the Philippines' biofuel industry and ethanol imports. In January 2007, The Biofuels Act or Republic Act (RA 9367) was signed, creating biofuels legislation in the Philippines that now mandate a ten percent ethanol blend and a two percent biodiesel blend. While the Biofuels Act ...
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USDA revises renewable energy loan guarantees
On December 29, 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the final rule for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP is intended to help mainly businesses, as well as some state, local, and tribal governments develop solar, wind, and biomass projects. This new rule will change the requirements for those applying for funding from the grant and loan guarantees for ...
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WEBINAR - Bioproducts In The Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio, 10/26/15
On October 8, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy announced the upcoming Bioproducts in the Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio Webinar. Bioenergy Technologies Office Technology Manager Nichole Fitzgerald, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) BioPreferred Deputy Program Manager Kate Lewis, and the Ohio State University Bioproducts Innovation ...
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Navy Launches “Great Green Fleet” Featuring Biofuel Powered Ships
On January 20, 2016, U.S. Navy (Navy) Secretary Ray Mabus and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack launched a Carrier Strike Group (CSG) of ships running up to 50 percent biofuels as part of the "Great Green Fleet" (GGF) initiative. For now, the majority of the ships will run on a mix of 90 percent petroleum and 10 percent biofuels, partially due to the low price of oil as ...
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CRS report on hydraulic fracturing and NEPA
Abstract This CRS report was prepared for members and committees of Congress. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to consider the potential environmental consequences of the actions they propose to take by preparing one of three NEPA documents. Actions that fit within a categorical exclusion (CE) undergo a relatively low level of review because these are actions ...
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Kathleen M. Roberts And Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., featured at Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference 2015
The Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference 2015 (ABLC 2015), to be held March 11-13, 2015, at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., is the gathering point for top leaders in the Advanced Bioeconomy -- bringing together the entire spectrum of advanced fuels, chemicals, and materials CEOs and senior executives, business development, R&D leaders, strategic partners, financiers, equity ...
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DOE Bioenergy Technologies office to request applications for Biomass Research and Development Initiative
On January 13, 2017, the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), together with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), announced the intent to issue a request for applications (RFA) titled “Fiscal Year 17 Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI).” Projects funded through BRDI must address one of the foll owing topic ...
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USDA Promotes Development Of More Efficient Biomass Drying Systems
On August 3, 2015, Forest Concepts, LLC received a two-year, $499,997 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The contract will support the development of predictive control systems for biomass dryers that will increase energy efficiency and provide significant cost savings. The technologies being developed by the project can be ...
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Tom Vilsack Responds To Studies On Evolution Of Ethanol Production
On February 16, 2016, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack responded to two recent reports on ethanol and renewable fuels. The first report was published by USDA and is on "2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry," and the second report comes from the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and is a "Literature Review of Estimated Market Effects of ...
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Q-Calc: A new App for managing food waste
Many wastewater treatment plants are intrigued with the idea of increasing biogas production by accepting food waste, but are concerned with process stability. As part of a Phase I SBIR from the USDA, Quantalux is developing a software decision tool called Q-Calc that provides operators with the ability to predict the digester’s health and stability when adding food waste to manure or ...
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NBB Announces New Report On Biodiesel Benefits
On January 22, 2018, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) announced that a new study on lifecycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission effects of biodiesel updates and reaffirms the benefits of using the renewable fuel. The report was published jointly by ANL, Purdue University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Researchers gathered data on the energy and emissions from farming ...
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Pilot Scale Dual-Stage Digester Now Operational
For the last year, Quantalux and students/staff at Michigan State University have been building a pilot scale anaerobic digester (“Pilot AD”). This mobile unit can process manure, food waste and FOG (Fats, Oils and Greases), and is designed to be used as a test-bed to explore feedstock recipes and the biogas potential of mixed food/manure feedstocks. The Pilot AD includes a ...
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Highlights from DOE’s “Bioproducts in the Bioeconomy” Webinar
On Monday, October 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) presented “Bioproducts in the Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio Webinar,” a webinar on how the federal government is promoting sustainability through three different avenues: bioproducts research; commercialization; and market development. The presenters on these topics were DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) ...
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Fuel for Schools: A Biomass Success Story
On our blog, you have learned about different types of biofuel, the process for creating biofuel, and the global benefits of using biomass technology. Now it’s time to see all of this information put into practice. Different areas of the country have supported a program called Fuel for Schools, which encourages the use of renewable, local resources to provide heat to schools. Below ...
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On-bill financing: Why isn’t everybody doing it?
If someone told me they could improve the efficiency of my computer so that it operates quicker, at no extra cost to me, I can’t imagine I’d turn them away. Yet, the energy efficiency industry offers a similar option for homes and businesses and at least so far, consumers aren’t flocking to the programs. On-bill financing gives customers the ability to finance energy efficiency ...
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Why Are Electric Substations Attracting Nuisance Birds and How Can We Stop Them?
See how liquid bird repellent helped eliminate pest birds around electric substations in this article by BirdBuffer LLC. Several years ago, Pacific Gas & Electric engaged in an endeavor to find a better solution to keep birds out of their substations in California. An article written by Kellie Collins, Steve Yonge, and Ron Critchlow of the San Francisco Pacific Gas and Electric Co, discussed ...
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