Feds Offer $200 Million for Small Biorefineries
WASHINGTON, DC (ENS) – The U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, will provide up to $200 million, over five years to support the development of small-scale cellulosic biorefineries in the United States.
The agency seeks projects to develop biorefineries at 10 percent of commercial scale that produce liquid transportation fuels such as ethanol, as well as bio-based chemicals and bioproducts used in industrial applications.
This research aims to advance President George W. Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012, and expand the availability of alternative and renewable transportation fuels.
Chemically the same as conventional ethanol made from corn, cellulosic ethanol can be produced from a wide variety of biomass feedstocks. These include agricultural plant wastes such as corn stover, cereal straws, and sugarcane bagasse, plant wastes from industrial processes such as sawdust and paper pulp, or energy crops grown specifically for fuel production, such as switchgrass.
'This research will provide the next necessary step toward developing cellulosic biorefineries that can transform our transportation sector in a clean and cost-effective manner,' Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said.
'As world demand for energy continues to grow, so too must our supply of clean, domestic sources of energy – and cellulosic biofuels provide a promising way to meet President Bush’s goal of displacing 20 percent of gasoline usage within the decade,' he said.
Small-scale projects will use novel approaches and a variety of cellulosic feedstocks to test new refining processes.
These projects are expected to be operational within three to four years and will speed the adoption of new technologies to produce ethanol and other biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks. Commercial-scale demonstrations would follow thereafter.
The small-scale projects complement DOE’s announcement earlier this year, which makes available up to $385 million over four years for the development of six full-scale biorefineries.
The full-scale biorefineries focus on near-term commercial processes, while the small-scale facilities will experiment with new feedstocks and processing technologies.
Up to $15 million is expected to be available in fiscal year 2007, with the remaining $185 million expected to be available in fiscal years 2008 to 2011, subject to appropriation from Congress.
DOE anticipates selecting 5-10 awards under this announcement. These projects require a minimum of 50 percent cost share from applicants.
Applications are due August 14, 2007. For more information on 'Demonstration of Integrated Biorefinery Operations for Producing Biofuels and Chemical/Materials Products' - DE-PS36-07GO97003, visit: DOE's E-Center OR Grants.gov.
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