U.S. Agencies Open Funding Round For Biomass Development Projects

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The United States Department of Energy and

the Department of Agriculture are seeking applicants

the country’s sources of biomass and increase the production of biomass products.
The fund will go to the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a program managed by the two agencies to coordinate United States efforts in biomass research and development.
The projects will aim to create a diverse group of economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass for more production of biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products. The agencies will accept pre-applications until June 7.
“The innovation and technology that these projects develop will foster a sustainable domestic biofuels industry by broadening the nation’s energy sources as well as improving the efficiency of renewable fuels,” said Roger Beach, chief scientist at the Agriculture Department and director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Proposed projects must cover the development of both feedstocks and those of biofuels and biobased products. They must also include an analysis of how biofuels develop.
Feedstock development generally refers to activities relevant to producing raw materials that can be converted to biofuels, but this area also includes feedstock logistics such as harvesting.
One example of biofuel products development projects is the designing of processes that would make use of cellulosic biomass in making bioproducts.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, advanced biofuels produced from biomass projects can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by a minimum of 50 percent.