Washington, DC
June 11, 2007
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
today announced a combined total of up to $18 million will be
available for research and development of biomass-based
products, biofuels, bioenergy and related processes. USDA and
DOE are issuing these grant solicitations for several types of
projects aimed at increasing the availability of alternative and
renewable fuels, which will help further President Bush's bold
energy initiatives, including Twenty in Ten. The Twenty in Ten
Initiative promotes greater energy security through increased
efficiency and diversification of energy sources. USDA will
provide up to $14 million and DOE will provide up to $4 million
(FY'07).
"Making these funds available represents this Administration's
ongoing commitment to promoting clean energy technologies to
help diversify our nation's energy mix in an environmentally
sensitive way," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said. "I am
hopeful that these projects will play a critical role in
furthering our knowledge of how we can cost effectively produce
more homegrown, bio-based products to help reduce our reliance
on imported sources of energy."
"These grants are one of many steps we are taking to meet the
President's goals of reducing petroleum dependency," Agriculture
Secretary Mike Johanns said from South Dakota, where he was
addressing the Western Governor's Association. "They will fund
essential research that not only will lead to the creation of
new, sustainable energy sources, but also will create new uses
and markets for agricultural products."
The $18 million solicitation will fund projects in the following
four categories (the share of overall funding is noted in
parenthesis): the development of technologies to convert
cellulosic biomass into intermediaries for biobased fuels (45
percent); product diversification (30 percent); feedstock
production (20 percent); and analysis for strategic guidance (5
percent).
Johanns cited how research and development (R&D) efforts
outlined in past grant awards could develop technology that
support the goals of the President's 20 in 10 Initiative. In
Indiana and Illinois, researchers from both the pubic and
private sector are working to improve dry mill fractionation.
The goal is to increase ethanol production from corn and, as a
by-product of that, to produce protein additives for cattle
feed. It is anticipated that ethanol production estimates could
increase significantly if this research is successful and
implemented within the dry mill fractionation process. When this
technology is implemented, energy savings annually are estimated
at about 1,500 billion BTU's per dry mill. In addition,
penetration at a level of 70% of the dry mills with this
technology could produce an additional 1.2 billion gallons of
ethanol from corn and an additional production of 130 million
barrels of biodiesel.
Reducing our reliance imported sources of energy is one of
President Bush's top priorities. In effort to break our
addiction to oil, the President's Farm Bill proposal includes
$1.6 billion in new renewable energy funding for USDA. It seeks
$500 million over 10 years to expand the Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency Program, $500 million for bioenergy and
biobased research, and $210 million to support $2.1 billion in
loan guarantees for energy efficiency measures, with a
significant focus on cellulosic ethanol. Since 2002, USDA has
awarded $58.1 million in grants to 55 projects in 27 states and
the District of Columbia under the Biomass Research and
Development Initiative. Since the beginning of 2007, DOE has
announced nearly $1 billion in funding for biofuels R&D.
Maximum award amounts will not exceed $1 million. Eligible
applicants include state and federal research agencies, national
laboratories, private-sector groups and nonprofit organizations.
Consortia of two or more groups also are encouraged to apply.
The closing date for pre-applications is July 11, 2007.
Preapplications must be submitted electronically through
Grants.gov at www.grants.gov.
Prospective grantees whose pre-applications have been selected
for further processing must submit final applications within 45
days of the notification. |
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