Energy Department Announces New Funding to Develop Advanced Biomass Supply Chain Technologies
As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Energy Department today announced about $6 million for projects that will develop and demonstrate supply chain technologies to affordably deliver commercial-scale lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks to biorefineries across the country. This funding will help accelerate the development of integrated, cost-effective supply chain systems that reduce time and costs to produce affordable, clean transportation energy options for our cars, trucks, and airplanes.
The Energy Department’s recently-updated Billion Ton Study shows that sustainable biofuels could displace approximately one-third of America’s current transportation petroleum use. Successfully expanding biofuels production in the United States will require leveraging existing infrastructure as well as designing and deploying new, cost-effective supply chain technologies that integrate harvesting, collection, preprocessing, transportation, and storage. This funding opportunity will focus on developing new logistics strategies and technologies that address key challenges in large-scale biomass feedstock transportation, such as format and quality variability, storage stability, bulk and energy density, handling characteristics, and variable conversion performance.
The Energy Department will make available about $6 million this year for one to two multi-year projects. All selected projects will require a cost share contribution by the grant recipient, including 20% for research and development activities and 50% for demonstration activities. Read the full funding opportunity announcement.
The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Learn more about EERE’s work with industry, academia, and national laboratory partners on a balanced portfolio of research in biomass feedstocks and conversion technologies. (January 28, 2013)
