US BOOSTS BIOMASS R&D WITH £50 MILLION IN FUNDING

The US administration has announced a $35 million boost to research and development of biofuels, bioenergy and bio-based products with a further $15 million for biomass-based oil supplements that can be blended with petroleum.

The three-year biofuel R&D funding programme will look to support the development of economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass.

The initiative will also aim to increase the availability of renewable fuels and bio-based products replacing gasoline and diesel.

Projects will be funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI), which is a joint initiative between the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA).

Initially, the programme will focus its efforts this year on projects that develop feedstock, from their supply and harvest through to preprocessing and storage.

The programme will also look to support activities trying to develop cost-effective technologies to increase the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels and biobased products.

In the first round, projects looking at different analytical tools to evaluate the effects of expanded biofuel production on the environment and the potential of using federal land to produce feedstock for biofuels and biobased products will also be of interest.

Meanwhile, the DOE also wants to support the demonstration of biomass-based oil supplements or ‘bio-oils’, which can be added to conventional petrol, diesel and jet fuel without modification to fuel distribution networks or engines.

The $15 million initiative will support five to ten projects this year to produce and test bio-oil prototypes from a range of feedstocks including algae, corn and wheat stovers, energy crops and wood residues.

“The Energy Department’s investments to develop renewable transportation fuels are a key part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to develop America’s domestic energy resources and reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu in a statement. “Driving innovation through targeted investments helps to speed development of next-generation biofuels.”


Source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/articles/i/5008/?cid=4