DOE to Provide US $200M for Small Biorefineries | Renewable Energy News Article

Washington, D.C., United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the issuance of a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for up to US $200 million over six years (FY 2009 – FY 2014), subject to annual appropriations, to support the development of pilot- and demonstration-scale biorefineries that use new feedstocks such as algae or produce advanced biofuels such as bio-butanol and green gasoline.

“This funding opportunity will look for the most promising technologies that can advance the potential of renewable biomass as a resource for second generation transportation biofuels,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy John Mizroch said. “The Department of Energy will select breakthrough integrated biorefinery projects that have technical and economic performance data at the bench or pilot scale to prove they are ready to move a step closer toward commercial readiness.”

The FOA has two topic areas for biorefinery development:

Pilot-scale: Minimum throughput of one dry tonne of feedstock per day with a minimum non-federal cost-share of 30%.
Demonstration-scale: Minimum throughput of 50 dry tonnes of feedstock per day with a minimum non-federal cost-shareof 50%

DOE said that it anticipates making approximately 5-12 awards under this announcement, depending on the topic area and size of awards. The intent of this FOA is to have integrated biorefinery projects at the pilot and demonstration scale levels operational within three to four years once applicants are selected. All projects must be located within the U.S., use feedstock from domestic biomass resources, and demonstrate significant greenhouse gas reductions on a lifecycle basis.

For more information on the FOA, click here.