DOE, USDA Announce $34.5M for Renewable Energy Research

Earlier this month, representatives from the clean energy community in all 50 states met in St. Louis to address the growing need for alternatives to fossil fuels. Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance, a national conference sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE), hosted a range of discussions on the future of renewable energy technologies and President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative.

 

The event also gave Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman an opportunity to announce $34.5 million in awards and other funding for renewable energy research and development. The funds will be distributed among the department's ongoing partnerships to support research in biomass genomics, solar energy and cost-effective biomass power.

 

More than $17 million of the funding was awarded for 17 research, development and demonstration projects focusing on biobased products, bioenergy, biofuels and biopower. Most of these awards will support R&D to improve the affordability and efficiency of biomass power at research universities. Highlights from the award list include:

• Western Governors' Association (Colo.) - $290,246 to develop a bioenergy strategy for western states
• Ceres, Inc (Calif.) - $3,095,990 to enhance the economic competitiveness of bio-based fuels and to double the national yield of switchgrass for ethanol production by 2020
• Center for Technology Transfer (Wisc.) - $1,521,800 to stabilize the value of biomass material before processing
• Southern Illinois University (Ill.) - $676,722 to expand ethanol production in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

The joint competitive grants program operated by DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service National Research Initiative will receive $4 million to continue its support of biomass genomics research. The initiative focuses on developing biomass techniques that allow producers to use less expensive methods and poorer quality land. The program's first round of awards was made earlier this year to nine projects receiving $5.7 million in support.

 

On the final day of the conference, Secretary Bodman announced an additional $13 million for research in solar technologies, as part of President Bush's $148 million Solar America Initiative. The funds will be used to develop more efficient photovoltaic cells and to promote the use of solar energy in partnership with utility companies, cities, and states. They also will support a national working group to manage solar codes and standards, and administer a voluntary rating system for solar cells.

 

Read the complete announcements on the DOE website at: http://www.energy.gov/news/85.htm