Grants Announced for Bioenergy Projects

A total of just over $24 million in grants was announced today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture ($19.5 million) and Department of Energy ($4.9 million) for research and development projects relating to bioenergy production. While North Dakota was not among the states where projects were funded, the research awards have implications for the state's fledgling bioenergy industry.

Among the entities receiving funds were...

• GE Global Research (Irvine, CA), which was awarded up to $1,597,544 to develop detailed and simplified models of biomass gasification to enable the design of biomass gasifiers that are cost-effective and scaled to match the regional distribution of a variety biomass feedstocks.
• Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK), which was awarded up to $4,212,845 to develop methods of efficient, sustainable and profitable production of cellulosic ethanol feedstocks. The economic and environmental sustainability of switchgrass, mixed-species perennial grasses and annual biomass cropping methods will be evaluated. The project will also examine the relationship between bioenergy and livestock production.
• Velocys, Inc. (Plain City, OH), which was awarded up to $2,651,612 to improve biorefinery efficiency. The project will combine microchannel reactor technology with advanced catalysts to convert a variety of waste materials to liquid transportation fuels more efficiently.