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Alternative Energy - Thursday, November 12, 2009

DOE & USDA Pump $24M Towards Biofuels & Switchgrass

With wind, geothermal, and solar receiving the big bucks from the Department of Energy (DOE) in recent weeks, today they teamed up with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to award a total of $24 million in research and development grants.

Of the $19.5 million awarded by the USDA, the largest award went to Oklahoma State University. The “Cowboys” received $4.2 million to study feedstock development including the economic and environmental sustainability of panicum virgatum, commonly known as “switchgrass”. To make the process of transforming switchgrass into biofuel less complicated, Agrivida was awarded $1.9 million to develop new crop traits that eliminate the need for both expensive pretreatment equipment and enzymes.

GE Global Research (GE:NYSE), the only public company to receive funds, was awarded $1.8 million to develop detailed and simplified kinetic models of biomass gasification. Biomass gasification is the incomplete combustion of biomass resulting in production of a combustible gas consisting of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane. This mixture can be used to run internal combustible engines.

The University of Tennessee was the largest recipient of the DOE’s $4.9 million and they will be studying switchgrass. The “Volunteers” will be using their $2,345,290 award to compare three varieties of switchgrass using various management practices, harvesting equipment and harvesting timelines on a 2,000-acre site.

Noticeably absent from the biofuel funding were the Bay Area’s Amyris and LS9. Amyris has received $120 million in venture funding while Amyris has raised $55 million. Both claim to have working biofuels and Amyrs has officially registered its renewable diesel fuel with the Environmental Protection Agency.