The U.S. Department of Energy says it will provide up to $44 million in funding to assist universities in biomass technology research and development.
Energy Department Undersecretary Clarence Albright said advancing biomass technology is critical to diversifying the nation's energy sources in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil.
Combined with a university cost sharing of 20 percent, up to $4.8 million will be invested in the projects, officials said.
"As world demand for energy continues to grow, so too must our supply of clean, reliable and affordable sources of energy," said Albright. "These projects will expand the field of biomass and bioenergy, encouraging collaboration with universities to the innovation necessary to diversify our nation's energy sources."
The funding is designed to aid projects that improve the conversion of biomass to advanced biofuels through biochemical, thermochemical and chemical processes.
The research funding also aims to increase the suite of biofuels necessary to supply at least 36 billion gallons of U.S. motor fuel by 2022.
Applications for funding must be submitted to the Department of Energy by June 2.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Related stories:
MIT professor will lead science team for NASA satellite to map Earth's water cycle
MIT Professor Dara Entekhabi will lead the science team designing a NASA satellite mission to make global soil moisture and freeze/thaw measurements, data essential to the accuracy of weather forecasts and predictions of global carbon cycle and climate. NASA announced recently that the Soil Moisture Active-Passive mission (SMAP) is scheduled to launch December 2012.
Researchers developing system to efficiently convert biomass to ethanol
Iowa State University researchers are developing an integrated system of thermochemical and catalytic technologies to efficiently produce ethanol from plant biomass.
21 grants awarded for biomass research
Two U.S. departments said they plan to invest $18.4 million for biomass research, development and demonstration projects over three years.
Project focuses on production of hydrogen from bacteria and sunlight
If we wanted to create the ideal environmentally friendly energy source, it would be a fuel that is easy and economical to produce, and one that does not pollute our air when burned. That is exactly what researchers at Arizona State University intend to develop in a new program that uses bacteria and sunlight to generate hydrogen, a clean fuel that produces no greenhouse gases.
Georgia Tech Takes Comprehensive Biofuels Approach
We feel it at the pump. Fuel prices are at record highs and so is the demand for alternative fuels. But major scientific and technological advances are still required before economically viable alternative fuels become a significant part of the U.S. energy supply.
Extreme environment biology research may help solve lignocellulosic ethanol puzzle
Buried beneath a sulfurous cauldron in European seas lies a class of microorganisms known as “extremophiles,” so named because of the extreme environmental conditions in which they live and thrive. Almost as radical, perhaps, is the idea that these organisms and their associated enzymes could somehow unlock the key to a new transportation economy based on a renewable biofuel, lignocellulosic ethanol.
$8.3 million awarded for biofuels research
The U.S. Agriculture and Energy departments have selected 11 projects for awards totaling $8.3 million for bio-based fuels research.
Students Develop New Ways to Produce Renewable Fuels
There is a frenzied push in the United States to find alternative fuels and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. At North Carolina State University, even student researchers have caught the alternative fuels bug. And they’ve got a provisional patent for one of their innovative techniques.