The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a $6 million funding initiative aimed at advancing biofuel development in the United States. This investment, supported by the Inflation Reduction Act, will finance three projects that seek to enhance biofuel production technologies, scale up industry production systems, and bolster the U.S. bioeconomy.
These projects are located in New York, California, and New Hampshire and align with the Department of Energy's Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge goals. The selected initiatives focus on developing biofuel technologies utilizing sustainable biomass and waste feedstocks. They aim to advance the development of advanced biofuels through pre-pilot scale integration of biorefinery technologies.
The funded projects include Air Company Holdings in Brooklyn, New York, which will work on converting biogenic carbon dioxide into sustainable aviation fuel; Erg Bio Inc. in Dublin, California, which will demonstrate flexible biomass deconstruction and conversion technology; and Terragia Biofuels in Hanover, New Hampshire, which focuses on converting corn stover to ethanol using engineered thermophilic bacteria.
Biofuels are liquid fuels derived from renewable biological sources such as plants and algae. The responsible sourcing of these fuels can contribute to strengthening the rural economy, enhancing U.S. energy independence, and supporting domestic cleaner fuel production.
These projects are expected to provide new technologies for industry compliance with EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program requirements aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions while expanding the nation's renewable fuels sector. By utilizing agricultural residues and wet wastes, they also correspond with DOE’s 2023 Billion-Ton Report estimates that project sustainable provision of significant amounts of agricultural residues and wet waste domestically.
Further details about these funding opportunities can be found on BETO’s funding opportunities webpages.
The Renewable Fuel Standard Program is a national regulatory initiative created by Congress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while expanding renewable fuel use in transportation sectors. It mandates specific volumes of renewable fuel to replace or reduce petroleum-based fuels across various categories including biomass-based diesel and cellulosic biofuel.
For additional information on this program visit EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program webpage.
