DOE plans to fund bio-based propane R&D projects
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) issued up to $23 million in funding to support research and development (R&D) of domestic chemicals and fuels, including propane, from biomass and waste resources.
According to DOE, the notice of funding opportunity, Sustainable Propane and Renewable Chemicals (SPARC), will support BETO’s conversion technologies priorities by advancing innovative technology pathways for affordable fuels and products, leveraging renewable resources and generating domestic jobs to accelerate the U.S. bioeconomy.
The SPARC funding opportunity supports R&D of domestic chemicals and fuels from biomass and waste resources. BETO says producing chemicals and propane and/or a mix of gases similar to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) from renewable feedstocks will help to secure domestic supply chains, bolster rural economies and improve the nation’s global competitiveness in the biotechnology and biomanufacturing industry.
“BETO’s investment in biofuel and bioproduct research will accelerate the development of affordable cutting-edge technologies for chemical and propane production and mobilize the broader use of biomass and waste streams,” says Valerie Sarisky-Reed, director of BETO. “This funding is critical to creating jobs in rural America, boosting our energy independence and ultimately lowering energy costs for households and other users.”
The SPARC funding opportunity supports two topic areas:
- Bio-based chemicals
- Bio-based propane/LPG
BETO envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements lasting about three years.
Energy crop production receives funding
BETO is earmarking $52 million in funding for six university and industry projects to advance the production of low carbon intensity, purpose-grown energy crops critical to accelerating a clean energy bioeconomy.
According to DOE, these projects will expand a domestic supply chain of alternative carbon sources essential to biofuels and bioproducts production that can lower net emissions in the transportation and industrial sectors, as well as innovate and grow the U.S. agricultural industry.
Prime funding recipients are located in six states with proposed field and pond experiments across 18 different states. These selected projects will focus on the advancement of low carbon intensity, purpose-grown energy crops across varied agronomic and geographic landscapes through the generation of data and research findings. The projects will focus on one or more of the following feedstock resources: microalgae, switchgrass, miscanthus, high biomass sorghum, carinata, camelina, pennycress and shrub willow.
“DOE’s investment in biofuels and bioproducts is critical to the federal government’s efforts to support innovative energy research,” says Jeff Marootian, principal deputy assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Expanding our domestic supply chain of energy crops, like algae and switchgrass, will ensure that we can continue to develop cutting-edge technologies that significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create high-quality jobs across the agricultural industry and increase our energy independence.”
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