THE PROBLEM:        

How do we get money circulating in the economy  FAST, EASILY and EFFECTIVELY?

THE SOLUTIONS:

FAST:  

• Invest in Renewable Energy Programs to Promote Energy Independence by Fully Funding Title II of the 2007 Energy Act and Title IX of the 2008 Farm Bill;  
• Increase funding by 150% of Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs at DoE, USDA, NSF and NIST. 
• No New Legislation is Required.  

EASY:

• Agreement about the importance of sustainable, renewable transportation energy already exists;
•  Existing legislation has created well-thought-out programs to address this part of our energy crisis;
• Build on what is already on the books. 
• Executive departments and offices already exist to implement these programs (Collaborative and cooperative programs among the Departments of Energy and Agriculture, with additional involvement of the Departments of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation and Office of Science and Technology Policy).  No new staff; no new bureaucracy.

EFFECTIVE:

• Increased funding will go immediately to US researchers, to US post-graduate students, PhD’s and undergraduates; to US higher education and to US corporations.  
• Due to the minimal levels of available funds for research of promising sustainable, renewable transportation energy alternatives, many worthy projects languish in private, university, corporate and government labs. 
• Researchers and companies will buy US supplies and equipment for their research within moments of obtaining funding approvals.
• This research will result in long-term, cost-effective sustainable biofuel and bioenergy solutions.
• Many of these innovations will be profitably implemented by US farmers and biorefineries within 5 years, a great investment for our country.

What Will This Accomplish?

• Creates Sustainable “REAL” Jobs in the Technology, Industrial and Agricultural Sectors
• Puts America on the Road to a Sustainable Biofuels Futures
  1.       Creates a Biomass Energy Reserve Program to develop the next generation of feedstocks for renewable energy
  2.       Creates a Forest Bioenergy Research Program
• Jump-starts the Technologies Needed to Produce Biofuels from Low-Cost Sustainable Biomass
  1.       Focuses biomass R&D on overcoming biomass recalcitrance, the primary roadblock to using the vast majority of biomass (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) for biofuels.
  2.       Provides badly needed Early Stage Investments in a time of unsettled equity markets

Even before the latest economic instability, the House Agriculture Committee  recognized, “Because of the relatively short-term time horizon characteristic of private sector investments, and because many benefits of biomass processing are in the national interest, it is appropriate for the Federal Government to provide pre-commercial investment on fundamental research and research-driven innovation in the biomass processing area.”  Findings related to Section 9008 of the 2008 Farm Bill

Related posts:

1. Renewable Energy R&D Should Be A Priority in the Stimulus Package
2. DOE Announces Funding Opportunity of up to $200 Million for Pilot and Demonstration Scale Biorefinery Projects – Projects Will Demonstrate Continued Commitment to Develop Sustainable, Cost-Competitive Advanced Biofuels
3. Utah’s Green Star Products, Inc., Plans Expanded Advanced Biofuels Production
4. Graduate students and American Indian tribes work for biofuel solutions
5. ‘Sweet’ Biofuels Research Goes Down On The Farm