DOE Selects Biofuels Projects to Receive up to $21 Million in Funding

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on August 31, 2009, that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high tonnage biomass feedstocks for cellulosic biofuels production. The awards are part of the department’s ongoing efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur the creation of the domestic bio-industry and provide new jobs in many rural areas of the country. ... Agco Corporation of Duluth, GA (up to $5 million) will seek to demonstrate the viability of the densified, large square bale (LSB) as a least-cost, near-term means for supplying high tonnage biomass feedstocks to cellulosic biofuel processors. Auburn University of Auburn, Alabama (up to $4.9 million) will work with leading producers of forest biomass for energy in Alabama to design and demonstrate a high productivity system to harvest, process, and transport woody biomass from southern pine plantations. FDC Enterprises Inc. of Columbus, Ohio (up to $4.9 million) will primarily target Abengoa Bioenergy’s cellulosic biorefinery, which is currently under development in Hugoton, Kansas. FDC Enterprises Inc.’s project plans to complete design, fabrication, and demonstration of three types of innovative new harvest and biomass handling machines, including a single-pass mowing and baling operation, a Bale Picking Truck, and a Self Loading Trailer. Genera Energy, LLC of Knoxville, Tennessee (up to $4.9 million) will supply low-moisture switchgrass with an efficient bulk-format system that maximizes automated conveyance and handling. The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry of Syracuse, New York (up to $1.3 million) plans to build on existing collaborative efforts among the project partners to develop, test, and deploy a single-pass cut-and-chip harvester combined with a handling, transportation, and storage system that is effective and efficient in a range of different short-rotation wood crops (SRWC) production systems throughout North America. READ MORE