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From the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
122 C St. N.W.
.
Washington
,
D.C.
.
Suite
630.202-628-1400
.www.eesi.org
Carol Werner, Executive Director
DOE
and USDA Announce Awardees for Section 9008 Biomass
Research and Development Grants
July 28, 2004
On July 16th, U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the Department of Energy announced awards of
$25,480,628 in grant funding for 22 projects.
These projects are funded under the Biomass Research and
Development Initiative (Section 9008 of the 2002 Farm Bill).
The awards were solicited jointly by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service and
the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy. The
two agencies officially awarded grants separately with $13 million
awarded by USDA and $12 million awarded by DOE.
During the selection process, over 400 applications were
reviewed by multiple evaluators from both agencies.
The 22 projects span 17 states with funds
being used for the research and development of energy technologies
that utilize biomass (see end of press release for a chart of
awardees.)*
Update on Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency Rural Development Grant Program (Section 9006)
As of July 28th, the USDA’s
Office of Rural and Community Development has received 237
applications for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
grant program totaling $36.6
million in requested funds.
The closing date for grant applications was July 19th,
with a few last minute applications still being received in the
mail. This week will
mark the beginning of the review and selection process.
Last year USDA received 148 applications and funded 114 for
a total of $21.7 million. Most
of the project proposals rejected were for incomplete applications
or large-scale land sites requiring environmental reviews unable
to be completed in time for the fall announcement deadline.
William Hagy, Deputy
Administrator for Business Programs, foresees a significantly
“more competitive atmosphere” this year. All applications will
undergo a series of technical and programmatic reviews in order to
be ranked more effectively. Mr.
Hagy said, “I have a feeling we will have higher quality
applications this year because we have one year behind us and
people will know what to expect.”
Projects that had been rejected last year have the
opportunity to revamp their applications and reapply.
Because the Section 9006 grant program is authorized $23
million by the 2002 Farm Bill, there will be a significant number
of viable projects unable to be funded.
The 237 applications currently being reviewed
come from 35 states and represent roughly 7 renewable energy and
energy efficient technologies.
Technology categories include solar (large- and
small-scale), wind (large- and small-scale), efficiency (building
and industrial), geothermal, bioenergy (biomass), anaerobic
digesters, and hybrid projects.
The breakdown of project applications by technology
categories and state are as follows:**
|
Technology
Category
|
#
of projects
|
|
Anaerobic
Digester
|
46
|
|
Bioenergy
(biomass)
|
20
|
|
Efficiency,
Buildings
|
79
|
|
Efficiency,
Industrial
|
18
|
|
Geothermal
|
5
|
|
Hybrid
|
2
|
|
Solar,
large-scale
|
6
|
|
Solar,
small-scale
|
8
|
|
Wind,
large-scale
|
34
|
|
Wind,
small-scale
|
19
|
|
Total
|
237
|
|
State
|
#
of projects
|
State
|
#
of projects
|
|
Alabama
|
4
|
Montana
|
2
|
|
Arizona
|
2
|
North Carolina
|
1
|
|
California
|
13
|
North Dakota
|
5
|
|
Colorado
|
1
|
Nebraska
|
16
|
|
Connecticut
|
2
|
New Hampshire
|
1
|
|
Delaware
|
1
|
New York
|
10
|
|
Florida
|
3
|
Ohio
|
5
|
|
Georgia
|
3
|
Oklahoma
|
10
|
|
Iowa
|
20
|
Oregon
|
2
|
|
Idaho
|
3
|
Pennsylvania
|
2
|
|
Illinois
|
7
|
South Carolina
|
1
|
|
Indiana
|
1
|
South Dakota
|
1
|
|
Kansas
|
3
|
Texas
|
5
|
|
Maine
|
2
|
Utah
|
2
|
|
Michigan
|
3
|
Virginia
|
3
|
|
Minnesota
|
27
|
Washington
|
2
|
|
Missouri
|
1
|
Wisconsin
|
29
|
|
Mississippi
|
44
|
Total
|
237
|
**Information
provided by USDA.
*Table
of Section 9008 Awardees
|
STATE
|
AWARDEE
|
PROJECT
|
AMOUNT
|
AGENCY
|
|
Alabama
|
Southern
Research Institute
|
Trace-Metal
Scavenging from Biomass Syngas with Novel High-Temperature
Sorbents
|
$769,376
|
DOE
|
|
Arkansas
|
Bioengineering
Resources Inc.
|
Thermochemical
Conversion of Corn Stover
|
$1,989,365
|
DOE
|
|
California
|
Membrane
Technology and Research, Inc
|
BioSep:
A New Ethanol Recovery Technology for Small-Scale rural
Production of Ethanol from Biomass
|
$1,032,045
|
USDA
|
|
California
|
Watershed
Research and
Training
Center
|
Hayfork
Biomass Utilization and Value Added Model for Rural
Development
|
$503,400
|
USDA
|
|
California
|
Electric
Power Research Institute
|
Small-scale,
Biomass Fired Gas Turbine Plants Suitable for Distributed
and Mobil Power Generation
|
$241,933
|
USDA
|
|
Georgia
|
Southern
Forest Research Partnership, Inc
|
Sustainable
Forestry for Bioenergy and Biobased Products
|
$1,000,000
|
USDA
|
|
Illinois
|
Gas
Technology Institute
|
Engineering
New Catalysts for In-Process Elimination of Tars
|
$1,995,932
|
DOE
|
|
Iowa
|
Iowa
State
University
|
Integrated
Feedstock Supply Systems for Corn Stover Biomass
|
$1,999,724
|
USDA
|
|
Maryland
|
Antares
Group Inc.
|
Catalytic
Hydrothermal Gasification for Eastman
Kingsport
Chemical Production
| |
