Show me the Money: $564 Million Awarded to Integrated Biorefinery Projects
In an earlier blog post, Debra Frimerman reported that the U.S. Department of Energy was seeking applications for grants to help promote the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale integrated biorefinery projects. Today, DOE announced the selection of 19 projects to receive up to $564 million in grant money authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Notable awards include the following:
· $81 million to Bluefire LLC for a Mississippi project to produce up to 19 million gallons of ethanol fuel annually from woody biomass, mill residue, and municipal solid waste.
· $50 million to Sapphire Energy, Inc. for a New Mexico project to produce algal fuels using the Dynamic Fuels refining process.
· $23 million to Clearfuels Technology Inc. for a Colorado scale project to produce renewable diesel and jet fuel from woody biomass.
A complete list of awards is available here.
SHOW ME THE MONEY:Funding of $85 million for Algal and Advanced Biofuels
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) today announced Recovery Act funding of up to $85 million over a three year period for the development of algae-based biofuels and advanced, infrastructure-compatible biofuels. DOE wants leading scientists and engineers from universities, private industry, and government to collaborate in developing advanced biofuels and a thriving domestic bio-industry. Examples of advanced biofuels include green aviation fuels, green gasoline, and green diesel from a variety of biomass feedstocks.
The DOE will award between $25 million and $50 million to one or two teams that develop cost-effective algae-based biofuels. The remaining $35 million will be awarded to one team that can use the existing infrastructure to produce, distribute and transport algae-based biofuels.
Only teams may apply and applications are due September 14, 2009. No letters of intent are required.
Algal Fuels Developments
The recent blog posting (available here) regarding Exxon's $600 million investment in biofuels served as a reminder to me that comments are due soon (August 3, 2009) on the Department of Energy's draft "National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap" (the "Roadmap").
The Roadmap was prepared by a working group commissioned by DOE. The working group was commissioned to assess the current state of algae technology and to determine the next steps toward commercialization. For more information, see my earlier blog.
To submit comments, complete the "Algal Road-Mapping: Request for Information (RFI) Response Form" and submit it as an attachment to an e-mail message addressed to algaeRFI@go.doe.gov
Further, Gary Hunt has reported (available here) that Prize Capital, LLC has issued a $10 million algae fuel prize to encourage the development of advanced algal fuels. For more information about this contest, click here.
Show me the Money: Applications Available for the Washington State Energy Program
Washington previously received $60.9 million in Recovery Act funding for its State Energy Program (“SEP”). The Washington Legislature later provided $38.5 million to the Washington State Community, Trade and Economic Development (“CTED”) agency to administer a loan and grant program for eligible projects in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean energy innovation (see our earlier blog entry here for more details). The deadline for submitting a notice of intent to apply is July 27, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time, and the application is due August 17, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time.
I attended an informational meeting held by CTED on July 13, 2009. The meeting provided an overview of the loan and grant program, as well as funding details, eligibility guidelines and evaluation criteria. Eligible projects can receive between $500,000 to $2 million in loans and grants in the first round, with the requirement that applicants provide other sources of funding at least equal to the amount of the loan or grant request. The non-SEP funding may include amounts spent or committed to the project since January 1, 2009. Projects will be evaluated based on the feasibility and quality of the project plan, the experience and qualifications of the project team, the ratio of matching funds to SEP funds, job creation, and energy savings/production. CTED intends to announce award decisions in September 2009.
Exxon Sinks $600M Into Algae-Based Biofuels in Major Strategy Shift
Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, is making a major jump into renewable energy with a $600 million investment in algae-based biofuels. Exxon is joining Synthetic Genomics Inc., a biotechnology company founded by the genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, to research and develop next-generation biofuels from sunlight, water and waste carbon dioxide by photosynthetic pond scum.
The partnership will last five to six years and will involve the creation of a new test facility in San Diego to study algae-growing method and oil extraction techniques. Exxon’s investment includes $300 million for in-house studies and potentially more than $300 million to Synthetic Genomics to scale up the technology for commercial production if research and development milestones are successfully met.
The partnership admits that it faces many obstacles, such as type of algae to use, the algae-growing environment, and the scale required for commercial use, to achieve this commercial production goal. Even in light of these challenges, algae holds many potential advantages over other sources of biofuels. One advantage is that algae grows in areas not suited for food crops, using pools of brackish water or even farming them in seawater. Additionally, algae needs carbon dioxide to grow, a benefit that could be used to help cut greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Show me the Money: USDA funded Research for Small Businesses
The Department of Agriculture ("USDA") is now accepting proposals for its Small Business Innovation Research Program ("SBIR"). SBIR has $18.5 million available to fund research projects that address important problems facing American agriculture. Research areas include, but are not limited to:
- Biofuels and biobased products;
- Air, water, and soils;
- Rural development;
- Aquaculture; and
- Animal Manure management
Individual awards can be as high as $90,000 and proposals are due September 3, 2009. For more information click here.
Click here for more information on USDA funding opportunities.
Show Me the Money: Renewable Energy Financing in the Farm Bill
In an earlier blog, my colleague, Debra Frimerman reported about the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP provides grants and loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase renewable energy systems, make energy efficiency improvements and conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy systems.
REAP is a program under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the "2008 Farm Bill"). The 2008 Farm Bill also includes numerous other programs to help develop renewable energy in rural areas and promote the production of sustainable feedstocks for renewable energy production. Please see this recent alert for specifics.
National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap
The Department of Energy ("DOE") has issued a Request for Information ("RFI") to solicit feedback on the DOE's draft "National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap" (the "Roadmap").
The Roadmap was prepared by a working group commissioned by DOE. The working group was commissioned to assess the current state of algae technology and to determine the next steps toward commercialization.
DOE is specifically seeking feedback related to the following questions:
- What areas omitted by the Roadmap would be important in defining R&D needs as they pertain to the following topics?
a. Algae biology
b. Algae cultivation
c. Algae processing (harvesting and dewatering)
d. Extraction
e. Fuel conversion
f. Fuel end-use - Are there any additional, key areas that should be included or any areas that need further elaboration?
- Are there errors or misrepresentations of any information that need to be addressed?
- Is there over-representation of certain barrier areas relative to other areas that warrant editing?
To submit comments, complete the "Algal Road-Mapping: Request for Information (RFI) Response Form" and submit it as an attachment to an e-mail message addressed to algaeRFI@go.doe.gov
Comments must be provided by no later than 11:59 PM EDT on August 3, 2009.
Minerals Management Service Issues Proposed Rules For Alternative Energy on the OCS
On Tuesday, MMS released its proposed rule for alternative energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf, including wave, current, and wind energy technologies. You can access the rule from MMS's website.
Stoel Rives attorneys are in the process of reviewing the rule and will release a client alert soon. Please feel free to subscribe if you'd like to receive that alert.
