DOE invests to advance biofuels

Federal agency awards $6 million to biofuel production projects

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $6 million in funding for the development of next-generation biofuels. These fuels are becoming more important in various transportation sectors as they produce no carbon dioxide. As such, biofuels are becoming an effective tool in meeting emissions regulations imposed by the U.S. government, as well as those introduced by other governments around the world. Funding from the Department of Energy has been issued to two projects located in North Carolina and California.

Projects aim to make clean fuel more cost-competitive with traditional fossil-fuels

Both projects are part of the federal agency’s efforts to support clean technologies that are used to produce biofuels. They are also part of an overarching initiative to make these fuels cost-competitive. The Department of Energy hopes that clean fuels will sell for less than $3 per gallon by 2017. This can only be accomplished if cost-effective fuel production methods can be designed.

SRI International project receives $3.2 million in DOE funding

SRI International has received some $3.2 million from the federal agency. The organization’s project involves the production of bio-oil from algal biomass. This biomass is designed to recover renewable carbon and reduce its nitrogen content in order to make it more environmentally friendly. One of the project’s priorities is to produce clean fuel in an inexpensive manner.

Research Triangle Institute project aims to make biofuel production more efficient and cost-effective

Research Triangle Institute has also received $3.1 million in funding from the Department of Energy for its own biofuel project. This project involves maximizing the biomass and energy recovery process of fuel production. In reaching higher degrees of energy recovery, the fuel production process can be made less expensive.

Biofuels are attractive, but some can still be considered harmful to the environment

Biofuels are gaining notice because they can be produced relatively efficiently and burn more cleanly than traditional fossil-fuels. Some of these fuels can still be considered to be harmful to the environment because they do produce harmful emissions. Compared to more conventional fuels, however, biofuels are considerably more attractive, from an environmental standpoint.