As the Biden-led US government continues to work on cutting greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and meet climate goals, a new $118 million in funding to expand U.S. biofuels production has been announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday.
The new funds add to the more than $500 million the DOE has put into bioenergy and biorefinery research and development over the past two years and will be used to support 17 projects designed to accelerate the production of sustainable biofuels, which can be made from biomass including agricultural waste, soybean oil and animal fats .
President Joe Biden has made it a key tenet of his term to set the United States on track to reduce carbon emissions in the fight against climate change and has set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
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The DOE’s funding includes awards to universities and private companies ranging from $500,000 to $80 million for various pre-pilot, pilot and demonstration projects, the department said.
The projects are expected to eventually create millions of gallons of lower-carbon fuel annually and they will contribute to meeting DOE’s goal to achieve cost-competitive biofuels and at least a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
“DOE investments are helping to build out a domestic bioenergy supply chain that increases America’s energy independence, creates jobs, and accelerates the adoption of cleaner fuels for our transportation needs,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
The projects will create jobs across nine states, the DOE added.
About 16.8 billion gallons of biofuels were consumed in the United States in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That compares to the about 134.83 billion gallons of motor gasoline that were consumed in the same year.
The Biden administration has said that biofuels will be needed to lower emissions, including in the aircraft industry with lower-carbon sustainable aviation fuel.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
