DOE: $80M for Biofuels Research, Infrastructure
DOE: $37M for 17 Solid-State Lighting Projects
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DOE to Award $80 Million for Biofuels Research, Infrastructure
DOE announced on January 13 its investment of nearly $80 million in advanced biofuels research and fueling infrastructure under the Recovery Act (ARRA).
Two biofuels consortia will seek to break down barriers to commercialization of algae-based and other biofuels that can be transported and sold using existing fueling infrastructure, including refineries and pipelines. They will receive up to $78 million to be matched by private and non-federal funds of over $19 million for total project investments of about $97 million. In addition, $1.6 million will go toward infrastructure projects to expand the availability of ethanol-rich fuel. The infrastructure funds will be matched with $3.9 million in non-federal funds for a total investment of $5.5 million.
The two biofuels consortia are the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) and the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC). The NAABB, a $44 million effort led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, will develop a systems approach for sustainable commercialization of algal biofuel and bioproducts.
NAABB will integrate resources from companies, universities, and national labs to overcome the barriers of cost, resource use and efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and commercial viability of algal biofuels. They will develop and demonstrate the science and technology necessary to significantly increase production of algal biomass and lipids, efficiently harvest and extract algae and algal products, and establish methods of producing both fuels and valuable co-products.
The NABC, a $33.8 million outreach project led by the National Renewable Energy Lab and Pacific Northwest National Lab, will conduct cutting-edge research to develop biomass-based hydrocarbon fuels, drawing on such techniques as fermentation, catalysis, and high-temperature processes such as pyrolysis (an oxygen-free process that generally produces an oily liquid), hydrothermal liquefaction (adding water to produce an oily liquid), and gasification (adding oxygen or steam to generate a gas called syngas, which can then be converted into liquid fuels).
In addition, the new infrastructure projects will enable installation of new pumps and retrofitting of existing pumps to dispense E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The funds will also support the addition of "blender pumps" that offer ethanol blends of up to 85% ethanol.
The infrastructure projects will be located in nine states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. They will add at least 45 E85 dispensers and 16 blender pumps along key driving corridors and areas with higher concentrations of flexible-fuel vehicles. See the DOE press release and the complete awards list and project descriptions (PDF 70 KB).
DOE to Award $37 Million to 17 Solid-State Lighting Projects
DOE announced its selection of 17 high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) projects to receive $37 million in funding from the ARRA.
The awards will support research, product development, and manufacturing of SSL technologies and will be leveraged with nearly $28.5 million in private industry funds, for a total project value of about $66 million.
Solid-state lighting, which uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) instead of incandescent bulbs, has the potential to be ten times more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent lighting. Today, lighting accounts for approximately 24% of total electricity generated in the US, but by 2030, the development and widespread deployment of cost-effective LED and OLED lighting could reduce electricity use for lighting by one-third nationally.
