BIOMASS HUB

DOE announces funding opportunity for sustainable bioenergy feedstock production. Anticipating dramatic growth in US biofuels production, DOE seeks projects focusing on watershed scale research for high-yielding biomass.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $5 million in funding for research focused on sustainable production of non-food biomass for bioenergy yesterday.  The purpose: quantify and understand the environmental impacts of different strategies for producing large quantities of energy crops and other crop residues at the watershed scale.

The Context

DOE acknowledges that biomass will play a significant role in connection with projected dramatic growth in the US biofuels industry.  Specifically, to meet the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS 2.0) (i.e. 36 billion gallons per year of biofuels from domestically produced feedstocks by 2022, including 21 billion gallons per year of advanced biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks), DOE projects that approximately one billion dry tons of sustainably produced feedstocks would need to be produced each year.  The expansion of the biopower and bioproducts industries in the US will also increase demand for biomass feedstock.

This is part of DOE’s commitment to expanding domestic bioenergy without negatively impacting environmental quality, biodiversity, and the availability of food, feed, fiber, and water.

What Research Qualifies?

While America’s vast agricultural and forest lands have the potential to produce a wide variety of biomass feedstocks, DOE is committed to meeting sustainability goals in the growing and harvesting of non-food feedstocks.

A lack of reliable environmental data at the watershed scale for high-yielding energy crops and other feedstocks removed from the landscape is a critical barrier to achieving a robust biofuel and biopower industry.  Accordingly, DOE is committed to developing adequate information and tools for implementing and managing sustainable high-yield energy crops across the landscape.

Through this FOA, DOE seeks projects that will result in a better understanding of how to design and implement sustainable energy crop production systems at the watershed scale.  Selected projects are also required to provide a model or set of tools to assist in the sustainable implementation of production systems at the watershed scale within a broadly defined region of the country.

As the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) notes:

There is little scientific information and no validated methodology for optimizing sustainable cellulosic biomass production systems beyond the plot and field scale onto the watershed and larger scale. With the expected rapid growth of the bio-economy, the escalation of establishment and production of energy crops across the agricultural, forestry, and rural landscape will need to be correspondingly rapid and must happen in parallel with the development of biorefineries. Special attention is therefore required to understand sustainability issues at the watershed level and to use this information for developing a model or a set of tools to help implement large-scale deployment of energy crops that ensure environmental sustainability, while optimizing system productivity and economic viability for producers, and provide high quality biomass for a variety of conversion processes.

Currently, the DOE’s Biomass Program is exploring sustainability and the bioenergy-water nexus by:

• Improve understanding of regional climates, soil types, land use, and water issues as they relate to feedstock production
• Support the development of diverse, non-food feedstocks that require less water and fertilizer than conventional feedstocks
• Determine life-cycle impacts of a major scale-up in biofuels production, from feedstocks to end-use in vehicles, including water use and quality

Who Qualifies?

This funding opportunity is unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity), meaning all entities are eligible with the exception of nonprofit entities described under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code

Quick Facts

Expected number of awards: 1-5

Size of individual awards: $500,000 to $5,000,000

Length of awards: 5 years

Closing date for applications: Jul 16, 2010 (NOTE: Notice of Intent to Apply is requested from each applicant by 6/22/2010, 11:59 PM Eastern Time)

The complete FOA can be viewed at the Grants.gov Web site.

The full announcement may be accessed through Fedconnect.net.

Mackinnon Lawrence is an attorney specializing in biomass, biofuel, and bioenergy.  For more information on this funding opportunity or to request a free consultation, you may reach him by email or phone: +1.415.894.2810 (ext. 119).

Image: Flickr/topherous