US to Invest US$250 Million in Biofuel Research
Date: 03-Aug-06
Country: US
The plan, subject to congressional approval, would set aside US$25 million a year for two separate biofuel research facilities that would conduct basic biological research on how to release energy from plant fibers, or cellulose.
"You've got to get away from worrying about just oil," US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman told reporters on the way to a biodiesel plant in Joliet, Illinois.
Energy legislation signed into law last year by President Bush requires at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be available to US consumers by 2012.
US pump prices above US$3 a gallon have revived interest in building new plants to convert corn and soybeans to gasoline.
The Energy Department expects to award contracts next summer, with the centers operational by 2009. The deadline for submitting proposals for funding is Feb. 1, 2007. The funding would require an appropriation from the US Congress, Bodman said.
Bodman said that Wall Street is finally putting its capital into alternative energy proposals, and wants to make sure the trend continues.
"This is the first time in 50 years that I've seen big venture capital companies put big money into energy projects. This is a way to reach out to the companies," he said.
"We hope to create a lot of interest in high-tech bio-centers."
Bodman said the Energy Department has had preliminary discussions with some universities in California, Colorado and elsewhere.