If you’re worried that the United States’ energy sector is ailing, be apprised that the biofuel industry just got a major shot in the arm. Last Friday, the US government announced that 19 biorefinery projects will receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Financial Times has reported. According to US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the money will go toward the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial facilities across 15 states. Such ambitious funding of biorefineries is part of a broader federal effort to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, spur the creation of the domestic biofuel industry, and create jobs in rural areas of the country, which have suffered greatly since the recession of late 2007.
The projects selected by the Department of Energy are to focus on second-generation biofuels that use biomass feedstocks such as non-corn kernel starch and algae. Unlike first-generation biofuels, the new fuels being developed will not compete directly with biomass used for food. Some critics—among them the Environmental Protection Agency—have suggested that first-generation biofuels might actually cause more damage to the environment than fossil fuels; in a report released in October, the agency claimed that, so far, analyses of biofuels “have failed to count carbon emissions that occur as farmers worldwide respond to higher prices and convert forest and grassland to new cropland to replace the grain (or cropland) diverted to biofuels.” It is hoped that second-generation biofuels will have a smaller effect on the environment, and will not drive up food prices or lead to rampant deforestation in developing countries.
One of the new biofuels being developed is algae-based biodiesel. Agriculture Secretary Vilsack said that USDA Rural Development has granted Sapphire Energy a loan guarantee for up to $54.5 million to develop a process to refine algae into oil. The resultant biofuel will be processed into jet fuel and diesel. Algae are promising because they consist of more than 50 percent oil and contribute zero emissions to greenhouse gases. According to the Worldwatch Institute, an average acre of algae can produce 5,000 gallons of biodiesel each year. In contrast, an average acre of corn produces 420 gallons of ethanol per year, and an acre of soybeans yields just 70 gallons of biodiesel per year.
Of the nearly $564 million in Recovery Act funding announced by the Department of Energy, up to $483 million will go to 14 pilot-scale and 4 demonstration-scale biorefinery projects, while the remaining $81 million will go toward accelerating the construction of a biorefinery project previously awarded funding. In addition to federal funding, these projects will receive more than $700 million in private and non-federal cost-share funds, for a total of almost $1.3 billion. More than just a booster shot.
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