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 DOE awards $228 million for algae, solar liquid fuels
Cal Tech, LBNL, Phycal, Touchstone among winners
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced $228 million in new awards, including $122 million to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight, and $106 million for six projects that convert industrial CO2 emissions into fuel, plastics, cement, and fertilizers.
The Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub is one of three Hubs that will receive funding in FY10. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), to be led by the Cal Tech in partnership with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized.
The $106 million for CO2-to-products grants will be matched by $156 million in private cost shares. Two of the six projects involve the conversion of CO2 to biofuels. Among the winners: $6.2 million for Touchstone Research Laboratory's algae project in Ohio, and $24.2 million for Phycal's Hawaii algae project.
More on the Solar Liquid fuels Hub, and the Touchstone and Phycal projects, at biofuelsdigest.com.
| | Producer News
In Virginia, Alion Science and Technology announced that it has received a contract to develop models for assessing the processing technologies and overall economics of pennycress biofuels. Pennycress produces twice the oil per acre as soybeans and can be grown by U.S. farmers in the winter and harvested in the spring between segments of a typical corn/soybean rotation.
In Iowa, SynGest announced that the Iowa Power Fund and Iowa Office of Energy Independence are in final negotiations for a contract in the amount of $2.5 million for the development and commercialization of SynGest's bioammonia production technology in the state of Iowa. SynGest's Iowa plant will use 130,000 tons of biomass to manufacture 50,000 tons of BioAmmonia annually to fertilize 500,000 acres of corn farmland.
In Nebraska, Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) announced that it will implement corn oil extraction technology at its ethanol plants, will complete the project by Q1 2011 and thereby enhance operating income by $15 million to $19 million per year. The Company anticipates first revenues from corn oil extraction at the Obion, Tennessee plant to occur within the next 90 days.
| | Consumer, Fleet and Event News
 Biofuels Digest's Advanced Biofuels Markets conference & expo will be held November 9-10, 2010 in San Francisco.
Our goal in San Francisco: to address the near-term, immediate steps towards commercialization of bioenergy, including a special series of presentations and dialogue on renewable chemicals, plastics, organic acids and other bio-based materials.
 We'll also have strategic investors, Administration officials and venture capitalists on hand, as well as CEOs to partner with in feedstocks, processing technology and downstream marketing.
For companies recently recognized among the "30 Transformative Technologies," we will have an awards event on the first evening.
The conference agenda and full event information is here.
More information on Sponsorship & exhibition opportunities can be | | |
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