| USDA INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR ADVANCED BIOREFINERY GUARANTEED LOANS | |||
| USDA seeks public input on rulemaking to implement the Biorefinery Assistance Program | |||
| WASHINGTON, November 19, 2008 – Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said today that applications are being accepted for loan guarantees under the Biorefinery Assistance Program (Section 9003), authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, (“the farm bill”). The Biorefinery Assistance Program is designed to promote the development of new and emerging technologies for the production of advanced biofuels.The Biorefinery Assistance Program provides loan guarantees for the development, construction and retrofitting of viable commercial-scale biorefineries producing advanced biofuels. The maximum loan guarantee is $250 million per project subject to the availability of funds. Preference will be given to projects where first-of-a-kind technology will be deployed on a commercial scale. Advanced biofuels are defined as fuels that do not rely on corn kernel starch as the feedstock.For example, research has shown that cellulosic ethanol production — a key next generation biofuel — may be produced from switch grass, corn stover, forest waste, fast-growing trees, woodchips, canola, algae and other plant material rather than from the edible part of crops such as corn. These energy crops require further research and development but they represent a key long-term component to a sustainable biofuels industry.
To be considered for funding in the first half of Fiscal Year 2009, applications must be completed and submitted no later than December 31, 2008, to the USDA Rural Development National Office, Energy Branch, Attention: Biorefinery Assistance Program, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, STOP 3225, Washington, DC, 20250-3225. To be considered for funding in the second half of Fiscal Year 2009, complete applications must be submitted to the USDA Rural Development National Office between March 1, 2009, and April 30, 2009. For further details about eligibility rules and application procedures, please see the November 20, 2008 Federal Register. The program will create energy related jobs in rural America and encourage economic development, along with promoting resource conservation and diversifying markets for agricultural and forestry products, including agricultural waste materials. In addition to the announcement of program funds for this year, a notice is being published to invite comments on how to administer the program in future years. USDA Rural Development’s mission is to increase economic opportunity and improve the quality of life for rural residents. Rural Development has invested more than $111 billion since 2001 for equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in homeownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure. More than 2 million jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting USDA Rural Development’s web site at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov. |
RECOVERY ACT-Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E)
This is the first solicitation for the Advanced Research Projects Agency -
Energy (ARPA-E). ARPA-E is a new organization within the Department of Energy (DOE), created specifically to foster research and development (R&D) of transformational energy-related technologies. Transformational technologies are by definition technologies that disrupt the status quo. They are not merely better than current technologies, they are significantly better. Often, a technology is considered transformational when it so outperforms current approaches that it causes an industry to shift its technology base to the new technology. The Nation needs transformational energy-related technologies to overcome the threats posed by climate change and energy security, arising from its reliance on traditional uses of fossil fuels and the dominant use of oil in transportation.
ARPA-E will fund scientists and technologists to take an immature technology that promises to make a large impact on the ARPA-E Mission Areas (see Section I.B) and develop it beyond the “valley of death” that prevents many transformational new technologies from becoming a market reality. The “valley of death” generally occurs in two phases. The first phase occurs at the point of determining whether a laboratory stage technology can ever become a real-world technology or it has some inherent unsuitability for real-world applications. Once it has been determined through R&D that the apparent barriers can be overcome and how they may be overcome, and then additional investment from many other sources causes a new field of technology options to open up.
The second phase of the “valley of death” occurs at the point of developing the immature transformational technology to the point where key risks have been lowered enough that industry can invest in the final stages of development and incorporate the technology into products. Success for ARPA-E as an organization will be gauged by (a) whether its portfolio of investments includes the most promising transformational energy technology options and (b) the agency’s ability to form and manage R&D efforts to mature these technologies rapidly. In the end, the nation will judge ARPA-E on whether these technologies come to market and are being used widely enough that they make a significant difference to reductions in domestic oil use and energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases.
To accomplish these challenging goals, ARPA-E is willing to work with any R&D entity1 singly or in teams, that has a transformational technology idea and a credible plan to mature that technology beyond either phase of the “valley of death.” For early stage transformational technologies with the potential for broad transformational impact, the R&D project must carry the technology development to the point where others can recognize the major potential impact and the technology is suitable for development or can be made suitable. For the projects aimed at overcoming the later phase of the “valley of death,” the technology (component, system, hardware, software, or other) must be matured to the point that it can transition into industrial development and deployment.
For more information and to download the application package, visit
www.fedconnect.net and the solicitation number is DE-FOA-0000065
