DOE Selects First Round of Small-Scale Biorefinery Projects

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the first round of funding for small-scale biorefinery projects that will produce cellulosic ethanol. DOE will invest up to $114 million over four years towards four projects across the U.S. The projects will be located in Commerce City, Colorado; St. Joseph, Missouri; Boardman, Oregon; and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. The four projects will produce 10 percent of a fully functioning commercial plant and be used to test new conversion technologies and various feedstocks. The data from these test will be used to bring full-size biorefineries online. DOE also anticipates selecting a second round of projects to fund later this spring. The full press release can be found here.