The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy are jointly funding some $5.7 million dollars in research projects aimed at the development of alternative fuel resources.

According to a USDA release, USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research awarded the grants “to facilitate the use of woody plant tissue, specifically lignocellulosic materials, for bioenergy or biofuels. The research projects will focus on poplar, alfalfa, sorghum, wheat and other grasses.”

The grants include:

Purdue University, Ind., $1.4 million.
The Noble Foundation, Okla., $800,000.
Texas A&M University, Texas, $800,000.
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, University of Wisconsin, $333,000.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, $359,100.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, $300,000.
North Carolina State University, $700,000.
Kansas State University, $700,000.
University of Georgia, $445,000.

Here is some more information on the K-State and Oklahoma projects, which are being done in conjunction with each other, to do genetic research on making different types of vegetation, such as native switchgrass, more conducive to being turned into ethanol.