Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns spent Wednesday in the state of Indiana talking about domestic fuel.

First, the secretary joined Governor Mitch Daniels to break ground for BioTown, USA’s Phase II technology suite. BioTown is the country’s first effort toward creating communities where all energy needs are met through biorenewable resources.

At that event, Johanns also announced the availability of $176.5 million in loan guarantees and $11.4 million in grants to support investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements by agricultural producers and small businesses.

“By promoting energy efficiency and development of energy sources that are farm based and renewable, we’re taking another step toward achieving the President’s goal of reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years,” said Johanns. “We hope to dramatically expand renewable energy programs like these, as reflected in our 2007 farm bill proposals.”

Finally, Johanns concluded the day with a renewable energy roundtable discussion at Purdue University in Indiana where he talked about the administration’s 2007 Farm Bill proposals and fielded energy-related questions with a number of other panelists. He also introduced a new web-based tool designed to make energy-related activities from across the Department accessible from a single web page. The Energy Matrix is a comprehensive collection of information on all of USDA’s energy-related programs, research efforts, funding opportunities, and technical assistance.