The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy announced $10 million worth of grants for 10 places of higher education to help accelerate the use of biomass into cellulosic biofuels.

This USDA release has details:

“USDA is committed to fostering a sustainable domestic biofuels industry at home in rural America,” [Agriculture Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale Buchanan] said. “These grants will broaden the sources of energy from many crops as well as improve the efficiency and options among renewable fuels.”

“Cellulosic biofuels offer one of the best near- to mid-term alternatives we have, on the energy production side, to reduce reliance and imported oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, while continuing to meet the nation’s transportation energy needs,” [Energy Department (DOE) Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach] said. “Developing cost-effective means of producing cellulosic biofuels on a national scale poses major scientific challenges-these grants will help in developing the type of transformational breakthroughs needed in basic science to make this happen.”

Here’s a list of those schools picking up the research grants:

* Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (Ithaca, NY), $882,000
* Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO), $1,500,000
* University of Georgia (Athens, GA), $1,295,000
* University of Georgia(Athens, GA), $1,200,000
* University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA), $1,200,000
* Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), $540,000
* Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA), $587,191
* Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), $1,200,000
* Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR), $1,200,000
* Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR), $1,200,000