U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today $36 million in federal grants to fund six small-scale projects in five states designed to produce drop-in advanced biofuels and other bio-based chemicals. Each project’s goal is to improve the economics and efficiency of converting non-food biomass feedstocks into biofuels, bioproducts and biochemicals.

“Projects such as these are helping us to diversify our energy portfolio and decrease our dependence on foreign oil,” said Secretary Chu. “Together with our partners, the Department is working hard to expand the clean energy economy, creating jobs in America and providing sustainable replacements for the fuels and products now provided primarily by petroleum.”

According to Chu, the new round of funding will help diversify DOE’s Biomass Program portfolio to include a breadth of fuels and chemicals beyond cellulosic ethanol. The secondary goal is to ensure that the Department’s research and development on biofuels remains integrated and strategic.

The following projects were selected:

− General Atomics: San Diego, California who was awarded up to $2 million
− Genomatica, Inc., San Diego, California, who was awarded up to $5 million
− Michigan Biotechnology Institute, Lansing, Michigan, who was awarded up to $4.3 million
− HCL CleanTech, Inc., Oxford, North Carolina, who was awarded up to $9 million
− Texas Engineering Experiment Station, College Station, Texas, who was awarded up to $2.3 million
− Virent, Madison, Wisconsin, who was awarded up to $13.4 million