U.S. Energy Department Announces Over $20 Million to Develop Feedstocks for Biofuels

The U.S. Energy Department on Nov. 14 announced funding of over $20 million for university and industry projects to develop algae and seaweed feedstocks for low-carbon biofuels. The funding is a partnership between the Bioenergy Technologies Office and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to support 10 projects across seven states focused on converting marine feedstocks such as algae and seaweed into low-carbon biofuels and agricultural byproducts.

The development of algae feedstocks promotes decarbonization by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions and producing low-carbon biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. Marine-based feedstocks are an underused source in the development of biofuels because their chemical structure makes them difficult to convert and store. The department’s funding will help to tackle these challenges, expand renewable feedstocks for biofuels, and support domestic biomass supply chains.

The projects will develop seaweed blends by combining seaweed with other wet wastes to use as feedstocks for renewable fuels and bioproducts. The conversion of algal biomass for agricultural bioproducts will incorporate innovative carbon capture technology that will capture and direct carbon emissions from industrial facilities.

The funding initiative supports one of the department’s key Earthshots initiative, the Clean Fuels & Products Shot, which seeks to decarbonize the transport and fuel sector through innovation and development of low-carbon and alternative fuels. This initiative has an ambitious goal of cutting over 650 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2050.

The department also recently took major steps to boost domestic production of SAF, including the release of a roadmap to commercializing SAF. Last month, the department announced almost $3 billion in conditional loans to expand SAF production facilities. The SAF Grand Challenge sets production targets of 3 billion gallons of per year by 2030 and 35 billion gallons by 2050.