DOE programme favours biofuels

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has begun a loan guarantee solicitation, opening up to $4 million (€2.9 million) to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects located in the US that lower or evade greenhouse gases.

The DOE has recognised five key technology areas of interest, including drop-in biofuels and waste-to-energy.

For drop-in biofuels, the DOE is set to concentrate on projects that produce very similar bio-based substitutes for crude oil, petrol, diesel fuel, and jet fuel. In addition to these projects, it will also focus on those that can produce intermediate fuel feedstocks that are capable of being integrated into existing oil petroleum refineries.

In terms of waste-to-energy, the solicitation is focused on projects encouraging the use of waste products, such as landfill gas and segregated waste as a source of energy or fuel. These may then lead to the commercial-scale use of waste, including crop waste-to-energy and bio-products; and forestry waste-to-energy and cofiring operations.

The final deadline is set for 2 March, 2016.