Multi-million biofuels investment offered in US

The US Department of Energy (USDoE) is to work with several energy industry institutes and stakeholders to make biofuels more cost-competitive to gas alternatives.

Ernest Moniz, US energy secretary, revealed more than $22 million (€16.5 million) will be made available for investment into new projects, with algae-based production expected to benefit the most. This is because the advanced biofuels industry spends a lot of money harvesting and delivering raw feedstock material.

The idea behind this move is to advance the US government’s efforts to bring second generation biofuels more online, with goals of producing cost-competitive biofuels by 2017 and algae-based fuels by 2022.

‘By partnering with industry and universities, we can help make clean, renewable biofuels cost-competitive with petrol, give drivers more options at the pump and cut harmful carbon pollution,’ Moniz says.