New grants will help develop biofuel and bioenergy crops

In the US, projects designed to restore and protect wetlands in the Northern Everglades Watershed could receive funding from the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the government of Florida.

The grants will support a number of projects, including the INEOS New Planet BioEnergy plant in Vero Beach. A loan guarantee from the USDA went towards the construction of this facility, which now manufactures 8 million gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol and generates 6MW of electricity from household waste.

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will soon announce a number of grants that will be issued by the USDA and the US Department of Energy (DoE). This series of grants is expected to encourage research into the development of efficient, cost-effective biofuel and bioenergy crops.