Biomass Research and Development Initiative

This Funding Opportunity Announcement is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to support development of the following:

1. Technologies and processes necessary for abundant commercial production of biofuels at prices competitive with fossil fuels;
2. High-value biobased products; and
3. A diversity of economically and environmentally sustainable domestic sources of renewable biomass for conversion to biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products.

The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are soliciting pre-applications that integrate all three of the following technical areas:

A. Feedstocks Development ? Research, development and demonstration activities regarding feedstocks and feedstock logistics, including harvest, handling, transport, preprocessing, and storage, relevant to production of raw materials for conversion to biofuels and biobased products.

B. Biofuels and Biobased Products Development - Research, development and demonstration activities to support:

1. Development of diverse cost-effective technologies for the use of cellulosic biomass in the production of biofuels and biobased products; and
2. Product diversification through technologies relevant to production of a range of biobased products, including chemicals, animal feeds, and cogeneration power, that potentially can increase the feasibility of fuel production in a biorefinery.

C. Biofuels Development Analysis ? Methods to quantify the proposed technology and/or the project?s positive impact on sustainability and on the environment. Successful pre-applications will consider the life-cycle, i.e. cradle-to-grave, impacts including environmental, social, and economic implications that are attributable to the project.