Monday, June 13, 2011

DOE Gives $36M For Biofuels Development

The Department of Energy said Friday that it is providing $36M in grants to six biofuels projects, including two in San Diego. According to U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, the DOE is providing $2.0M to San Diego-based General Atomics for an algal biofuels and fermentation project, and $5.0M to San Diego-based Genomatica, for an optimized fermentation process to enable the conversion of cellulosic sugars to 1,4-butanediol (BDO), an industrial chemical. Other recipients of the grant money are in Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas. The funding effort is part of the Obama Administration's efforts to cut foreign oil imports.