The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday awarded about 40 grants for biofuel research, including $586,000 to Kansas State University.
The research covers areas such as product development and sustainable feedstock production. Kansas State University, for example, is seeking to produce industrial chemicals as a co-product of cellulosic ethanol.
Three projects in California will focus on using poplar, switchgrass and sugarcane as a biomass feedstock to make biofuels. Projects in Michigan will focus on the environmental impact of feedstock production and pest control in perennial grasses used as feedstock.
The announcement came the same day a USDA official toured ICM Inc.'s pilot cellulosic-ethanol plant in St. Joseph, which intends to use switchgrass, corn fiber and sorghum to produce fuel when it opens later this year.
Judith Canales, administrator for the federal agency's Rural Business-Cooperative Service division, is making stops in Missouri and Kansas, in part to kick off a series of workshops and events on biofuels. The programs cover information about financial assistance for energy efficiency and biofuels.
Grants are available to fuel stations, for instance, to install flexible-fuel dispensers that can provide fuel blends containing up to 85 percent ethanol.
