Department of Energy
DOE’s Integrated Biorefinery Program
The Integrated Biorefinery Program is a DOE grant program that serves as another important federal funding mechanism for the advanced biofuel industry. This program, like the USDA’s 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program, helps advanced biofuel companies ramp up commercialization efforts, by offering competitively awarded federal grant monies to advanced biofuel companies for the purpose of building domestic biorefineries.
DOE Programmatic Funding
Since 2010, algae has received programmatic funding through the DOE Biomass Program, in the amount of $30 million each fiscal year. Prior to 2010, the majority of DOE Biomass funding went to cellulosic ethanol. In 2010, the Biomass Program broadened its focus to include algae, and developed consortia comprised of leading algae academics, national labs and industry members, to promote algae R&D. This investment has broadened the DOE’s internal basis of knowledge regarding modern advancements in the algae-based fuel industry, and helps the DOE recognize and address the challenges that our industry faces as it seeks to commercialize.
