EJ Means Economic Development: Cellulosic Biofuels

The Department of Energy will disburse $33.8 Million to support commercial production of cellulosic biofuels, specifically viable enzymes - a key step to enabling bio-based production of clean, renewable biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol. As part of the President's Twenty in Ten Plan, DOE is pursuing a long-term strategy to support increased availability and cost-effective use of renewable and alternative fuels. Twenty in Ten seeks to displace 20 percent of U.S. gasoline usage by 2017 through diversification of clean energy sources and increased vehicle efficiency.

With a minimum 50 percent industry cost-share, this funding will total nearly $68 million to further enzyme commercialization efforts. By harnessing the power of enzymes, which are responsible for many of the biochemical processes in nature, biorefineries can more efficiently use cellulosic (non-food) feedstocks for biofuels production. This funding aims to further reduce costs of enzyme system preparations in process-relevant conditions. Since 2000, DOE enzyme development advancements have yielded thirty-fold cost reductions mainly on enzyme production.

This biofuels effort focuses specifically on systems to hydrolyze and saccharify cellulosic biomass feedstocks. Saccharification enables the biorefining process by breaking down pretreated cellulosic material into more simple sugars, allowing them to be further processed through fermentation and ultimately turned into biofuels such as ethanol. Enzymes developed under this program must prove durable and effective in process-relevant conditions.

Letters of intent are due September 10, 2007, and completed applications are due October 30, 2007. View the complete FOA. Projects are expected to begin in Fiscal Year 2008 and continue through Fiscal Year 2011. Funding is subject to Congressional appropriations.

Federal Science & Engineering Spending

Top 20 Universities, Fiscal 2005 University Total

1. Johns Hopkins University $1,233,900,000
2. University of Washington $663,300,000
3. University of Pennsylvania $558,200,000
4. University of California at Los Angeles $525,500,000
5. University of Michigan $513,100,000
6. Stanford University $485,600,000
7. University of Wisconsin at Madison $476,900,000
8. University of California at San Francisco $473,500,000
9. Duke University $459,200,000
10. Columbia University $447,200,000
11. Harvard University $441,300,000
12. University of California at San Diego $428,300,000
13. Washington University in St. Louis $428,100,000
14. University of Pittsburgh $427,100,000
15. Yale University $384,400,000
16. University of Colorado $367,600,000
17. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill $363,100,000
18. University of Minnesota $362,100,000
19. Cornell University $360,500,000
20. Massachusetts Institute of Technology $359,800,000

Top Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Fiscal 2005, Institution Total

1. Hampton University $44,072,000
2. Howard University $32,200,000
3. Meharry Medical College $30,701,000
4. Morehouse School of Medicine $28,724,000
5. Florida A&M University $23,229,000
6. Jackson State University $22,140,000
7. North Carolina A&T University $21,363,000
8. Tuskegee University $20,502,000
9. Tennessee State University $16,865,000
10. Morgan State University $12,838,000

(More)

Afro American Newspaper Covered Senate EJ Hearing

The only newspaper that covered the Senate hearing on environmental justice was The Washington Afro American. The Washington Post rarely to never covers environmental justice issues, unless a black reporter steps forward to write an article. The environmental reporters for The Post avoid writing about environmental justice like it is the plague. But one would think The Post would cover an environmental justice hearing sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton. Still no coverage.

Although The Washington Times covers issues in black Washington better than The Washington Post, there wasn't a story about the hearing in that newspaper either. Nothing in the New York Times, USA Today or any of the other mainstream print outlets. (The Afro American Newspapers, "Environmental Racism Takes Senate Stage")