Q&A A: I don’t have a crystal ball on this one. I know there’s been a lot of input into the process across the federal government, and EPA is taking in all of that information and is trying to put together a rulemaking for how they would monitor what they believe is in the best interest of the country. We’re trying to provide analytical support for that.
now have four commercial-scale biorefineries that we’re working on. And of the four, two of those are still in Phase I (BlueFire and Abengoa), which is the engineering, design and environmental compliance phase, so they haven’t been awarded funds to begin construction. The other two have been awarded Phase II funds (Poet and Range Fuels), which includes the beginning of construction.
Q: Regarding all the grants for commercial-scale biorefineries and 10 percent validation plants, when DOE issues these multimillion dollar grants, to what extent is the Biomass Program involved? A: We work very closely with our Golden, Colo., field office, which cuts the checks, but that’s after a pretty lengthy process of selection. Our office is ultimately responsible for selecting grant winners, but we work very closely with the Golden office in that. But just to make sure you’re aware, there is a pretty thorough merit review process. All of the proposals that come in are evaluated by people, mostly outside the government, for technical merit, and scored on their technical merit. Then, there are other points that may be outlined in the solicitation process. And before checks are cut, there’s a negotiation period and an agreed upon statement of work. There is certain due diligence the government has to do to verify that the work has been accomplished according to the original agreed upon scope before we reimburse the funds.
Q: Are you getting any feedback from the industry about what they like and dislike about the Biomass Program? A: We have a formal peer review every two years, and it’s coming up again this spring. The last one was about 18 months ago. What we heard then, and what we’ve been trying to implement, is that industry saw that we need to do more in the thermochemical area, but not at the expense of biochemical work. They also indicated that work in the feedstock, infrastructure, and feedstock production—the planting of crops—needed more emphasis and that we need to do more in cooperation with USDA. And, they recognized and applauded that we were starting to look at end-use distribution—getting biofuels from the plant gate to the vehicle tank, but it was also suggested that we do more in that area. We’ve been trying to follow through with those recommendations.
Q: Have there been any issues with funding of the original six biorefineries (Abengoa Bioenergy, Iogen Corp., Alico Inc., Poet LLC, BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. and Range Fuels Inc.), and what happens if a project falls through? A: There hasn’t been a case where we’ve negotiated an award and then the award falls through, but two of the projects have withdrawn their applications during the negotiation process (Iogen and Alico) and have decided not to go forward with their projects, so we
Q: Is there anything else you would care to add? A: One thing that has come up lately as being a really important and critical area is sustainability. We are really working hard across the fellow governments to make sure what we are doing in biofuels is sustainable, meaning it does not harm the environment, or that it is good for the environment, good for people. We just want to make sure we are doing the right thing—that is very important. BIO Ron Kotrba is a Biomass Magazine senior writer. Reach him at rkotrba@bbiinternational.com or (701) 738-4942.
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