The US Energy Department has awarded more than US$ 10 million in funding to five projects in California, Washington, Maryland, and Texas that will develop new technologies to convert biomass into advanced biofuels and bio-products like plastics and chemical intermediates.

The awards are part of the administrations efforts to develop all available sources of home-grown America energy and ensure national energy independence.

These projects use innovative synthetic biological and chemical techniques to convert biomass into processable sugars that can be transformed into bioproducts and drop-in biofuels for cars, trucks, and planes.

The five projects support the Energy Department's broader biomass portfolio, which focuses on research, development and demonstration efforts to achieve affordable, scalable and sustainable advanced biofuels. Two of these projects will develop cost-effective ways to produce intermediates from the deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass, while three projects will propose new conversion techniques to transform biomass intermediates into advanced biofuels and bioproducts.

Adapted from press release by Peter Farrell.