House and Senate Appropriators Support Biofuels R&D

While the versions of the FY2013 energy and water appropriations bills approved by the House and Senate appropriation committees last week differ in many respects – especially with regard to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, they agree on the importance of advancing research and development for renewable biofuels.

Both appropriations committees approved energy and water appropriations bills last week (April 25-26) that would provide $200 million (Senate version) to $203 million (House version) for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Biomass Program and $75 million for the three ongoing DOE Bioenergy Research Centers. However, the House and Senate committees went in opposite directions in terms of support for other DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programs (EERE). The House appropriators approved cutting the overall EERE budget by 24 percent below FY2012 levels and shifting significant funds to fossil fuel research, while the Senate committee approved a nine percent increase in overall funding for EERE programs. Further, the two committees also had two somewhat different visions for what the DOE Biomass Program should do with its funds.

In the House committee’s own words from the Committee Report : . . . Along with electric, fuel-cell, and natural gas vehicles, biofuels grown from non-food crops or algae are one of the few ways by which the nation can lower its dependence on imported oil and reduce the impact of future high gas prices on American families and businesses. The Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D program develops and demonstrates technologies to convert biomass crops to fuels, chemicals, heat, and power. . . .The Department is directed to continue conducting only research, development, and demonstration activities advancing technologies that can produce fuels and electricity from biomass and crops that could not otherwise be used as food. The budget request proposed funding and legislative language for a joint initiative with the Navy and the Department of Agriculture to develop commercial diesel and jet biofuels production capacity for defense purposes. The Department has not adequately justified why the Department of Energy should fund this Defense initiative, and whether the proposed investments can successfully lower costs to competitive levels in several years or will only serve to sink costs into a product that is too immature to compete without federal support. The recommendation includes no funding for the proposed initiative and does not include the requested legislative language. The recommendation includes $15,000,000 for research and development of biofuels from algae feedstocks, $15,000,000 below fiscal year 2012 and $14,280,000 below the request. The recommendation includes no funds for cook stoves activities, $4,829,000 below fiscal year 2012 and $2,910,000 below the request.

The Senate committee, however, gave this guidance in its Committee Report : . . . Within the available funds, the Department is encouraged to direct a total of $30,000,000 for algae biofuels. The Committee is concerned the Department is interpreting biomass too narrowly and failing to consider promising noncellulosic forms of biomass energy technology projects. For purposes of allocating resources, the Department is directed to include biosolids derived from the municipal wastewater treatment process and other similar renewable within the definition of noncellulosic. In funding biomass and biofuels refinery systems, the Department is encouraged to provide funding to projects that utilize regionally available and appropriate wood and agricultural biomass feedstock for thermal heating applications. The Committee recognizes that quality and reliability of supplies will be key in acceptance of advanced drop-in biofuels into the supply chain once they are demonstrated at a convincing scale. To that end, the Committee is supportive of the collaboration between the Navy, Department of Agriculture and DOE to develop innovative technologies for jet and diesel fuels for military uses. With the Department of Defense as an early adopter of these alternative fuels, the wider marketplace will be more likely to follow.