Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - February 27, 2015

 

 

USDA, DOE Farm and Fuels Funding Updates

USDA and DOE announced a raft of grant and loan opportunities and funded projects, many of them funded through the 2014 Farm Bill. On February 20, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), announced $10 million in funded projects to drive down the costs of advanced biofuels, such as those sourced from algae and crop residues. On February 25, USDA’s National Institute of Food And Agriculture (NIFA), released six requests for applications (RFA) as part of a $160 million grant program, as well as announcing $14 million in total grants to strengthen rural agricultural communities.

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RFS Roundup: ‘Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act’ Reintroduced, Industry Responds

On February 26, Sens. Feinstein (D-CA) and Toomey (R-PA) reintroduced the ‘Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act of 2015,’ that would remove corn ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), despite the fact that there is no specific language mandating the use of corn ethanol in the law.  The bill was attached as an amendment to the Keystone XL bill (S.1), but was not brought to a vote. Sen. Flake (R-AZ) is a co-sponsor.  Other lawmakers, such as Sen. Lankford (R-OK) have expressed interest in “reforming” the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). 

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Find Out How Many Solar Jobs Were Created in Your State

Monday, March 2
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Capitol Visitor Center Room 209-08 (Senate side).
First Street and East Capitol Street NE

Free and open to the public

Please RSVP to expedite check-in.  

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and The Solar Foundation invite you to a briefing on the recently released 2014 National Solar Jobs Census. The Census found that the solar industry added 31,000 jobs last year, accounting for 1.3 percent of all new U.S. jobs, and representing a growth rate almost 20 times greater than the national average. Today, 173,807 Americans are employed in the solar industry, almost twice as many as in U.S. coal mining.

Visit http://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/030215solarjobs for more information. 

 

To Contact the Editor: Jessie Stolark at [email protected]

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