U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small recently announced the USDA is awarding $39 million in grants to U.S. business owners to increase the availability of domestic biofuels in 18 states.
Torres Small also announced the department will make $200 million available through the new Biobased Market Access and Development Grants made possible by Commodity Credit Corporation funds.
The awards and funding were made possible through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program and the Biobased Market Access and Development Program as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda with funding from CCC and President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
“By increasing the supply of biofuels made here in the U.S., we are helping to lower costs for American families, strengthening our energy independence, creating new streams of income for agricultural producers and bringing good-paying jobs to people in rural communities,” Torres Small said. “Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are partnering with rural agricultural producers to expand clean energy and build an economy that benefits working families and small businesses while combatting climate change.”
The USDA provides HBIIP grants to fueling station and distribution facility owners, including marine, rail and home heating oil facilities, to help expand access to domestic biofuels, a clean and affordable source of energy. The projects will help business owners install and upgrade infrastructure such as fuel pumps, dispensers and storage tanks. Among the grant recipients listed by USDA:
- Connor’s Service Station in Webster, Wisconsin, will use a grant of more than $445,000 to install two E15 fuel dispensers, two B20 dispensers, one ethanol storage tank and one biodiesel storage tank. The project is expected to increase the amount of biofuel sold by nearly 224,000 gallons per year.
- Fleet Fueling of Michigan LLC will use a $4.2 million grant to install 16 E15 fuel dispensers, 16 E85 dispensers, 30 B20 dispensers, seven ethanol storage tanks and 14 biodiesel storage tanks at seven fueling stations in Eaton, Ingham and Clinton counties. The company expects that the project will increase the amount of biodiesel sold by 2.5 million gallons per year.
- NUVU Fuels Florida LLC will use a $150,000 grant to install four E85 dispensers and four E15 dispensers at a fueling station in Sarasota. Through this project, the company expects to increase the amount of ethanol sold by nearly 178,000 gallons per year.
The grants funded projects in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
CCC Funds Create biobased market development program
The USDA will use previously transferred CCC funds to create the Biobased Product Market Development and Access Grant Program to support innovative biobased technologies and bridge the gap between pilot-scale demonstrations and commercial viability.
The funding will be available to applicants who have been accepted into the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program (Section 9003), which is administered by Rural Development. The $200 million program is being funded through the reallocation of unobligated CCC funds from 2020.
In June 2023, the USDA made $450 million available in Inflation Reduction Act funding through HBIIP to expand the use and availability of higher-blend biofuels. That same month, the USDA also announced the first round of Inflation Reduction Act-funded HBIIP awardees.
The Act provides funding to USDA Rural Development to help eligible organizations invest in renewable energy infrastructure and zero-emission systems and make energy-efficiency improvements that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
