Ethanol Feedstock Research and Development

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program has supported research and development to identify and develop promising energy crops. Research areas include integrated analysis of biomass resources, feedstock sustainability, and feedstock systems engineering. Many documents related to this work are available through the Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network.

The DOE Biomass Program also supports the Sun Grant Initiative, a regional collaboration among several U.S. land-grant universities and federal agencies to advance bioenergy technologies. Funded projects include feedstock production research and development. The Sun Grant BioWeb provides information on bioenergy topics, including ethanol feedstock production.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is also heavily involved in ethanol feedstock research and development. USDA-sponsored approaches include using selective breeding and genetic engineering to improve feedstock crop yields, developing sustainable approaches to feedstock production, and investigating the environmental and economic impacts of feedstock crops on farmland. See the USDA Bioenergy & Energy Alternatives page for project descriptions.

The Biomass Research and Development Initiative is a DOE/USDA-led effort to coordinate and accelerate all federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development. The initiative funds ethanol feedstock production research and development, as well as other technical areas.

The DOE Office of Science supports fundamental research on ethanol feedstocks, including the development of optimized energy crops. It has formed Bioenergy Research Centers to accelerate basic research on cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels.