Obama budget plan ups renewables funding by 29 percent

By Anna Austin | February 14, 2012

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  Obama plans to increase the budget for renewables in 2013.
  PHOTO: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent to Congress his federal budget for fiscal year 2013 and has seemingly followed through on his verbal commitments to renewable energy delivered in his Jan. 24 State of the Union Address.
Also as promised, Obama has begun attempts to pull the rug from beneath the feet of big fossil fuel, with a repeal of 12 tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal companies to raise $41 billion over 10 years. At the same time, the $3.8 trillion budget proposal increases 2013 renewable energy funds by 29 percent compared to 2012.
In the budget proposal, the U.S. DOE is allotted $27.2 billion, $2.3 billion of which is slated for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for energy efficient research and development, biofuels, advanced vehicles and renewable electricity generation. While the DOE budget increases by more than 3 percent from 2012, the USDA budget decreases by 3 percent, to $23 billion in discretionary funding. Out of that, Obama has proposed $6.1 billion in loans to rural electric cooperatives and utilities that will support clean energy, and to promote renewable energy at electric generation, transmission, and distribution sites in rural communities.
In addition, through the Rural Energy for America Program, the plan provides $19 million in assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of projects, including renewable energy systems, energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy development. More than $200 million is proposed to continue support for the development of domestically produced advanced biofuels.
To access budget documents, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget.

U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture

U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture: U.S. investment market for woody biomass looks strong for 2012 as demand for wood pellets rises; regulatory changes expected to enhance picture

Senator calls on US to help biofuels’ development
2 February 2012

A US senator has called for congress to do more to support development in technology and biofuels incentives during a briefing at the White House.
Senator Chris Coons spoke at an American Chemical Society briefing, saying that biofuels production was essential for the future of the US economy.
‘This was a great starting point as a concrete forum to look at how we begin to move forward towards workable solutions that will require cooperation from many public and private interests to be able to move from the field to the filling station in the future,’ he said.
Coons listed the advantages that investment in biofuels could have for the US, such as job creation, economic development in rural areas and employment in all different types of sectors from growing the biomass to distributing the fuel.
He also discussed what individual companies in the country were doing to improve the production of biofuels and its development.
‘DuPont is deeply committed in investments to a diversified mix of next generation biomass and biofuels, those building blocks and the facilities necessary, those cellulosic production facilities as well as the development of bio-butanol and other drop-in biofuels,’ said Coons.
‘CMS is licensing what were formerly DuPont fluoropolymers selected impermeable memory technologies for the dehydration of biodiesel and other biofuels, a small plucky start-up the recipient of a number of critical SBIR and CDR grants that I think can play a key role in solving some of the production and delivery challenges,’ he continued.
He called for the Department of Energy and the USDA R&D programmes to extend tax credits for advanced biofuels and for the industry to work together on the Renewable Fuels Standard.