By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — October’s been a big month for biofuel news; last Thursday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack brought tidings of more federal support for biomass fuel under a couple of programs – including a five-year partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop jet fuel from “green” feedstocks.
Vilsack also announced a final rule was being published to expand the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), provided for in the 2008 farm bill. It has been, so far, a limited pilot program with two purposes: to match producers’ costs in collecting, harvesting, storing and transporting biomass feedstocks to a processor; and to help establish biomass crop growth.

Further, he said President Obama’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group called for the establishment of five USDA regional Biomass Research Centers for the development of non-food feedstocks. These will be a collaboration between USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the U.S. Forest Service, to “focus, accelerate and coordinate the science and technology needed to incorporate feedstock production into existing agricultural and forest-based systems.”

These centers will assist USDA Rural Development officials in the development and construction of biorefineries in regions of the country Vilsack said are best suited for advanced biofuel production: Madison, Wis.; Lincoln, Neb.; Boonesville, Ark., Tifton, Ga., and Auburn, Ala. (all three are the Southeast Center); Maricopa, Ariz.; and Pullman, Wash., and Corvallis, Ore. (both are the Northwestern Center).

“Production of 36 billion gallons of (biofuel by 2022) will require that biorefineries dot the rural landscape,” Vilsack said.

He said according to varying studies, there will need to be between 200-500 operational biorefineries to do this.

To this end, he is directing Rural Development to announce within the next two months funding for the construction of a biorefinery or bioenergy plant in each of these five regions. Vilsack said USDA is anxious to start construction on each plant in 2011.

“Biofuel is not the sole answer, but it’s an important part of the answer,” he said about U.S. energy use.

Right now, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting biomass project area proposals under BCAP. Once those are approved, eligible area producers may enroll through their FSA county offices.
According to the USDA, producers who enter into BCAP contracts may receive payments of up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing eligible perennial crops. Further, they can receive payments for up to five years for annual or non-woody perennials, and up to 15 years for woody perennials.

As for the FAA collaboration, the agencies will pool their experience in research, policy analysis and air transportation dynamics “to assess the availability of different kinds of feedstocks that could be processed by biorefineries” to make jet fuel.

The USDA stated it and the FAA have existing programs and collaborative agreements with private and public partners to help biorefiners develop cost-effective plans to make jet biofuel.