USDA Announces $14 Million for Biodiesel Infrastructure
Up to $100 million in competitive grants to expand availability and sale of renewable fuels are to be made available by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the department announced. USDA plans to make available approximately $86 million for implementation activities related to higher blends of fuel ethanol, and approximately $14 million for implementation activities related to higher blends of biodiesel. Higher biofuel blends are fuels containing ethanol greater than 10% by volume and/or fuels containing biodiesel blends greater than 5% by volume, also known as B5.
“America’s energy independence is critical to our economic security, and President Trump fully recognizes the importance of our ethanol and biofuels industries and the positive impacts they deliver to consumers and farmers with an affordable, abundant and clean-burning fuel,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement issued May 4. “American ethanol and biofuel producers have been affected by decreased energy demands due to the coronavirus, and these grants to expand their availability will help increase their use during our economic resurgence.”
USDA is making the grants available under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP). Funds will be made directly available to assist transportation fueling and biodiesel distribution facilities with converting to higher ethanol and biodiesel blends by sharing the costs related to and/or offering sales incentives for the installation of fuel pumps, related equipment and infrastructure.
Grants for up to 50% of total eligible project costs, but not more than $5 million, are available to vehicle fueling facilities, including, but not limited to, local fueling stations/locations, convenience stores, hypermarket fueling stations, fleet facilities, fuel terminal operations, midstream partners and/or distribution facilities. For application information and other program details, see page 26656 of the May 5 Federal Register(PDF, 302 KB), or visit the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program web page.