Sustainable Biofuels Grants and Projects
How much oil is left? How much time remains to mitigate against climate change? How high will energy prices get? VSJF and its partners are not waiting find out the answers to these questions. In 2003, the VSJF began to focus on developing a viable biofuels industry in the State, to sustainably transform local resources and supply a portion of the state’s liquid fuel needs. A number of farmers have begun to experiment with growing oilseed crops (soy, canola, sunflower and camelina) and/or producing biodiesel for on-farm use, and VSJF has invested over $1 million so far, from seed trials and demonstration projects, to equipment purchases and emissions testing.
Recent Grants
2008:
- VBI: Borderview Farm: $25,000 in Department of Energy funds used to conduct a fully documented safety review and engineering study, and to purchase additional equipment to fully build out the biodiesel production system at Borderview Farm in Alburgh.
- Renewable Energy Vermont: High Meadows Fund grant used to integrate the “Vermont Biofuels Agenda” into REV and to promote REV as the premier renewable energy association in the state during a time of strong industry growth.
- State Line Biofuels: In 2007, VSJF (with US Department of Energy funding, courtesy of Senator Patrick Leahy) provided a $23,200 grant to State Line Biofuels to engineer and optimize their biodiesel processing unit. Chris Callahan Engineering was hired to develop the engineering schematics and safety procedures.
Projects (VSJF staff-driven activities or fee-for-service work)
Photo Credits: Canola Field (left), Netaka White; Seed press with sunflower seeds (middle), Ed Delhagen; Biodiesel flask (right), Netaka White.
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