About the Biomass Research and Development Act
The Biomass Research and Development Act established the importance of greater cooperation between Federal agencies in biomass research and development. The Act created The Biomass Research and Development Initiative, which is a solicitation for biomass research issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. The Act also established the Biomass R&D Board (Board) and Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee (Committee) to help guide the multi-agency effort to coordinate and accelerate all Federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development.
The Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 (Biomass Act) [Pub. L. No. 106-224] requires cooperation and coordination in biomass research and development (R&D) between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 repealed the Biomass Act in June 2008 by Section 9008 of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) [Pub. L. 110-246, 122 Stat. 1651, enacted June 18, 2008, H.R. 6124].
Biomass Research and Development is coordinated through the guidance of:
The Biomass Research and Development Board - The Biomass Research and Development Board (the Board), co-chaired by the DOE and the USDA, is responsible for coordinating Federal activities for the purpose of promoting the use of biobased fuels and biobased products.
The Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee - A group of approximately 30 individuals from industry, academia, state government.
Points of Contact - To coordinate research and development programs and activities relating to biobased fuels and biobased products that are carried out by their respective Departments.
This interagency effort is administered by the Designated Federal Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Liaison as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A Comprehensive list of R&D projects and their status that have been awarded under the Biomass Initiative is available for review (PDF file). For additional information on recent activities related to the Initiative, please see what's new on our home page.
If you are not familiar with many of the terms used to describe this work, please refer to the Definitions of Terms.