The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy will support growth in the private biogas waste-to-energy sector with federal programs and $10 in funding million for biogas research, according to the recent Biogas Opportunities Roadmap report.
The report states that the United States currently has 2,000 sites producing biogas, and that more than 1,000 additional biogas sites could be deployed with proper support. It concludes that biogas can boost the economy while providing renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
USDA, DOE, and the EPA will use existing programs to leverage $10M in research funding to enhance the economic viability and benefits of biogas for clean energy, transportation fuel, renewable chemicals and bio-based products. The USDA will lead efforts to improve collection and analysis of industry and financial data in order to track the performance of anaerobic digesters, evaluate funding and loan programs and financing opportunities for biogas systems.
And the USDA will establish a Biogas Opportunities Roadmap Working Group and will collaborate with industry to publish a progress report in August 2015.