Cellulosic biofuels can be derived from a diverse number of feedstocks including switchgrass, woodchips, and agricultural residues.

All of these materials contain the sugars needed to produce ethanol by fermentation, but they are more difficult to process than sugar cane, corn and milo, which are in wide use today. The key advantage of cellulosic ethanol is that it will be made from sustainable, renewable resources not currently consumed for food.

According to DOE's press release, the selected grant winners represented, "the best projects to stimulate the design and demonstration of a comprehensive system to handle the harvesting, collection, preprocessing, transport, and storage of sufficient volumes of sustainably produced feedstock."

"We are excited to be selected and we believe this is a great opportunity for energy and agriculture to be teamed in a way that helps America," said Fred Circle, president of FDC. He continued, "We have a great team with unique expertise and we are looking to leverage this grant into a large-scale commercial effort that serves this emerging industry."

FDC Enterprises is joined by the ANTARES Group, a renewable energy consulting and project management company, headquartered in Landover, Maryland.

"If cellulosic ethanol is to become a meaningful player in the fuels market, we must demonstrate the ability to sustainably grow and harvest dedicated crops for energy," added Kevin Comer, associate principal at ANTARES. He continued, "Our approach is to combine the best of agriculture and energy in a way that doesn't adversely impact food production or land use and still provides a win-win for biofuels producers, farmers, and landowners."

In making the announcement, Secretary Chu of DOE agreed. "These projects will allow us to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, support the growth of the biofuels industry and create jobs here at home," he stated.

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