Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced funding for projects in 22 states to help reduce energy consumption and cost, as well as for increasing the use of renewable technologies, including a handful of biofuels- and biomass-related projects.

The program is administered through the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program, a component of the 2008 farm bill. “REAP continues to help farmers and rural businesses reduce their energy consumption and by doing so, improve the bottom line of their operations,” said Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O' Brien. “This important Farm Bill program and others like it would not be available without a comprehensive Food, Farm and Jobs Bill.”

A nine-page document listing each project included some to install higher blend ethanol pumps as well as some biodiesel projects. They are:

- $49,680 to install a flexible fuel pump in California,

- $31,612 to install E85 and biodiesel blender dispensers in Iowa,

- $59,154.39 to purchase equipment to efficiently manufacture biodiesel in Indiana,

- $17,288 to upgrade equipment to produce biodiesel in Rhode Island and

- $49,975 to install two biodiesel blending and pumping stations in Georgia.

There were also a few biomass projects and two anaerobic digester projects. They are:

- $36,693 to install a biomass burner in Indiana,

- $93,000 to install two separate biomass boilers in New York,

- $2,375 to install a biomass evaporator for maple syrup production in New York,

- $494,520 to install an anaerobic digester in New York and

- $108,654 to add a generator to increase energy output from anaerobic digester in Vermont.

The REAP program provides a grant for up to 25 percent of eligible project cost plus additional funding in the form of a loan guarantee. Since President Obama was elected the program has helped fund nearly 8,000 U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.