WSU applying for federal biomass grant

Washington State University is hoping to establish a regional biomass research center for aviation fuels, which could net up to $45 million in federal funding over five years.

In the next few months, the university is expecting to hear back on a pair of applications it submitted last year to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. WSU’s proposals would establish research centers focused on studying either tree- or plant-based aviation fuels, two materials that are most abundant in the region.

Although plants and trees can be converted into aviation fuel, the challenge is to produce such materials so that they yield more of the fuel-based ingredients. By increasing yields, WSU hopes to make the production and sale of biomass materials economically feasible for private landholders and other producers.

The issue of fuels is particularly important for the aviation industry, especially as unrest in the Middle East drives up the cost of oil. Airplanes are too energy intensive to run on electricity, and as a result will always be dependent on carbon-based fuels.

Read more in the Puget Sound Business Journal.