News Media Contact(s): 

USDA: Jim Brownlee 202-720-4623 

DOE: Jennifer Scoggins 202-586-4940

For Immediate Release

October 7, 2008

USDA & DOE Release National Biofuels Action Plan

WASHINGTON – Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy 

(DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP), an 

interagency plan detailing the collaborative efforts of Federal agencies to accelerate the development of 

a sustainable biofuels industry. 

“Federal leadership can provide the vision for research, industry and citizens to understand how the 

nation will become less dependent on foreign oil and create strong rural economies,” Secretary Schafer 

said. “This National Biofuels Action Plan supports the drive for biofuels growth to supply energy that is 

clean and affordable, and always renewable.” 

The NBAP was developed in response to President Bush’s plans to change the way America fuels its 

transportation fleets in the 2007 State of the Union Address. The President’s “Twenty In Ten” goal calls 

for cutting U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years by investing in renewable 

and alternative fuel sources, increasing vehicle efficiency and developing alternative fuel vehicles. 

“The National Biofuels Action Plan is a strategic blueprint that shows us the way to meet the President’s 

goal of meaningful biofuels production by the year 2022,” Secretary Bodman said. “And to do it in costeffective, environmentally-responsible ways that utilize a science-based approach to ensure the next 

generation of biofuels that are made primarily from feedstocks outside the food supply that are produced 

sustainably.” 

The President’s ambitious alternative fuels production target was later followed by the Energy 

Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) and the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act (FCEA) of 

2008, which responded to the President’s “Twenty in Ten” challenge with mandatory funding of more 

than $1 billion for such energy activities as loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol projects as well as 

other renewable energy and energy-efficiency-related programs. 

The NBAP was developed and is being implemented by the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) 

Board. Co-chaired by USDA and DOE officials, the Board was created to coordinate the activities of 

federal agencies involved in biomass research and development. Its membership represents the 

combined expertise and resources of senior decision makers from nearly a dozen executive branch 

agencies and the Administration. 

To enhance the impact of federal biofuels investments and enable attainment of the Renewable Fuel 

Standard (RFS), the NBAP outlines interagency actions and accelerated federally supported research 

efforts in seven areas including: 

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z Sustainability 

z Feedstock Production 

z Feedstock Logistics 

z Conversion Science and Technology 

z Distribution Infrastructure 

z Blending 

z Environment, Health and Safety 

Interagency working groups have been chartered with near term deadlines to deliver such key results as: 

the development of science-based sustainability criteria and indicators, 10- year R&D forecasts for 

research to develop cost-effective methods of producing cellulosic biofuels from non-food based 

feedstock, to advance these next generation biofuels to commercialization, and recommendations on 

infrastructure issues. 

DOE has dedicated more than $1 billion to research, development, and demonstration of cellulosic 

biofuels technology through 2009. Additionally, since 2006, USDA has invested almost $600 million 

for the research, development and demonstration of new biofuels technology. For more information 

about the NBAP and other USDA and DOE efforts, visit the USDA's Energy webpage and the Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C.

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