USDA Rural Development Biorefinery Assistance Program

As the call for increased production of homegrown, renewable forms of fuels has grown, so has the need to develop and produce them. USDA Rural Development offers opportunities to producers to development such fuels through the Biorefinery Assistance Program. The program provides loan guarantees for the development, construction, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries.

The Biorefinery Assistance Program was established to assist in the development of new and emerging technologies for the development of advanced biofuels and aims to accomplish the following:

Increase the energy independence of the United States

Promote resource conservation, public health, and the environment

Diversify markets for agricultural and forestry products and agricultural waste materials

Create jobs and enhance economic development in rural America

Eligibility for the Biorefinery Assistance Program is broken into three parts; lenders, borrowers, and projects. All three areas must be met to be considered eligible for the program.

Who is an Eligible Lender?

Most lenders are eligible, including any Federal or State chartered bank, Farm Credit Bank, other Farm Credit System institution with direct lending authority, and a Bank for Cooperatives.

Who is an Eligible Borrower?

The borrower must be one of the following:

Individual

Entity

Indian tribe

Unit of State or local government

Corporation

Farm cooperative

Farmer cooperative organization

Association of agricultural producers

National Laboratory

Institution of higher education

Rural electric cooperative

Public power entity

Consortium of any of the above entities

What is an Eligible Project?

The project must be located in the United States, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands of the United States, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Republic of the Marshall Islands.  The project must meet the following criteria:

The project must be for the development and construction of commercial-scale biorefineries using eligible technology or retrofitting of existing facilities with eligible technology.

The project must use an eligible feedstock for the production of advanced biofuels and biobased products.  Examples of eligible feedstocks include, but are not limited to, renewable biomass, biosolids, treated sewage sludge, and byproducts of the pulp and paper industry.

The majority of the biorefinery production must be an advanced biofuel.  A project that creates an advanced biofuel that is converted to another form of energy for sale will still be considered an advanced biofuel.

The project must provide funds of not less than 20 percent of eligible project costs.

Refinancing, under certain circumstances, may be eligible.