Blue Biofuels receives DOE grant to help scale, optimize its cellulose-to-sugar technology

Blue Biofuels Inc. announced July 11 it has received a U.S. DOE Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant.

The grant, valued at $206,500, will enable Blue Biofuels to advance its efforts to scale and optimize its patented cellulose-to-sugar (CTS) process.

This funding will support the company’s team of scientists and engineers as it continues to refine technology aimed at reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change by helping to create sustainable transportation and aviation fuel.

“We are honored to be awarded the DOE SBIR grant, which recognizes our commitment to developing clean and sustainable fuels,” said CEO Benjamin Slager.

“This grant not only validates our ongoing efforts but also provides us with the resources needed to accelerate our research and move closer to commercialization,” Slager added.

With this grant, Blue Biofuels aims to successfully complete its Phase I scaling objectives, paving the way for future opportunities to secure larger-scale grants.

The company said it is poised to leverage the findings and data generated from this project to pursue subsequent DOE SBIR Phase II and III grants, potentially worth millions of dollars.

Blue Biofuels’ CTS technology has a near-zero carbon footprint that can convert virtually any plant material—grasses, forestry products, and agricultural waste such as sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw—into sugars and lignin.

Sugars are subsequently processed into biofuels, such as ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel, and lignin may be further processed into a variety of products.

The CTS process is a patented and proprietary technology wholly owned by Blue Biofuels.