The House and Senate made a deal on the government spending bill that provides a $ 39 billion cap over two years on loan guarantees for energy projects. Of that, $10 billion will be for cellulosic biorefineries and other renewable projects. The Senate wanted no cap on guarantees while the House favored a cap of about seven billion, which Senate Energy Committee spokesperson Matt Lattourneau says was not really sufficient for issuing guarantees to a diverse number of programs.
In addition to working on the bill for the next year's fundin of the government, the House is expected to take up the Senate-passed energy bill this week. The bill includes a 36-billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022.
"It's clear that more refineries will be needed, particularly in the area of cellulosic," says Lattourneau. "Because it is a new technology it is important that we provide some assistance to get these technologies off the ground."
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