DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program (RFIP) approved 35 renewable energy projects across Iowa in a board meeting July 20, with grants totaling more than $1.6 million.
Of the approved projects, seven are for ethanol infrastructure, one is for a biodiesel terminal and 27 are for biodiesel infrastructure.
23 Iowa counties will be receiving at least one project. From east to west:
- Dubuque
- Jackson
- Muscatine
- Winneshiek
- Linn
- Johnson
- Washington
- Van Buren
- Black Hawk
- Benton
- Iowa
- Jasper
- Marion
- Story
- Polk
- Madison
- Calhoun
- Carroll
- Taylor
- Ida
- Crawford
- Woodbury
- Pottawattamie
A full list of projects, their locations and their costs is available here.
RFIP, managed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, encourages fuel retailers to produce more biofuels by incentivizing installation, replacement and conversion of ethanol, along with biodiesel dispensing and storage infrastructure. Biofuel is cheaper for consumers and is made from Iowa-grown products.
Mike Naig, Iowa secretary of agriculture, said giving Iowa consumers access to higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel will save them money.
“As more retailers upgrade their infrastructure, Iowa drivers will continually find more options to help them save money through the use of cleaner burning and more affordable homegrown biofuels," Naig wrote in a press release.
Since its inception in 2006, RFIP has approved more than $75 million in grants in collaboration with private industry grants of more than $225 million.
More grant applications will be considered by the RFIP board at its next quarterly meeting in October. Project applications can be submitted by mail to the address found here.
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