• Improve economic vitality of Washington farmers and rural communities through added income and reduced cost of production.
• Protect human health and the environment through reduced energy-related inputs and emissions.

Activities

• Participate in the Washington State Bioenergy Team, which is dedicated to interagency coordination and successful implementation of the state's bioenergy initiatives. The Bioenergy Team is led by the Department of Commerce.
• Administer four Energy Freedom Program agreements, which provided $10 million in low-interest loans supporting bioenergy projects in Washington State.
• Partner with agricultural and energy extension agencies to identify tools and connect farms with sources of funding to increase energy efficiency in all aspects of their operations.
• Coordinate with WSU on state-funded, agricultural bioenergy research. Current projects includes: fundamental agronomic research on oilseed and cellulosic crops, near-term anaerobic digester research, and oilseed co-product development.
• Partner with WSU Extension to develop biofuels crop outreach/education program. This program seeks to transfer the early results of WSU biofuels crop research to Washington farmers.

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