Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2025
The Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2025 would broaden and accelerate federal support for biorefineries, renewable chemicals, and biobased products. Building on the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, the bill expands the scope to include advanced biofuels (specifically ultra-low-carbon and zero-carbon bioethanol) and adds new grant and loan guarantee tools to develop, construct, or retrofit pilot or demonstration-scale biorefineries. It creates a competitive grant program (with a formal scoring system) and allows year-round loan guarantees, subject to funding, to help bring biorefinery projects to commercial viability. The bill also introduces targeted criteria for grant selection—emphasizing market potential, private cost-sharing, feedstock innovation, rural development impact, environmental and public health benefits, scalability, and domestic energy security—while establishing cost-sharing requirements (grants up to 60% of project costs, with non-federal cash or material matching up to 30% of the non-federal share). It authorizes funding at $100 million per year from fiscal years 2026 through 2030. Overall, the measure aims to accelerate commercialization of renewable fuels, chemicals, and biobased products, with a stronger federal role in innovation and rural economic development.
Key Points
- 1Expands eligibility and scope to develop advanced biofuels (including ultra-low- and zero-carbon ethanol), renewable chemicals, and biobased products, not just biorefinery financing.
- 2Establishes two grant/loan pathways: (1) year-round loan guarantees (subject to funding) and (2) competitive grants to develop, construct, or retrofit pilot or demonstration-scale biorefineries for commercial viability.
- 3Creates a competitive grant selection framework with a formal scoring system and feasibility determinations (sometimes waived for proven technologies) to prioritize projects with market potential, rural impact, replication, scalability, and environmental benefits.
- 4Sets cost-sharing rules for grants: grants may cover up to 60% of project costs, with the non-federal share payable in cash or material (the material portion not to exceed 30% of the non-federal share).
- 5Increases authorized funding for the program to $100 million for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2030, and updates the program’s statutory structure by adding a new grants section and renaming/reorganizing related subsections.