Rural Partners Network Launched: Empowering Rural Communities to Access Federal Resources
The Rural Partners Network was launched by the White House to improve partnerships between rural communities and federal agencies. Photo courtesy of iStock
The Rural Partners Network is a new collaboration to strengthen the link between federal agencies and rural communities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is proud to join this effort to help create jobs, build infrastructure, and ensure that federal resources benefit rural America. DOE joins 12 other federal agencies to support this White House initiative.
Bioenergy Supports Rural Community-Centered Solutions Through Funding Opportunities
DOE BETO partners with communities to develop cost-effective bioenergy solutions. BETO’s Community Scale Resource and Energy Recovery from Organic Waste Program will offer multiple funding awards totaling up to $5M to support development of community-centered solutions, business plans, and experimental demonstrations for resource and energy recovery from organic waste streams, such as:
- Food waste
- Municipal wastewater sludges
- Animal manure
- Fats, oils, and greases.
To ensure community involvement extends beyond the life of the projects, only community led, or associated organizations are eligible to be prime recipients on the projects selected. Concept papers were due in April and applications are due June 7, 2022. The opportunity can be found on EERE Exchange.
Technical Assistance for Rural Communities
BETO also supports technical assistance programs aimed toward rural and remote communities. The first program, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, helps communities assess their options for resource and energy recovery from waste streams in their community.
A separate program, focused on sustainable landscape design, is coordinated by Argonne National Laboratory for potential rollout in future years. This program is targeted towards landowners who could use tools to help assess potential economic and environmental benefits of bioenergy feedstocks on their land.
Access the White House Rural Partner Network factsheet to learn more.
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