The Department of Energy announced more than $600 million in stimulus grants Friday for biofuel refineries and other projects. (Here’s the list, in a PDF) To my surprise, Lebanon NH-based Mascoma Corp., which has been working for years on ways to get fuel out of cellulosic biomass and is part of a commercial project in Michigan, wasn’t among them.

One thing the list of grants shows: Biofuel is a capital-intensive effort. There are a couple $2.5 million grant to complete “preliminary engineering studies” on novel approaches, but otherwise the grants range from $18 million to $50 million. Building even a demonstration refinery is not cheap.

Tags: cellulosic ethanol