U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced 25-million dollars of funding Friday for research and development of next-generation renewable energy and high-value biobased products from a variety of biomass sources. The projects announced are funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Grant recipients – including Kansas State University, Ohio State University , Ceramatec Incorporated and USDA Agricultural Research Service – must contribute a minimum of 20-percent matching funds for research and development projects and 50-percent matching funds for demonstration projects.