Oregon State University announced Sept. 28 it has been awarded two grants totaling $9.8 million.

The larger grant, $5.4 million, is for two five-year projects to create aviation fuels from tree plantations and low-value wood products.

The smaller grant, $4.4 million, will be used to establish an education component of the program at the high school and college level.

"The primary goal ... is to find new ways to produce aviation fuel and high-value chemicals using a sustainable supply of biomass," said John Sessions, a professor of forestry at OSU. "We hope to create a fuel that's an exact substitute for existing aviation fuel."

The OSU work is part of a consortium that includes the University of Washington, Washington State University, other agencies and private industry. In all, $80 million is dedicated to the program, which includes research, education and industrial collaboration.

The projects are funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative of the USDA.

--Mitch Lies