Young companies are likely to benefit from the $1.3 billion earmarked for cellulosic fuel projects in the US stimulus package. The bill, passed in February, gives the US Department of Energy (DOE) up to $500 million to spend on loan guarantees for experimental biofuel facilities and $800 million for research projects spanning “the whole range of biomass development,” says Christina Kielich, a DOE spokesperson. The agency says it will put scientists to work finding new ways to break down cellulosic feedstocks—like switchgrass and woodchips—into chemical compounds, convert the compounds into fuels and address feedstock sustainability. The funding may help more startups get off the ground but isn't nearly enough to transform the fuel industry, say biofuel experts. “The government will need to come up with an energy bill that funds innovation more comprehensively,” says David Aldous, CEO of Range Fuels, a cellulosic biofuel company in Broomfield, Colorado. Aldous points to Brazil's ethanol program in the 1970s, which financed the development of ethanol-only cars, guaranteed ethanol purchases and loans, fixed prices and mandated ethanol blending with gasoline. “It's that kind of commitment that transforms a country,” he says. Indeed, US regulators may soon increase the blend rate for ethanol in gasoline to 13% from 10%, according to the Governors' Biofuels Coalition.