A Kapolei biorefinery and another pilot project by a Hawai'i company here and on the Mainland are among plants that will receive up to $594 million as the federal government speeds up plans to produce more renewable fuels.

The U.S. Department of Energy yesterday announced Hawai'i projects and firms will receive $48 million in funding to help build plants that convert woody biomass, ag residue and algae into diesel, jet fuel and gasoline.

The grants were hailed by U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, who issued a statement saying the initiatives are important in helping lower oil imports. The projects will create 600 jobs on O'ahu and the Big Island, they said.

"Hawai'i has the agricultural land and resources to produce an array of feed stocks for the production of biofuels that could replace imported oil," said Inouye, in a statement released to the media.

"Not only will this investment improve our renewable energy portfolio, but biomass feed stock cultivation, harvesting, processing and transport will create jobs and diversify Hawai'i's economy."

One of the grants is for $25 million to UOP LLC, a Honeywell company that will test biomass feed stocks at Tesoro's refinery in Kapolei. The federal grant is to be matched by $6.69 million of funding from other sources.

A second $23 million grant is being made to Hawai'i-based Clear Fuels Technology for a test project in Commerce City, Colo., that also will involve some work in Hawai'i. The funding is to be matched by $13.4 million of money from nonfederal sources.

The projects are among 19 biorefinery projects in 15 states. The government's $564 million share will come from stimulus funds and will be combined with $700 million in private investments.

The ideas range from scooping up algae from ponds in New Mexico and converting it to jet fuel to using wood waste from a wall panel company in Michigan to make ethanol.

In announcing the projects, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said President Obama wanted to speed up the timetable for creating renewable fuel projects and jobs.

Vilsack said he sees a time when these type of plants are found all over rural America. Most would be small operations unlike large oil refineries.

"It is really about bringing a sense of new prosperity to rural communities," Vilsack said. "This is going to make a big difference for America."

Most of the plants will use new technology and operate as demonstration or test factories. One goal is to show private investors that such projects are profitable.

The projects have the potential to create an entire new industry and thousands of jobs, especially in rural America where agriculture and forest waste is cheap and plentiful, said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who attended the same news conference in Toledo, where a plant will turn agriculture waste into diesel fuel.

"We tried to pick the most promising projects," Chu said.

Anything from poultry fat to tree branches and even grass clippings could be turned into fuel.

"Those are the ingredients," Chu said. "You're taking waste material and creating a high value fuel."

The 15 states involved are California, Colorado, Florida, Hawai'i, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.