RTI International won a $3.1 million contract from the Department of Energy to help develop a biomass fuel that could be used as a direct replacement for petroleum.

The Research Triangle Park think tank will work on the project with Archer Daniels Midland, ConocoPhillips and Albemarle.

"This project will help address our nation's energy challenges by developing a one-step process to convert biomass materials into usablefuels," said David Dayton, director of Biofuels Research at RTI International, in a prepared statement.

RTI's project is one of 37 that received funding to study alternative energy sources under the Department of Energy's recently formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. ARPA-E is receiving $400 million in federal stimulus money.

Staff writer Alan M. Wolf