Less than a month after the launch of a historic bio-fueled flight at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), the federal government has announced that it’s ready to make a multi-million dollar investment in the development of alternative fuels.

The flight took off from IAH on January 7 and involved a Continental Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 aircraft. But what made that take-off special is that it represented the first time in North America that algae had been used as a key component in fueling an aircraft.

“Airports and airlines share the same concern regarding the release of carbon emissions,” said Houston Airport System director Rick Vacar. “This is an enhancement that helps us both address that concern.”

Less than four weeks later, the federal government has announced that it will award $25 million to advance development of these types of technologies.

The money comes specifically from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Energy, where they are targeting the production of “next generation” biofuels that aren’t refined using food crops such as corn.

“A robust biofuels industry – focused on the next-generation of biofuels – is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing our addiction to foreign oil and putting Americans back to work,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement.

The fuel used to partially power the Continental flight would certainly fall into that “next-generation” category, since it was derived from a combination of algae and jatropha plants.

In the January test, the flight used a blend of 50 percent biofuel and 50 percent traditional jet fuel.

The fuel mix records approximately the same amount of carbon emissions, but since jatropha and algae both consume carbon during their lifecycles, the net result is a significant decrease in carbon emissions.

Now, the federal government has set a long-term goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least fifty percent as compared to fossil fuels, and the use of biofuels is definitely factoring heavily into that equation.