Energy.gov

The 2016 Billion-Ton Report (BT16), Volume 2: Environmental Sustainability Effects of Select Scenarios from Volume 1, jointly released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is a pioneering effort to analyze a range of potential environmental effects associated with illustrative near-term and long-term biomass-production scenarios from the 2016 Billion-Ton Report, Volume 1.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), is announcing its intent to issue a Request for Applications (RFA) through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI).

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has developed technology that synergistically uses two waste biomass streams to generate two bioproducts. The technology enhances the process of anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge by incorporating biomass-derived, carbon-sequestering char within the digester, thus creating pipeline-quality renewable natural gas while using the remaining biosolids for a high-quality fertilizer. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) totaling $1.5 million over three years, researchers at ANL have been able to develop and de-risk this technology, which is now ready for scale-up.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the publication of a report, titled Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities. The report is the first comprehensive assessment of the resource potential and technology opportunities provided by feedstocks, including wastewater treatment-derived sludge and biosolids, animal manure, food waste, inedible fats and greases, biogas, and carbon dioxide streams.

The Energy Department (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) jointly announced $22.7 million today to support the optimization of integrated biorefineries (IBR).

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) released its new strategic plan, titled Strategic Plan for a Thriving and Sustainable Bioeconomy. The strategic plan lays out BETO’s mission to accomplish its vision in a dynamic setting that realizes changes in the energy landscape, advances in technology, growing environmental awareness, and public expectations.

Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced up to $7 million for eight universities to accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable high-performance fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission engines. Under the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Vehicle Technologies Office are collaborating to maximize energy savings and on-road vehicle performance, while dramatically reducing transportation-related petroleum consumption and harmful emissions.

Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced the selection of six projects for up to $12.9 million in federal funding, entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower.” These projects, required to share the cost at a minimum of 50%, will develop and execute plans for the manufacturing of advanced or cellulosic biofuels, bioproducts, refinery-compatible intermediates, and/or biopower in a domestic pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery.

The Regional Feedstock Partnership (the Partnership)—a multi-institutional collaboration of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, representatives from land-grant universities, and industry—was first established to address issues associated with the development of a sustainable and projectable supply of feedstocks in the United States. Through its work during the past seven years, the Partnership has provided critical data to assist in validating the projections of the nation’s ability to produce at least 1 billion tons of cellulosic feedstocks annually by the year 2030. The Partnership has published a report to summarize its accomplishments from 2008–2014. DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) partnered with the Sun Grant Initiative and Idaho National Laboratory to co-author this report.

On December 15, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office announced a funding opportunity of up to $8 million, subject to appropriations, for innovative technologies and approaches to help advance bioenergy and bioproducts from algae.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled, “Integrated Biorefinery Optimization.”

The U.S. Department of Energy‘s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), intends to issue a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for up to $8 million, subject to appropriations. The FOA, entitled Productivity Enhanced Algae and Tool-Kits (PEAK), will support innovative technologies and approaches to help advance bioenergy and bioproducts from algae.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announces the establishment of the Bioenergy Separations Consortium (BioESep)—a consortium of eight DOE national laboratories leading coordinated research to move cost-effective, high-performing separations technologies to market. Separations processes can involve physical processes, like separating solids from liquids, or chemical processes, like purifying mixtures of molecules. To convert biomass to biofuels, many challenging separations are required, such as removing water from algae or taking contaminants out of sugar streams, before microbes or catalysts can further process them to fuels or products.

Sewage sludge can be converted into biofuel, but it has long been considered a poor source for fuel because it is too wet. This may change with a new Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) hydrothermal liquefaction process funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).

With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) evaluated the performance of several key materials used in biofuel production, processing, storage, and transportation systems. Rubber components and sealants are often exposed to chemically complex biofuel intermediates, which can cause materials to swell and affect the overall performance and service life of the product. Selection of materials that resist these effects is, therefore, a critical element for ensuring the long-term economic viability of biomass processing systems.

A new analysis from Argonne National Laboratory, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), shows the potential of an algae fractionation process to produce renewable diesel fuel with 63%–68% lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than conventional diesel.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) recognizes the foundational accomplishments of retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel William C. Holmberg, the founding director of DOE bioenergy efforts and a titan of the bioenergy industry. Mr. Holmberg, known to his friends as Bill, passed away in September at the age of 88.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), together with leading petroleum refining technologies supplier W.R. Grace, and leading pilot plant designer Zeton Inc., built a unique pilot-scale facility that can produce biomass-derived fuel intermediates with existing petroleum refinery infrastructure. This pilot plant, constructed in part with funding from the Bioenergy Technologies Office, combines biomass pyrolysis together with fluid catalytic cracking—one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries—to demonstrate the potential to co-process biomass-derived streams with petroleum, at an industrially-relevant pilot scale.

Industrial biotechnology company Lygos, Inc. won the “Bio-Based Chemical Innovation of the Year” award at the inaugural Bio-Based Live conference in San Francisco, California, for its biobased method to produce malonic acid, a versatile chemical used to make products ranging from flavorings in food to ultraviolet radiation-resistant coatings. Lygos uses microbes to produce the malonic acid from sugars that can be derived from non-food, cellulosic biomass. The process is also much cleaner and safer than conventional petroleum-based methods.

On October 1, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) established the Agile BioFoundry (ABF)—a new consortium of nine Energy Department national laboratories working to standardize and streamline the entire biomanufacturing pipeline by uniting computer-assisted biological pathway design, process integration, process scale-up, and machine learning.

This past June, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in partnership with Particulate Solids Research, Inc. and Springs Fabrication, installed a recirculating regenerating riser reactor (R-Cubed) in their pilot-scale Thermochemical Process Development Unit. The R-Cubed system will now allow for catalytic upgrading of biomass pyrolysis vapors—a process that can significantly improve the efficiency and reduce the costs associated with upgrading bio-oil to a finished fuel product—at an industrially-relevant pilot scale.

The Biorefinery Optimization Workshop, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), is being held on October 5–6, 2016, in Chicago, Illinois. The workshop will advance the understanding of the current capabilities, barriers, and opportunities for integrated biorefineries working to produce biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts.

LanzaTech recently announced a significant milestone—producing 1,500 gallons of renewable jet fuel from industrial waste gases. LanzaTech uses a jet fuel intermediate, called “Lanzanol,” which is then converted into a renewable jet fuel using technology developed in partnership with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). Virgin Atlantic’s planes will use this final jet fuel product, which is compatible with existing aviation infrastructure.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting a 2-day workshop gathering lead experts in the field of aviation biofuels on September 14–15, 2016. The Alternative Aviation Fuel Workshop, which is being held in Macon, Georgia, will advance the understanding of current opportunities to increase the competitiveness of alternative jet fuels.

Carbon recycling company LanzaTech is ranked #13 on CNBC’s fourth annual Disruptor 50 list, which recognizes forward-thinking start-up companies whose innovations are revolutionizing the business landscape. LanzaTech produces fuels and chemicals from industrial waste gases—capturing the gases before they are emitted into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases and other pollutants.