Blogs

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 9, 2018, DOE announced up to $3 million in funding for advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products available through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI). This funding will go to two selected projects, with $1 million going to The University of Tennessee to develop an integrated biorefinery design that combines the production of liquid fuels and renewable chemicals, and $2 million funding a Northwestern University project to develop a...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 8, 2018, DOE’s BETO announced that it was sponsoring an Advanced Algal Systems Listening Session in Seattle, Washington on June 13, 2018, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is being held in conjunction with the 8th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels, and Bioproducts,   BETO states it is seeking feedback “from experts in algal biology, cultivation, and conversion on how to address early stage research and development barriers and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 3, 2018, DOE’s BETO announced four funding opportunities totaling up to $78 million to support early-stage bioenergy research and development. The Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) include: BioEnergy Engineering for Products Synthesis (up to $28 million); Efficient Carbon Utilization in Algal Systems (up to $15 million); Process Development for Advanced Biofuels and Biopower (up to $20 million); and Affordable and Sustainable Energy Crops (up to $15...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced a joint multi-topic funding opportunity for $12 million as part of the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative. This collaborative research and development effort supports the research of fuel and engine innovation that maximize vehicle performance and fuel efficiency, and is accelerating the introduction of...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 3, 2018, the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) announced that it had submitted a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to provide waivers from RFS requirements. Michael McAdams, President of ABFA, stated:  “We have seen reports that the number of small refinery exemptions recently granted for compliance years 2016 and 2017 have doubled compared to previous years. ABFA...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 8, 2018, President Trump met with a group of Republican Senators and told them that he is considering allowing exported ethanol to count toward the volumes mandated by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  During this meeting, Mr. Trump also reiterated support for expanding sales of E15, and withdrew his verbal proposal to cap the price of RINs, which had been widely criticized by the ethanol industry. These announcements came after...

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold the first in its series of free webinars for the nanotechnology entrepreneurship community on May 21, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. (EDT).  NNCO states that the webinar will feature stories from entrepreneurs that have transitioned their university-based nanotechnology research through commercialization.  Participants will share lessons learned, technological challenges faced, and how their university entrepreneurial ecosystem...

On May 2, 2018, during the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) meeting, EPA announced the progress of its electronic pesticide label data submission project, SmartLabel, and its electronic Confidential Statement of Formula (eCSF) submission project.  The SmartLabel and eCSF will be submitted through EPA’s Pesticide Submission Portal (PSP) on the Central Data Exchange (CDX). EPA is developing the SmartLabel program to improve...

On May 1, 2018, the Hawaii Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill that will ban the sale, offer of sale, or distribution in Hawaii of any sunscreen that contains oxybenzone or octinoxate, or both, without a prescription issued by a licensed healthcare provider to preserve marine ecosystems, beginning January 1, 2021:  S.B. No. 2571, Environment; Water Pollution; Sunscreen; Oxybenzone; Octinoxate; Sale; Distribution; Prohibition.  The bill received unanimous...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 26, 2018, the European Commission (EC) announced €22 million in funding though the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) for AgriChemWhey, a bio-economy research project aiming to convert dairy byproducts into reusable biobased products. AgriChemWhey was developed by Glanbia Ireland, University College Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin, with the objective of developing a bio-refinery that can convert low-value dairy byproducts, including excess...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 24, 2018, UPM Biofuels announced that its crude tall oil (CTO) feedstock for BioVerno renewable fuels had received the first ever RSB (Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials) low ILUC (indirect land use change) risk certification. This certificate confirms that the amount of CTO used to make BioVerno is sustainable and not diverted from other uses, resulting in little to no ILUC risk. Rolf Hogan, Executive Director of RSB, said of the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 1, 2018, a new biodiesel requirement went into effect in Minnesota, requiring all diesel fuel sold in the state to contain five percent biodiesel from October to March and 20 percent biodiesel from April to September. This is the last stage of the Biodiesel Content Mandate that has been steadily increasing the minimum content requirement of biodiesel in diesel sold in Minnesota since September 29, 2005, when a two percent...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On May 1, 2018, DOE Secretary Rick Perry announced that up to $68.5 million in funding will be available for early-stage research of advanced vehicle technologies through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).  The announcement states that the available funding “will enable more affordable mobility, strengthen domestic energy security, and enhance U.S. economic growth.”  Projects selected through this Vehicle...

By Lynn L. Bergeson The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced that the International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) will present a webinar titled “Biofuels for the Marine Sector: New Opportunities and New Challenges” on May 8, 2018, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (EDT) that will “give an overview of the maritime transportation sector, including its fuel and engine types, the fuel supply...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 30, 2018, 18 pro-ethanol Senators sent a bi-partisan letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt requesting a “transparent timeline … on the regulatory pathway forward to address the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) issue,” “an expected timeline of the rulemaking process to clarify how the agency will make this change to allow higher ethanol blends access to the marketplace” and “immediate clarity...

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA®) announced the availability of a nanomaterial product stewardship fact sheet sponsored by the AIHA® Nanotechnology Working Group.  The fact sheet, “Nanomaterial Product Stewardship:  National Security Implications of Export-import Activities,” authored by C.R. Knezevich, CIH, provides a thorough and helpful overview of export-import regulations affecting nanomaterials, reviews U.S. export regimes, and includes recommended...

On May 2, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Federal Register notice announcing publication of its Final 2016 Effluent Guidelines Program Plan.  The Plan describes EPA’s Clean Water Act rulemakings and other actions intended to control industrial wastewater pollution.  According to the Plan, EPA continued several ongoing investigations, including one on the manufacture and processing of engineered nanomaterials as a potential new source of...

As reported in our February 16, 2018, blog item, the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center (JRC) has opened a call to access its Nanobiotechnology Laboratory.  The Nanobiotechnology Laboratory features state-of-the-art equipped facilities designed to foster interdisciplinary studies.  Offering access to the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory is part of JRC’s strategy to enhance dissemination of scientific knowledge; boost competiveness; bridge the gap between...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT or the Office) has decided to delay its pending reorganization to take and consider staff comments on the revised reorganization.  The new plan proposes a six division structure that has separate new and existing chemical risk management divisions complemented by separate new and existing chemical risk assessment divisions.  OPPT’s other functions are proposed to be...

On April 23, 2018, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced it is proposing to amend Article 6 of Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations (C.C.R.), Section 25603, specifically the safe harbor warning content for on product warnings for exposures to listed chemicals in pesticides.  OEHHA states that this regulation is “intended to provide compliance assistance for businesses that cause pesticide exposures in order to reduce the potential...