By Kathleen M. Roberts The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) issued a $3,500,000 funding opportunity for projects that use animal waste to generate electricity while reducing the environmental impacts that animal wastes can have on Maryland’s natural resources. The Animal Waste to Energy Grant Program (AWE Grant Program) will target on-farm or pilot scale projects with capacities of less than 2 MW and community or regional scale projects with capacities of greater than 2...
October 13, 2017
PNNL, WSU Partnership Produce Byproducts From Biofuel
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. A collaboration between researchers at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Washington State University (WSU) has led to the development of a method for converting hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater into a usable and valuable commodity. The method utilizes the byproduct wastewater stream from the continuous thermo-chemical process that PNNL researchers developed to produce biocrude from algae. The...
October 13, 2017
FDA Announces Meeting, Calls For Comments On FDA/USDA Agricultural Biotechnology Education And Outre
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On October 12, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced two public meetings regarding its Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative. The meetings will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on November 7, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (EST) and in San Francisco, California, on November 14, 2017, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (PST). FDA states the purpose of the public meetings is “to provide the public with...
October 13, 2017
Spero Energy Receives SBIR Grant For Biobased Chelates
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. USDA awarded Spero Energy Inc. a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $100,000 to conduct research and development to increase the availability and competitiveness of biobased products within the agricultural market. Spero Energy is an Indiana-based company focused on the development of cost competitive processes for the conversion of biomass to renewable chemicals and fuels. The SBIR grant aims to support the development of a series of...
October 13, 2017
USDA Announces $21 Million In Funding For Biobased Products
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded six grants totaling nearly $21.1 million to support the development of new jet fuel, biobased products, and biomaterials from renewable sources. The funding is provided through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts (SBEBP) Challenge Area. Grant recipients include:...
On October 12, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice in the Federal Register announcing the cancellation of the fourth meeting of the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) requirements for inorganic byproducts (Reg Neg Committee) scheduled for October 25-26, 2017. 82 Fed. Reg. 47423. During their September 13-14, 2017, meeting, the members of the Reg Neg Committee concluded that further dialogue within the...
On October 12, 2017, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the release of 17 new, updated, corrected, or deleted Test Guidelines. The Test Guidelines include three specifically developed for nanomaterials. OECD states that Test Guideline 318: Dispersion Stability of Nanomaterials in Simulated Environmental Media provides a simple and effective tool that can analyze the dispersion stability of nanomaterials in aqueous media. It is one of the...
October 11, 2017
EC Proposes to Amend REACH Annexes to Address Nanomaterials
On October 9, 2017, the European Commission (EC) began a public consultation on a draft regulation that would amend Annexes I, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation to address nanoforms of substances. The draft regulation states that: Clarifications to requirements for the registration of substances with nanoforms and related downstream user obligations should be included in Annexes I,...
As reported in our August 30, 2017, blog item, the “Technology Development Pathways: Case Studies from the [National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI)]” workshop will be held November 1, 2017. According to NNI, the workshop will showcase application areas where nanotechnology has had commercial impact. Keynote presentations will highlight the pathways companies have taken to get from research to commercialization. Panel discussions will focus on specific...
October 10, 2017
FDA Releases Guidance Addressing FDA and EPA Jurisdiction over Mosquito-Related Products
On October 4, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of final guidance that helps to clarify FDA and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jurisdiction over the regulation of mosquito-related products intended to function as pesticides, including those produced through the use of biotechnology. The notice was published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2017. 82 Fed. Reg. 46500. Guidance for Industry #236,...