The European Commission (EC) announced on November 26, 2025, that it adopted a new Strategic Framework for a Competitive and Sustainable EU Bioeconomy, “charting a way forward to build a clean, competitive and resilient European economy.” According to the EC, by using renewable biological resources and providing alternatives to critical raw materials, the European Union (EU) “will move forward towards a more circular and decarbonised economy and can decrease dependence on fossil...
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November 3, 2025
UNEP Report Provides Roadmap to Advance Biobased Technologies
On October 22, 2025, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced the availability of a report entitled The Climate Technology Progress Report 2025: Advancing Biobased Technologies in the Bioeconomy, which finds that biobased technologies, such as the conversion of food waste into fuel, could reduce reliance on fossil fuels, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and helping countries combat climate change. UNEP states that as technical innovation is making biobased technologies more...
August 4, 2025
Bipartisan Ag BIO Act Introduced in the Senate
On July 31, 2025, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation to enhance the ability of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program to support the development of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products. According to Klobuchar’s July 31, 2025, press release, the Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity (Ag BIO) Act will update the...
On May 7, 2025, Representatives Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) and Zach Nunn (R-IA) introduced the Agricultural Biorefinery Innovation and Opportunity Act (Ag BIO Act) (H.R. 3253), a bipartisan bill that would support the biofuel economy. According to Budzinski’s May 8, 2025, press release, the bill would update the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Section 9003 program to expand access to grants, streamline loan guarantees, and provide $100 million in mandatory funding over five years. The...
November 20, 2024
Biomanufacturing Interagency Working Group Identifies Actions to Increase U.S. Biomanufacturing Capacity
On November 15, 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report by the Biomanufacturing Interagency Working Group entitled “Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem.” The Working Group includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of State, the...
On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to restructure and update the regulations to focus on current environmental and sustainability matters and to implement a requirement for agencies to procure sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable. 89 Fed. Reg. 30212. The final rule adds several...
March 11, 2024
USDA Releases Reports on Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry and on Hemp Research and Innovation
On March 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture honored the second annual National Biobased Products Day, “a celebration to raise public awareness of biobased products, their benefits and their contributions to the U.S. economy and rural communities.” USDA states that as part of its activities to honor National Biobased Products Day, it released two reports: Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry USDA states that its commissioned report “An Economic Impact...
The Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS), an agency of the Rural Development mission area within U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), issued a proposed rule on January 24, 2024, that would adopt changes from the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). 89 Fed. Reg. 4770. The changes include merging the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement (7 C.F.R. Part 3201) and the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products (7 C.F.R. Part 3202) into one...
December 18, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “The EPA is undermining the TSCA’s potential to reduce plastic waste,” Financier Worldwide, January 2024.
No discussion of energy issues would be complete without some mention of the utility of used plastic as a feedstock in the production of fuels, energy and building block chemicals. In spring 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution (Strategy) to identify voluntary actions to prevent plastic waste. Plastics recycling, including both mechanical and ‘advanced’, is core to achieving improved post-use plastics materials...
December 1, 2023
NREL AI Tool Predicts How to Achieve Polymer Properties with Biomass
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on November 27, 2023, that a machine learning tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), with support from BETO, makes it easier for material scientists to “mak[e] polymers more sustainable and higher performing -- especially with the reliance on petrochemicals for making plastics.” According to BETO, using artificial intelligence (AI), PolyID: Polymer Inverse Design™ “can...