On April 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced the MACRO: Mixed Algae Conversion Research Opportunity funding opportunity announcement (FOA). According to BETO, the FOA will award up to $18.8 million to address research and development (R&D) challenges in converting algae, such as seaweeds and other wet waste feedstocks, to biofuels and bioproducts that can decarbonize domestic...
Archives
September 22, 2023
DOE Announces $18.6 Million to Support Production of Low-Carbon Biofuels and Bioproducts
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on September 12, 2023, that it awarded $18.6 million in funding for eight university and industry projects to develop biomass feedstocks to produce affordable biofuels and bioproducts that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to BETO, the projects “will create good-paying jobs, support rural economies, and encourage participation of underserved communities, all while putting the United States on a...
March 9, 2023
USDA Celebrates Inaugural National Biobased Products Day, Announces 2022 Award Winners for BioPrefer
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton On March 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the kickoff of the inaugural National Biobased Products Day and highlighted the accomplishments of people and organizations working to improve sustainability within the federal government. USDA notes that its ongoing work includes the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative programs, which fund research that advances...
January 24, 2023
BETO Announces that Scientists from Multiple National Labs Are Finding New Ways to Convert Carbon Di
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on January 20, 2023, that a collaborative team of BETO-funded scientists from Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are searching for carbon utilization technologies that can make better use of the carbon dioxide generated by industry, transportation, and agriculture by transforming it into sustainable aviation fuel and...
January 10, 2023
BETO Announces New Notice of Intent for Improving Bioenergy Feedstocks and Optimizing Production of
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on December 15, 2022, that it intends to issue two funding opportunity announcements (FOA) in early 2023. According to BETO, these potential FOAs, “Reducing Agricultural Carbon Intensity and Protecting Algal Crops” (RACIPAC) and the “2023 Conversion R&D,” will enable the sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources to produce...
September 19, 2022
BETO Announces Webinar for Stakeholders to Learn to Accelerate the Biomanufacturing Process
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the Agile BioFoundry (ABF) will hold a webinar on September 22, 2022, highlighting technologies used by the ABF to accelerate biomanufacturing. According to BETO, the ABF consortium collaborates with industry and academia to develop technologies that enable commercially relevant biomanufacturing of sustainable bioproducts. During the webinar, attendees will hear from ABF...
July 13, 2022
USDA Announces NIFA Bioproduct Pilot Program
By Lynn L. Bergeson The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced recently a new program that directs USDA to partner with at least one qualified institution to support the scale-up of sustainable bioproduct manufacturing. Up to $5 million is available for each of the fiscal years (FY) 2022 and 2023. NIFA will work in collaboration with USDA Rural Development’s BioPreferred program to seek research proposals that explore...
June 3, 2022
DOE Issues “Scale-Up Of Integrated Biorefineries” FOA To Accelerate Biofuels And Bioproducts Product
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) titled “Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries.” The FOA states that $59 million is available to expand the production of biofuels and bioproducts. In alignment with a broader DOE strategy to support biorefinery projects for the transportation sector, the FOA aims to reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors and...
May 23, 2022
University Of Groningen And University Of Graz Scientists Create A Molecular Motor From Lignocellulo
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On April 9, 2022, researchers from the University of Groningen’s Stratingh Institute for Chemistry and the Department of Chemistry, Organic and Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of Graz, published a study in the journal Green Chemistry titled “A molecular motor from lignocellulose.” The study explores lignin’s use as the largest natural source of functionalized aromatics on the planet and its inherent...
April 12, 2022
DOE Announces $34.5 Million Funding Opportunity For Improved Bioenergy Recovery And Conversion
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On March 22, 2022, DOE announced a $34.5 million funding opportunity to improve the science and infrastructure for converting waste streams into bioproducts and biofuels that can benefit the local energy economy. DOE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Kelly Speakes-Backman, stated that “through this investment, we see an opportunity to support the bioeconomy and the...