Archives

July 23, 2024

BETO’s Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium Intends to Issue Industrial Partnership Call in September 2024

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) intends to issue in September 2024 an Industrial Partnership Call (IPC) to allow collaboration between industry stakeholders and FCIC researchers. According to BETO, research areas may include biomass supply, handling, transport, storage, preprocessing, and initial chemical conversion. To maximize the likelihood of near-term impact for industrial partners, BETO...
October 2, 2020

USDA Announces Funding Through The Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, And Biobased Product Manufacturi

By Lynn L. Bergeson On September 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Business-Cooperative Service announced that it is soliciting applications for funds available under the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program (the Program) to provide guaranteed loans to fund the construction, development, and retrofitting of commercial-scale biorefineries and of biobased product manufacturing facilities. Biorefineries applying must use...
March 2, 2018

NREL Seeks Biorefinery Survey Respondents

By Kathleen M. Roberts Researchers at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are seeking responses to a survey on biorefinery operations.  Yimin Zhang, an environmental engineer at NREL, and Marshall Goldberg, a subcontractor for NREL, developed the brief survey to improve the NREL’s understanding of the next generation biofuel industry and its contribution to the local, state, and national economy.  Industry stakeholders in the planning, construction, or...
January 12, 2018

USDA Awards Nearly Three Million In Funding For Integrated Biorefinery Optimization

By Kathleen M. Roberts On January 4, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the University of Tennessee a $2,994,429 grant to improve biorefinery technologies through the Integrated Biorefinery Optimization (IBO) program.  The project aims to develop and commercialize solvent fractionated lignins to polymeric products for their potential market in building and construction sectors.  The overarching goal of the...
October 27, 2017

BIO Requests Reauthorization Of Biobased Assistance Program

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On October 19, 2017, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), an Associate member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), announced that it and its member companies sent a letter to the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture requesting the reauthorization of the Farm Bill’s Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Manufacturing Assistance Program (Section 9003).  According to the letter, “[s]everal...
September 29, 2017

DOE Announces $15 Million In Funding For Integrated Biorefinery Optimization

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On September 20, 2017, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced that DOE selected eight projects related to the optimization of integrated biorefineries (IBR) to negotiate for up to $15 million in DOE funding.  The projects aim to solve critical research and developmental challenges encountered for the successful scale-up and reliable operations of IBRs, to decrease capital and operating expenses, and to focus on the manufacture of advanced or cellulosic...
March 9, 2017

DOE Publishes Report On Biorefinery Optimization Workshop

On February 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the publication of the Biorefinery Optimization Workshop Summary Report.  The report provides an overview of the discussion on industry challenges and opportunities that took place during the October 2016 Biorefinery Optimization Workshop in Chicago, Illinois.  The workshop, which comprised a combination of presentations and breakout sessions, focused on feedstock and...
January 13, 2017

DOE Announces $22.7 Million Funding Opportunity For Integrated Biorefinery Optimization

On January 6, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and USDA announced a $22.7 million funding opportunity to support integrated biorefinery (IBR) optimization, with DOE providing up to $19.8 million and USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) providing up to $2.9 million .  To date, there are only a limited number of pioneer-scale commercial IBRs in the early stages of start-up and production, due to the technical and non-technical challenges associated with...
July 29, 2016

Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, And Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program Accepting App

On July 25, 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting applications for Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program (the Program) funding. The Program provides guaranteed loans for projects developing, constructing, or retrofitting commercial scale biorefineries and biobased product manufacturing facilities. The developments must use eligible technology, including new commercial scale processing and...
July 8, 2016

Australian Renewable Energy Agency Providing $2.4 Million To Support Biorefinery Development

On June 23, 2016, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced $2.4 million in funding to support the development and construction of a biocrude and biofuel laboratory in Queensland. The $5.3 million project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2019 and will be Australia's first biorefinery producing renewable diesel and jet fuel from plant material. Australian companies have produced biocrude in the past but there is currently no commercial scale process to...