By Kathleen M. Roberts On May 24, 2017, DOE announced that 68 small businesses across 24 states will receive a total of $72 million in grants to support innovative R&D. The funding was provided by DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. The 68 small businesses received Phase II R&D awards after demonstrating technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants and competed for funding for...
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June 2, 2017
Trump Releases Proposed Budget For FY 2018
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On May 23, 2017, President Trump released the Administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2018, which includes significant cuts to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budgets. According to the proposed budget, funding for DOE would be cut by 5.6 percent to $28 billion, with $636 million allotted for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On May 18, 2017, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the abstract submission deadline for its tenth annual Bioeconomy 2017: Domestic Resources for a Vibrant Future conference has been extended. Abstracts for the Bioeconomy 2017 Interactive Poster Session and Open Technical Session will be accepted until May 26, 2017. All posters are required to feature an interactive element, such as voting or polling, social media, games and challenges,...
By Kathleen M. Roberts On May 1, 2017, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding its intent to extend its use of the EERE Environmental Questionnaire, with changes, for three years. The questionnaire allows EERE to collect project-specific information from federal financial assistance awardees to evaluate the potential environmental impact of projects that it is considering for funding, pursuant to the...
May 12, 2017
DOE Hosts Tenth Annual Bioeconomy Conference
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting its tenth annual Bioeconomy 2017: Domestic Resources for a Vibrant Future conference on July 11-12, 2017, in Arlington, Virginia. As in years past, the conference will bring together government agency officials, members of Congress, industry leaders, national laboratory scientists, and academic researchers focused on moving the American bioeconomy forward. ...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting a Workshop on Moving Beyond Drop-In Replacements: Performance Advantaged Bio-Based Chemicals on June 1, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the workshop is to solicit stakeholder feedback on what research and development is necessary for writing a functional replacements and novel biobased compounds strategic plan. The discussion, which will be...
April 28, 2017
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
DOE, “BETO Launches Interactive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Projects Map” Renewable Fuels Association, “U.S. Gasoline Contained More than 10% Ethanol in 2016, Shattering the ‘Blend Wall’ Myth Once and For All” American Chemical Society, “Degradable Electronic Components Created from Corn Starch” Kobe University, “Making Oil from Algae – Towards More Efficient Biofuels” Ford Motor Company, “What's Super...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 19, 2017, DOE announced an open teleconference of the State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB) in the Federal Register. STEAB advises DOE and EERE on the operation of its energy efficiency programs, renewable energy programs, and grant programs for research and deployment in energy efficiency and renewable energy fields. The tentative agenda includes: STEAB Task Force updates and objectives for fiscal year (FY)...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 21, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the 38 small businesses that will collaborate with researchers from eight national laboratories under the Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot, which aims to foster a strong partnership between the labs and clean tech small businesses. The 38 businesses represent the third round of SBV, which brings the total number of partnerships under the program to 114. SBV provides small businesses...
By Kathleen M. Roberts The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting an Algae Cultivation for Carbon Capture and Utilization Workshop on May 23-24, 2017, in Orlando, Florida. The event will feature facilitated discussions focused on gathering stakeholder input on innovative technologies and business strategies for growing algae on waste carbon dioxide (CO2) resources. Stakeholders will be encouraged to consider challenges and...
April 7, 2017
DOE Publishes Report On Alternative Aviation Fuels
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 28, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the publication of the report on the current state of alternative aviation fuels that was developed using findings from peer-reviewed studies, scientific working groups, and BETO stakeholder input from the Alternative Aviation Fuel Workshop in September 2016. The four key topic areas include: ? Economic and technical competitiveness;...
March 24, 2017
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? Department of Energy, “New Process Being Tested for Biodegradable Plastics” ? VnExpress, “Vietnam Revives Biofuel Plan, Sets National Switch in 2018” ? University of Copenhagen, “Mustard Seeds Without Mustard Flavor: New Robust Oilseed Crop Can Resist Global Warming” ? Faraday Discussions, “Developing New Platform Chemicals: What is Required to a New Biobased Molecule to Become a Platform...
March 17, 2017
DOE Announced Biomass Technical Advisory Meeting
On March 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding an open meeting of the Biomass Research and Development (R&D) Technical Advisory Committee. The meeting will take place March 30-31, 2017, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia, and will focus on developing advice and guidance that promotes R&D for the production of biobased fuels and...
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...
On February 22, 2017, the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy announced seven recipients of $5.9 million in funding to develop novel ways to use carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from coal-fired power plants. The projects will focus on converting captured CO2 to useable products. Recipients of the funding include: ? The University of Kentucky Research Foundation will receive nearly $1 million to convert CO2 to bioplastics using microalgae. In addition to developing a...
March 3, 2017
DOE Launches Consortium To Tackle Catalysis Challenges
On February 21, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the launch of its Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium (ChemCatBio), a research and development consortium focused on overcoming catalysis challenges for biomass conversion processes. The consortium, which consists of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and five other DOE national laboratories, aims to accelerate the...
January 27, 2017
DOE Releases U.S. Energy And Employment Report
On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2017 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), which aims to aid in providing a more complete definition and quantification of energy employment across the economy. The report presents direct employment data for jobs associated with traditional energy companies, with the production of renewable energy, and with energy efficiency, and an analysis of a supplemental survey sent to 30,000 energy sector employers. ...
January 20, 2017
DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office To Request Applications For Biomass Research And Development Initi
On January 13, 2017, the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), together with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), announced the intent to issue a request for applications (RFA) titled “Fiscal Year 17 Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI).” Projects funded through BRDI must address one of the foll owing topic areas: ? Feedstocks development : Research, development, and demonstration...
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...
January 6, 2017
Weekly Roundup of Other Biobased News
? Neste, “Neste the Winner in the Industry Leader Award Biofuels Category at the 2016 Global Energy Awards” ? DOE, “DOE Announces $15 Million to Accelerate the Deployment of Energy Efficient Transportation Technologies” ? DOE, “Envisioning the Economic and Environmental Outcomes of Tripling the U.S. Bioeconomy” ? Plastics Today, “Bioplastics Highlights: A Last Look Back at...