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...
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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 the...