All Knowledge & Insights By Date

By Kathleen M. Roberts On December 11, 2017, the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) announced its intent to issue a Directed Funding Opportunity (DFO) aimed at accelerating innovation and adoption of new practices and technologies to determine the root cause of biomass handling failures and designing solutions.  FCIC is a collaborative network of eight DOE national laboratories dedicated to understanding and addressing technical risks in developing and scaling up biomass...

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “Major Countries Agree To Develop Sustainable Biofuels Targets And Scale Up Low Carbon Bioeconomy” European Commission, “Technology Key To Ensuring Sustainable Bioenergy And Biofuel Production” Science, “The Promise Of Plastics From Plants” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “To Find New Biofuel Enzymes, It Can Take A Microbial Village” Kansas State University, “Kansas State...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On October 17, 2017, the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the recipients of 17 grants totaling $7.3 million for projects focused on the development of next generation agricultural technologies and systems to meet the growing demand for food, fuel, and fiber.  Funding is provided by NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), as authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.  Recipients include: Auburn University,...

Senator Rounds, “Rounds Asks EPA Administrator for Continued Support of Renewable Fuel Standard” DOE Joint Genome Institute, “2018 DOE JGI Community Science Program Allocations Announced” Brookhaven National Laboratory, “With Extra Sugar, Leaves Get Fat Too -- Scientists Tip Balance of Plant Metabolism to Increase Oil Content in Leaves with Aim of Making Biofuels and Related Useful Chemicals” Cornell Chronicle, “Bioreactors on a Chip Renew Promises for...

Senator Grassley, “Grassley, Senators to Lighthizer:  Engage Brazil on Unfair Ethanol Tariff” National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Enzyme’s Worth to Biofuels Shown in Latest NREL Research” Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, “Solar-to-Fuel System Recycles CO2 to Make Ethanol and Ethylene” Advanced Biofuels USA, “Energy Beet Feasibility Study Finds Navy Best Potential Near-Term Customer for Alcohol-to-Jetfuel Product” Michigan State...

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...

AgWeek, “EPA: Thumbs-Up to 'Energy Beet' Idea” Rueters, “China Set for Ethanol Binge as Beijing Pumps Up Renewable Fuel Drive” Bio-On, “Glasses Go ‘Bio’. Partnership Between Bio-On and Kering Eyewear” University of Illinois, “Airline Industry Could Fly Thousands of Miles on Biofuel from a New Promising Feedstock” University of Delaware, “A Sweeter Way to Make Green Products”

By Kathleen M. Roberts Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have linked changes in rainfall and other environmental stressors during crop growth to potential deleterious effects on biofuel production.  The study demonstrates that the effect of weather conditions on crop yields can significantly impact the downstream processing of those crops for biofuel production.  Researchers compared the production of biofuel from switchgrass harvested after a major drought to...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. In a paper forthcoming in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Iowa State researchers demonstrate that their tractable multi-market equilibrium model designed to evaluate alternative biofuel policies confirms that the current RFS program benefits the agriculture sector, and leads to overall welfare gains for the U.S.  The model considers biodiesel and ethanol markets and is simulated to analyze alternative scenarios, including the repeal of all RFS...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On July 26, 2017, the European Commission announced the launch of the Bioeconomy Knowledge Centre, which was created by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) to better support policy makers with science-based evidence in the bioeconomy field.  Rather than generate information, the objective is to build on JRC’s expertise in knowledge management.  The online platform will collect, structure, and...