The IBET collaboration uses developments in separations, advanced bioreactor design, and process modeling and control. This new platform will help industry produce high-purity methane from mixed organic waste streams at large scales and support a circular economy.
Collaborations between Argonne and five North American universities -- Michigan, Northwestern, University of Toronto, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and Tecnologico de Monterrey -- will help participants better understand the current state of W2E in North America. Partnerships and cost sharing among the practitioners will amplify the impact of the proposed work.
IBET corporate partners include: inCTRL Solutions Corp., a biogas and wastewater treatment modeling and control company; the Great Lakes Water Authority, a major utility in Michigan and a potential end user for W2E technologies; and Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering firm whose wastewater innovations group has focused on carbon management and energy production, among other topics.
The IBET collaboration will increase knowledge sharing on bioenergy technologies and expand collaborative opportunities by providing Ph.D., masters and undergraduate students opportunities to deepen their research capabilities in technology development, participate in shared professional development and engage in cross-institutional bioenergy research and internship opportunities; broadening participation of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics within the bioenergy technology community while publicly disseminating research and educational information.
(Source: ANL, Website PR, 4 Oct., 2021)
Contact: Integrated Biochemical and Electrochemical Technologies (IBET) to Convert Organic Waste to Biopower, ANL, www.anl.gov
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Using data provided by Gevo, ANL's Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Technologies Model (GREET) is expected to yield results regarding carbon footprints of these fuels within a few months.
GREET's lifecycle analysis considers a host of different fuel production pathways including energy use, emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, water consumption related to the production processes, as well as the whole of the fuel pathway system from capturing carbon via photosynthesis to the final burning of the fuel.
The effort is being funded by the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), which is part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). (Source: ANL, GEVO, PR Sept., 2021)
Contact: Gevo, Dr. Chris Ryan, CEO, 303-858-8358, cryan@gevo.com, www.gevo.com; Argonne National Lab, 630-252-2000, www.anl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Argonne National Laborator, GEVO, Biofuel, SAFy ,
ACE wrote to Rep. Frank Pallone, (D-N.J.), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, "ACE encourages you to schedule a legislative hearing to hear from ethanol companies leading the way towards decarbonization and chart a path for policy that can help meet 2050 decarbonization goals. If appropriate, ACE or its member companies would be willing to testify at such a hearing," the letter noted.
Ethanol industry groups have expressed support for the bill because it would require a number of steps to be taken to expand the ethanol market as part of the overall climate strategy.The bill would require a lifecycle assessment of transportation fuels using the Greenhouse gas and Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. (Source: ACE, PR, DTN, 1 Sept/. (Source: ACE, PR, DTN, 1 Sept. 2021) Contact: American Coalition for Ethanol, Brian Jennings, CEO, www.ethanol.org
More Low-Carbon Energy News American Coalition for Ethanol, Ethanol,
The DOE's Argonne National Laboratory was awarded $4.15 million in federal funds, cost-shared by industry partners in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The awards are supported by the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF), which is managed by DOE Office of Technology Transitions.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by University of Chicago Argonne LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
(Source: Argonne National Laboratory, PR, 22 July, 2021)
Contact: U.S. DOE Office of Science, www.energy.gov/science; Argonne National Lab, 630-252-2000, www.anl.gov
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Each awardee will receive up to $250,000 in National Laboratory assistance for experimental or computational projects that leverage innovative capabilities in the areas of bioblendstock fuel property, production, and combustion performance research. The projects will also focus on the impacts of adoption of co-optimized fuel-engine combinations. Each of the awardees has committed to a 20 pct cost share contribution.
Sponsored by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy's (EERE) Vehicle Technologies and Bioenergy Technologies Offices, Co-Optima partners include ANL, LANL, PNNL, ORNL, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories, as well as more than 20 university and industry partners.
EERE is focused on decarbonizing the transportation sector, the single largest source of domestic greenhouse gas emissions.
Download Co-Optima Initiative details HERE. (Source: US DOE, PR, 10 May, 2021)
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When integrating the FT fuel production process with corn ethanol production, the WTW GHG emissions of FT fuels are 57--65 pct lower compared to petroleum counterparts.
The report modeled the FT fuel synthesis process using Aspen Plus, which showed that 45 pct of the carbon in CO2 can be fixed in the FT fuel, with a fuel production energy efficiency of 58 pct. (Source: ANL. PR, Mar., 2021)Contact: ANL, 630-252-2000, www.anl.gov
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Previous analysis published by U.S. EPA, California Air Resources Board and Argonne National Laboratory have quantified the benefits of using biodiesel in place of fossil fuel because of its significant reduction in GHG emissions. With a quantified reduction in CO2 emissions between 50 and 86 pct lower than petroleum, biodiesel and renewable diesel are experiencing increased use under federal and state policies.
Download the U.S. Biofuel Production and Policy Implications for Land Use Changes in Malaysia and Indonesia study HERE. (Source: Purdue University,National Biodiesel Foundation, Jan., 2020} Contact: National Biodiesel Foundation, 573-635-3893,
573-635-7913 - fax, www.biodieselfoundation.org
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The team used corn stover-derived molecules as the starting point for a range of potential fuel candidates. From here, the researchers relied on predictive models to determine which molecules would be best to blend with and improve traditional diesel. With the goal of developing drop-in biofuels that work with existing infrastructure. The intention is to blend the 4-butoxyheptane molecule into diesel fuel at a mixture of 20 - 30 pct Initial results suggest the potential to improve ignition quality, reduce sooting and improve fuel economy of the base diesel at these blend levels.
NREL is working with Yale University, Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as part of the US DOE Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative which is funded by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Bioenergy Technologies.
Performance-Advantaged Ether Diesel Bioblendstock Production by a Priori Design, the initiative's research paper was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Source: NREL,PR, Dec., 2019) Contact: NREL,
Derek Vardon, Senior Research Engineer, (303) 384-7763, Derek.Vardon@nrel.gov, www.nrel.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
GREET.Net provides an easy to use and fully graphical toolbox to perform life cycle analysis simulations of alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies. The tool includes the data of both fuel-cycle and vehicle-cycle of the GREET Excel models.
GREET Excel is the traditional multidimensional spreadsheet model that provides a comprehensive, life-cycle-based approach to compare the energy use and emissions of conventional and advanced vehicle technologies. It includes two sub-models named Fuel-Cycle Model (GREET 1, contains data on fuel cycles and vehicle operations) and Vehicle-Cycle Model GREET 2, evaluates the energy and emission effects associated with vehicle material recovery and production, vehicle component fabrication, vehicle assembly and vehicle disposal/recycling).
(Source: Argonne National Lab, Oct., 2019) Contact: ANL. GREET, greet@anl.gov, www.greet.es.anl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Argonne National Laboratory, Transportation Fuel,
The initiative is a DOE-wide effort comprising EERE, the Office of Fossil Energy (FE), the Office of Science, and the National Laboratories. The initiative helps to leverage the National Laboratories' high performance computing capabilities to address challenges in manufacturing and materials through state-of-the-art modeling, simulation, and data analysis. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) leads the HPC4EI program along with partner laboratories Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia National Laboratories, as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory. Funded projects include:
Within the High Performance Computing for Materials (HPC4Mtls) Program, EERE's Vehicle Technologies Office has selected two projects:
"During the past five years, ethanol has been the fastest-growing agricultural export. As more nations adopt policies for lower-emission vehicle fuels, domestically produced ethanol can provide an immediate solution for their goals. We assert that there is little justification for EPA to maintain such an outdated calculation that otherwise could be easily corrected with existing, available analysis -- and straightforwardly address an unnecessary obstacle to international trade," the Senators wrote.
"Peer-reviewed science conducted by the USDA has affirmed that U.S. ethanol lowers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 39-43 pct versus gasoline. EPA has rejected all calls to update these calculations, instead using nearly 10-year-old data, which ignores the technological advancements in ethanol production", the Senators said.
The Senators called for the EPA to adopt the scientific model Greenhouse Gas & Regulated Emissions & Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) developed by the DOE Argonne National Laboratory, after studying 100 fuel production pathways and 85 vehicle systems to measure the life-cycle carbon emissions of vehicle fuels. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide use the updated GREET model, including the FAA, NASA, Ford and GM, BP and others. EPA does not use the updated model. (Source: Office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa),Feedstuffs, 25 June, 2019) Contact: Office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), www.grassley.senate.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News EPA, Chuck Grassley, GHGs, Ethanol,