Funded through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the three FOAs will be issued on behalf of the three transportation offices: Vehicle, Fuel Cells, and Bioenergy Technology Offices. Brief summaries of the FOAs follow:
There are many challenges in using acetone for fuels applications, the paper notes. Its volatility precludes its direct use as a fuel, and it requires chemical upgrading to be suitable for introduction into the fuel supply, as acetone has a nasty habit of dissolving engine parts and O-rings. So by upgrading the initial product to a cyclobutane, a potentially safer and more energy-dense fuel is created, while reducing the hydrogen input required for upgrading a bio-derived feedstock.
"Reducing high-pressure hydrogen treatment in synthesizing renewable fuels is important, because most hydrogen is derived from using steam to reform natural gas, which generates carbon dioxide," according to the release.
The LANL research was funded through the U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) through ChemCatBio: Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium. (Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory, PR, 23 Jan., 2020) Contact: Los Alamos National Laboratory, (505) 667-5061, www.lanl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News LANL, Los Alamos National Lab, Green Fuel, Green Jet Fuel,
Qualifying Universities, industry and non-profit research institutions will collaborator with DOE national laboratories and other federal agencies. (Source: USA DOE, PR, Jan., 2020)Contact: US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News US DOE BETO, Bioenergy Crop, Bioenergy R&D,
Existing US ethanol production plants currently have the capacity to produce approximately 16 billion gpy, a level that saturates current use as 10 pct blends with gasoline. However, the new Vertimass catalyst breaks that barrier by producing a hydrocarbon that can be blended at much higher levels. In addition, while ethanol has been traditionally considered too low in energy density for use as a jet fuel, the Vertimass catalyst can overcome that issue.
Initial tests indicate the Vertimass fuels (Vertifuels) are compatible for blending with gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels with no engine modifications, but further tests are underway for ASTM certification.
Vertimass is working with the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), TechnipFMC, and the University of California, Riverside (UCR).
(Source: Vertimass LLC, EngineerLive, 7 Nov., 2019)
Contact: Vertimass LLC, John Hannon, CEO, www.vertimass.com; DOE EERE Bioenergy Technologies Office, www.energy.gov › eere › bioenergy
More Low-Carbon Energy News DOE EERE Bioenergy Technologies Office, Vertimass, Jet Biofuel, Aviation Biofuel, Biofuel,
According to the DOE, commercial and residential buildings account for roughly 40 pct of the nation's total energy demand at a cost in excess of $380 billion per year.
While an ideal project would address a combination of issues across areas such as heating, cooling, the building envelope, water heating and ventilation, funding applications should focus on one of three topics:
Funding is issued through the DOE's Building Technology Office (BTO) which aims to find new, energy-efficient technologies while improving the efficiency of current technologies to help the department realize its goal for reducing the energy use of U.S. buildings by 30 pct by 2030.
BETO programs currently include: HVAC; water heating and appliances; solid-state lighting; building energy modeling; sensors and controls; and buildings-to-grid integration.
(Source: US DOE BETO, 14 May, 2019) Contact: US DOE BETO, www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News Energy Efficiency, DOE BETO,
Goleta, California-based Spero Renewables LLC, a Green chemistry company, is reporting a $1.6 million cooperative agreement with the US DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to develop and scale-up production of the company's patented SPERLU technology that produces polymers from wood pulp and similar plant-based sources.
The grant is part of a recently announced $80 million DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) initiative supporting 36 bioenergy R&D projects. In addition to biobased products, projects include renewable hydrocarbon fuels and power from non-food Biomass and waste feedstocks.
Spero's SPERLU™ technology converts biomass lignin, a waste byproduct of cellulosic ethanol production that is expensive to remediate, into valuable, environmentally friendly polymers and plastics. The resulting polymers are renewable, free of off-gassing emissions, and formaldehyde-free as opposed to current polymers that come from petrochemicals and are manufactured with formaldehyde, according to the company's website.
According to the company website, "Spero Energy is a technology developer for the production of high value renewable and natural molecules from biomass. The company's novel extractive technology for the manufacture of natural ferulic acid is a game changer for the production of natural vanilla. Spero's one-step lignin conversion (SPERLU™) is key to realizing a fully integrated biorefinery." (Source: Spero Renewables LLC, Spero Website, 19 April, 2019)
Contact: Spero Renewables LLC, Mahdi Abu-Omar, Ph.D. Chemistry, Pres.,
Joe Ramelli, VP Business Dev., (805) 696-2199 x 2001, joe@sperorenewables.com, US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News DOE BETO, Spero Renewables,
The FOA topics will advance DOE's Bioenergy Technology Office's (BETO) objectives to reduce the price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, and enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources. Topics areas for this funding opportunity include the following:
This FOA also supports the Water Security Grand Challenge, a White House initiated, DOE-led framework to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water. In particular, this funding will support R&D focused on anaerobic digestion, a technology that can help achieve the Grand Challenge's goal to double resource recovery from municipal wastewater. (Source: US DOE EERE, 3 May, 2019) Contact: US DOE EERE, www.energy.gov/eere
More Low-Carbon Energy News US DOE EERE, Bioenergy, Biofuel, Anaerobic Digestion ,
O'Rourke's proposal calls for halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050 through a program of: executive action; a $5 trillion over 10 years investment in a clean energy transition; and preparing vulnerable communities for the impacts of climate change.
Although the plan is focused on climate and energy -- cutting emissions and creating alternatives -- approximately $3.5 trillion is allocated through tax incentives, loans, and other financing mechanisms for infrastructure, research, resilience, and clean energy deployment. The outlay would be funded by "structural changes to the tax code" that end tax breaks to fossil fuel companies and raise rates on corporations and top earners. Of the remaing $1.5 trillion, $1.2 trillion would go to grants for sustainable housing, transportation, public health, farming, and start-ups.
As opposed to a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system, O'Rourke is advocating a legally-binding net-zero emissions standard by 2050. The plan doesn't rule out pricing carbon but instead focuses on setting definitive goal posts.
If elected, O'Rourke noted will re-enter the Paris climate agreement, implement rules to cut methane and other "super-potent" GHG emissions, tighten clean air rules, ramp up appliance efficiency standards, demand clean energy procurement from federal contractors, and end new fossil fuel leases on public lands. (Source: Vox, Various Media, 30 April, 2019)
More Low-Carbon Energy News Climate Change, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Tax, Methane, Clean Air,
Forest Concepts, a manufacturer of precision woody and herbaceous feedstocks for bioenergy and bioproduct applications, leveraged NREL's capabilities in biomass conversion modeling to help quantify the impact of their feedstock characteristics based on various particle shapes and sizes. The NREL team is part of the Consortium for Computational Physics and Chemistry (CCPC), which uses high-performance computing to support the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO).
Prior to the development of the NREL models, Forest Concepts provided feedstock pricing based on volume and size of the biomass particle. Using the NREL models, Forest Concepts can now provide information to their customers such as standardized performance, required conversion conditions, and expected yields based on the size and shape of feedstock particles.
BETO recognized early on the value of developing detailed biomass feedstock particle models to understand how the properties of each particle impact the yield and composition products from the conversion process. Moving forward, these capabilities will be leveraged by the newly established Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) whose mission is to quantify, understand, and manage variability in biomass from field through downstream conversion and to understand how biomass composition, structure, and behavior impact system performance.
FCIC is an integrated and collaborative network of eight national laboratories dedicated to addressing technical risks and understanding how biomass properties influence collection, storage, handling, preprocessing and conversion technologies with the goal of improving the overall operational reliability of integrated pioneer biorefineries. (Source: NREL, PR, 10 Dec., 2018)
Contact: NREL, Peter Ciesielski, Scientist, www.nrel.gov;
US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office; Forest Concepts, James H. Dooley, CTO, (253) 333-9663, www.forestconcepts.com;
Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium, https://fcic.inl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News NREL, Forest Concepts, Bioenergy, Biofuel, Biomass, BETO ,
The project is being funded by the U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy in a collaborative effort to improve the cost-competitiveness and environmental sustainability of microalgae-based fuels and products. (Source: CSU, NREL, Various Media, Oct., 2018) Contact: Colorado State University, Prof. Ken Reardon, kenneth.reardon@colostate.edu, www.colostate.edu; US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News Colorado State University, NREL, Algae, CO2, Biofuel,
According to Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist and project leader Dr. Joshua Yuan, "The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass has been around for many years, but many of the waste products can not be commercialized due to the configuration of these biorefineries. What we are trying to accomplish is developing a streamlined process where the biomass waste at these refineries can be fractionated to produce lipids for biodiesel, asphalt binder modifier and quality carbon fiber. All of these bioproducts can add great value to the economy and enhance their market value."
Yuan noted that lignocellulose bioconversion refineries burn off 60 pct of the lignin produced. Utilizing this lignin offers incentives such as improving the efficiencies of a biorefinery, reducing costs and lowering emissions.
The work will include developing an integrated biorefinery program or "a blueprint for future biorefinery development," Yuan added. (Source: Texas A&M AgriLife Research, PR, Oct., 2018) Contact:
Dr. Joshua Yuan, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Dr. Joshua Yuan, Dir. Synthetic and Systems Biology Hub, people.tamu.edu/~syuan, www.tamu.edu; US DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office, www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy
More Low-Carbon Energy News Texas A&M, US DOE BETO, lignocellulosic , biofuel,
The project is being funded by Funded by the DOE Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). BETO works with industry, academia and national laboratory partners on a balanced portfolio of research in algal biofuels technologies. (Source: US DOE, LLNL. Feb., 2018) Contact: LLNL, Xavier Mayali, (925) 423-3892, mayali1@llnl.gov; Ty Samo, (925) 423-5837, samo1@llnl.gov, www.llnl.gov; BETO, www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office; US DOE EERE, http://energy.gov/eere; General Automation Lab Technologies, (917) 332-7230, www.galt-inc.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News DOE EERE, DOE BETO, General Automation Lab Technologies, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Algae, Algae Biofuel, Biofuel ,
Analysis of up to seven years of production data suggests an estimated billon-tpy could be available annually by 2030.
Field trial results and yield projections for herbaceous crops, including switchgrass, energycane, mixed perennial grasses on Conservation Reserve Program land, giant miscanthus and sorghum, as well as the woody feedstocks poplar and shrub willow, are available online in the January issue of GCB Bioenergy.
The raw data from the field trials will be available for public use and can be accessed at Knowledge Discovery Framework at the U.S. DOE website. Among the herbaceous energy crops, field-scale trials using traditional agricultural equipment were conducted for switchgrass and mixed perennial grasses suitable for use on CRP land, while smaller individual plots were utilized for energycane and giant miscanthus due to a lack of vegetative planting materials for these species.
South Dakota State University was the lead institution for the more than $20 million project which was funded by the U.S. DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and involved researchers from the U.S. DOE and USDA, 35 land-grant universities, Heidelberg University, INL, ORNL, ANL and several industry partners.
Report details are HERE
(Source: South Dakota State University, Jan., 2018)
Contact: South Dakota State Univ. North Central Regional Sun Grant Center, Vance Owens, Dir., (605) 688-5476, www.sdstate.edu/north-central-regional-sun-grant-center
More Low-Carbon Energy News Biofuel Feedstock,
BETO has identified inconsistent feeding, handling, and initial conversion operations at IBRs as limiting factors in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals. According to the agency, IBR development and operation have suffered from failure to account for the complexity and variability of feedstock properties and composition and from a lack of fundamental understanding of the physics and chemistry of biomass-derived feedstock pre-processing and subsequent deconstruction, combined with poor equipment design and flawed integration. Solving this significant current challenge is essential for advanced biofuels to fully reach their potential and for the economic benefits of new jobs and improved security of our fuel supply to be realized, the agency says.
The Feedstock Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) is an integrated and collaborative network of eight national laboratories dedicated to addressing technical risks in developing and scaling up biomass harvest, storage, preprocessing and conversion technologies with the goal of improving the overall operational reliability of integrated pioneer biorefineries. FCIC laboratories members include, Idaho National Laboratory , National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. (Source: US DOE, BETO, Nov., 2017) Contact: FCIC, https://fcic.inl.gov; BETO Multi-Year Program Plan HERE.
More Low-Carbon Energy News U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office, Biofuel, Biofuel Feedstock, Bioenergy Feedstock,
Strategies to be used by the team to meet this goal include increasing algal cultivation productivity, optimizing biomass composition, and extracting and separating different types of algal lipids to reduce the cost of upgrading them to renewable diesel.The study will be led by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.
The researchers will use an algae species called Desmodesmus armatus, and will focus on fundamental processes of efficiently channeling carbon dioxide into useful fuel intermediates. The project will work to ferment carbohydrates in the algal cells into chemicals of interest, including ethanol, as well as a fuel precursor called 2,3 butanediol.
Other partners on the project will work on the algae-to-bioproduct life cycle, including modification of growing pond conditions, and separating algal solids from water to remove lipids.
The multidisciplinary team includes CSU's Ken Reardon, professor of chemical and biological engineering; Graham Peers, associate professor of biology; and Jason Quinn, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; along with partners at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado School of Mines, Arizona State University, Utah State University, and representatives from industry. San Diego-based Sapphire Energy is a project partner and has pioneered the use of D. armatus for biofuels. (Source: Colorado State University, PR, 2 Oct., 2017) Contact: Colorado State University, Prof. Ken Reardon, kenneth.reardon@colostate.edu, www.colostate.edu; US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News Colorado State University, Sapphire Energy, Algae, Algal Biofuel, BETO,
The projects will focus on: continuous handling of solid materials and feeding systems to reactors under various operating conditions; high-value products from waste in an integrated biorefinery; industrial separations within an integrated biorefinery; and analytical modeling of solid materials and reactor feeding systems.
Thermochemical Recovery International Inc, Texas A&M Agrilife Research, White Dog Labs, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the South Dakota School of Mines, Forest Concepts, Clemson University and Purdue University are among the funding recipients.
(Source: US DOE, BETO, Renewables Now, Others, 21 Sept., 2017) Contact: US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office; USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, https://nifa.usda.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Biorefinery, DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office, BETO,
The organizations selected include:
To that end, DOE has partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a feasibility study on zero energy schools and provide specific energy usage targets to cost-effectively achieve zero energy and focused on strategies to balance energy consumption and energy supply. The pathways for managing energy consumption include optimal design of the building walls, roof, and windows, lighting systems, heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, controls, and service water heating.
(Source: US DOE, NREL, ProudGreenBuilding, Aug. 31, 2017)Contact: NREL, Dr. Martin Keller, Director, www.nrel.gov; US DOE BETO, www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News Net Zero Energy, NREL, US DOE, Energy Efficiency,
According to Vertimass, BETO's verification paves the way for a demonstration scale of the technology for converting sustainable ethanol into fungible gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel blend stocks and the chemical building blocks benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX). This new Vertimass pathway can enhance use of biomass-derived renewable fuels that lower greenhouse gas emissions and allow ethanol producers to expand their product portfolio. The Vertimass systems can be added to existing ethanol producers' facilities at fractions of the cost of a new facility, according to the company. (Source: Vertimass LLC, 21 Aug., 2017) Contact: Vertimass, Charles Wyman, CEO, John Hannon, COO, (949) 417-4307, www.vertimass.com; US DOE BETO, energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News Vertimass, Biofuel, DOE BETO,
Michigan State University was selected to manage the fourth project, which will work in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MBI International to optimize a two-stage process for deconstruction of biomass into two clean intermediate streams: sugars for the production of hydrocarbon fuels and lignins for the production of multiple value-added chemicals and as a feedstock for renewable bichemicals.
All four projects are supporting the development of biomass-to-hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can produce variable amounts of fuels and/or products based on external factors, such as market demand. Producing high-value bioproducts alongside cost-competitive biofuels has the potential to support a positive return on investment for a biorefinery through converting biomass to where it is most impactful. Producing value-added coproducts is an approach to achieving DOE's strategic goal of producing hydrocarbon fuels at $3 per gasoline gallon equivalent.
(Source: US DOE, 2 Aug., 2017) Contact: BETO, www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office; US DOE EERE, http://energy.gov/eere
More Low-Carbon Energy News Biochemical, BETO, DOE EERE, Biochemical, Biofuel,
This years Building Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) awards include novel materials exploration that will lead to more efficient insulation and windows, more accurate sensors, exploration and validation of both electric- and fuel-driven hybrid vapor compression technologies for more efficient heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R), as well as advanced control algorithms, modeling, and analytics for reducing power consumption of miscellaneous electric loads.
The HVAC&R recipients include:
Stone Mountain Technologies Inc.; University of Maryland; Arkema Inc.; Xergy; United Technologies Research Center; Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL);
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); University of California, Berkeley;
Fraunhofer CSE (Boston); Stanford University, and others. (Source: DOE BETO, 3 Aug., 2017) Contact: US DOE BETO, www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/bioenergy-technologies-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News DOE Building Technologies Office, BETO, ,
BETO's Advanced Algal Systems Program aims to demonstrate an algal biofuel intermediate yield of 2,500 gpy per acre by 2018 and 5,000 gallons per acre per year by 2022. The program also aims to cut the total production costs of microalgae biofuels to $3/gasoline gallon equivalent by 2030, with or without co-products.
Researchers are currently cultivating 30 strains of algae, which they will narrow down to the four most promising strains. Of the four strains the researchers will determine which have the highest oil, protein, and carbohydrate content, as well as other factors, such as bacterial resistance and potential for creating valuable co-products. The team will then compare the strains to two well-studied algae strains, and the top-performing strains will be further tested to identify the optimal algae strain for biofuel production.
(Source: PNNL, EIN PressWire, June, 2017) Contact: PNNL, (509) 371-6989, www.pnnl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Alagal Biofuel, Algae, Biofuel, PNNL, BETO,