By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on May 24, 2023, the launch of the Clean Fuels & Products Shot^TM, a new initiative that aims to reduce significantly greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from carbon-based fuels and products. DOE notes that this is its seventh DOE Energy Earthshot, which focuses on reducing carbon emissions from the fuel and chemical industry through alternative, more sustainable sources of carbon to achieve a minimum of 85 percent lower GHG emissions as compared to fossil-based sources by 2035. According to DOE, the Clean Fuels & Products Shot^TM supports the national goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 by developing the sustainable feedstocks and conversion technologies necessary to produce crucial fuels, materials, and carbon-based products that are better for the environment than current petroleum-derived components. It aims to meet projected 2050 net-zero emissions demands for 100 percent of aviation fuel; 50 percent of maritime, rail, and off-road fuel; and 50 percent of carbon-based chemicals by using sustainable carbon resources.
 
DOE notes that a ribbon-cutting took place on May 30, 2023, for the Biofuels National User Facility, a $15 million, three-year-long facility upgrade at Idaho National Laboratory funded by DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and an important asset to reach the goals of the Clean Fuels & Products Shot^TM. According to DOE, the facility “is designed to solve critical biofuels production challenges associated with the feeding, handling and preprocessing of diverse biomass and waste materials.” DOE states that industry use of the facility “will enable rapid technology development and large-scale commercialization of biofuels and bioproducts, an important component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals related to clean fuels and products.”

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) publicly released a report on March 27, 2023, entitled Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Agencies Should Track Progress toward Ambitious Federal Goals. According to GAO, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and use in the United States have increased in recent years; this fuel is now used by airlines at two major commercial airports in California. GAO states that while U.S. production reached 15.8 million gallons in 2022, it accounted for less than 0.1 percent of the total jet fuel used by major U.S. airlines, “fall[ing] well below the previous Federal Aviation Administration goal for U.S. airlines to use 1 billion gallons of SAF per year by 2018.”
 
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the aviation sector, the White House announced an SAF Grand Challenge in September 2021. The Grand Challenge goal is to supply three billion gallons of SAF per year by 2030 and 100 percent of expected domestic commercial jet fuel use by 2050. GAO was asked to review the federal role in SAF. GAO’s report discusses the state of SAF production and use for the U.S. commercial aviation industry and factors shaping this market, identifies how federal agencies have supported SAF, and assesses how they will monitor progress toward Grand Challenge goals. According to GAO, the roadmap published by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not establish performance measures to monitor, evaluate, and report the results of these actions. GAO states that without performance measures, the agencies are not well positioned to evaluate the effectiveness of federal government actions to meet the Grand Challenge goals. In contrast, according to GAO, establishing and using such measures can help identify progress on the extent to which SAF is contributing to emission reductions.
 
GAO recommended that DOT, DOE, and USDA develop and incorporate performance measures into the Grand Challenge roadmap. According to GAO, DOT and USDA concurred. DOE indicated the recommendation is completed and that planned roadmap activities will enable progress to be measured. GAO notes that as discussed in its report, it disagrees that the recommendation is completed.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will hold a webinar on February 22, 2023, entitled “DOE’s Progress Toward Meeting the Goals of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge.” The Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Grand Challenge is a government-wide commitment to scale up production of SAF to 35 billion gallons per year by 2050 and reduce lifecycle aviation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent compared to conventional fuel. According to BETO, the upcoming webinar is an effort to increase SAF awareness and communicate the progress and impact of the SAF Grand Challenge. Attendees will learn about DOE’s focus on:

• SAF priorities and program alignment with the SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap;
• Implementation planning; and
• Stakeholder engagement and outreach.

The webinar will feature speakers from BETO, including Director Dr. Valerie Reed, who will share information about the six action areas outlined in the Roadmap that support the Grand Challenge goals. Scheduled BETO speakers include:

• Dr. Valerie Reed: Director -- Program Overview;
• Zia Haq: Senior Analyst -- SAF Overview and Enabling End Use;
• Dr. Art Wiselogel: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellow -- Feedstock Innovation;
• Dr. Ian Rowe: Technology Manager, Conversion Research and Development (R&D) -- Conversion Innovation;
• Dr. Mark Shmorhun: Technology Manager, Systems, Development, and Integration -- Building Regional SAF Supply Chains;
• Andrea Bailey: Technology Manager, Data, Modeling, and Analysis -- Policy and Valuation Analysis; and
• Sheila Dillard: Communications Lead -- Communicating Progress and Building Support.

Attendees can submit questions prior to the event, no later than February 17, 2023, by sending an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on January 26, 2023, $118 million in funding for 17 projects to accelerate the production of sustainable biofuels for America’s transportation and manufacturing needs. According to DOE, the selected projects, located at universities and private companies, “will drive the domestic production of biofuels and bioproducts by advancing biorefinery development, from pre-pilot to demonstration, to create sustainable fuels that reduce emissions associated with fossil fuels.” Projects selected will contribute to meeting DOE’s goal to achieve cost-competitive biofuels and at least a 70 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
 
According to DOE, “[m]ade from widely available domestic feedstocks and advanced refining technologies, energy-dense biofuels provide a pathway for low-carbon fuels that can lower greenhouse gas emissions throughout the transportation sector and accelerate the bioeconomy.” DOE notes that financing for novel biorefinery process systems can be a barrier to commercializing advanced biofuels, and states that its funding will reduce technological uncertainties and enable industry deployment. The selected projects include pre-pilot, pilot, and demonstration projects that will scale-up existing biomass to fuel technologies that will eventually create millions of gallons of low-carbon fuel annually.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on January 23, 2023, that researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) examined the benefits and trade-offs of current and emerging technologies for recycling certain types of plastics to determine the optimal options. According to BETO, the researchers provided a comparison of various closed-loop recycling technologies, which allow for the reuse of plastic through mechanical and chemical reprocessing, eliminating the need for fossil-fuel-derived virgin materials. They considered technical metrics, such as the quality and retention of recycled plastics, as well as environmental metrics, including energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. BETO and the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office provided funding for the research as part of the BOTTLE™ Consortium (Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment). The Consortium is a collaborative effort among industry, academia, national labs, and the government to change the way we recycle. More information is available in the January 2023 article “Technical, Economic, and Environmental Comparison of Closed-Loop Recycling Technologies for Common Plastics,” published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On December 2, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule determining that renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced from canola/rapeseed oil via a hydrotreating process all meet the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction threshold of 50 percent required for advanced biofuels and biomass-based diesel (BBD) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. 87 Fed. Reg. 73956. EPA states that based on the analyses described in the earlier notice of proposed rulemaking associated with this action, it is adding these pathways to the list of approved pathways in the RFS regulations, making them eligible to generate Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN), provided they satisfy the other definitional and RIN generation criteria for renewable fuel specified in the RFS regulations. EPA also amended the RFS regulations by adding a new definition of “canola/rapeseed oil.” The final rule was effective on January 3, 2023.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will hold a webinar on December 13, 2022, on the “SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap: Soaring Towards Sustainable Fuel Production Goals.” Attendees will learn about the six action areas that support the Grand Challenge’s goals of:

• Reducing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 50 percent compared to conventional fuel;
• Producing enough sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to meet 100 percent of aviation fuel demand by 2050; and
• Enhancing fuel sustainability.

The webinar will feature the director of BETO and speakers from DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who will discuss engaging with industry to achieve these goals. Speakers will include:

• Valerie Reed: Director, BETO;
• Zia Haq: Senior Analyst, BETO;
• Craig Brown: Bioenergy Systems Technical Integration Lead, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and
• Mark Shmorhun: Technology Manager, Systems, Development, and Integration, BETO.

Registration is now open.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On November 1, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced 26 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners, recognizing their achievements in the design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals. The awardees represent a wide variety of organizations, including small- and medium-sized businesses, women-owned companies, state and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and trade associations.
 
EPA encouraged applicants for the 2022 awards to show how their work advances environmental justice, bolsters resilience to the impacts of climate change, results in cleaner air or water, or improves drinking water quality. According to EPA, many of the organizations being recognized are working to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and combat the climate crisis. For example, several winners offer products with concentrated formulas that reduce water consumption and plastic use. This practice also lowers GHG emissions by reducing the amount of product that must be transported.
 
EPA states that additionally, many awardees increased access to products with safer chemical ingredients in underserved and overburdened communities. For example, one nonprofit winner conducted targeted outreach in both English and Spanish to promote safer cleaning techniques and products, including Safer Choice-certified products, in food trucks. Many of these businesses are owned and operated by immigrant entrepreneurs. Another winner made its Safer Choice-certified product line more accessible to lower income shoppers by offering affordable prices and making these products available at retailers that often serve low-income communities.
 
In early 2023, EPA intends to build on this work by announcing a grant opportunity for projects that can increase supply and demand for safer, environmentally preferable products such as those certified by the Safer Choice program or identified by EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program.
 
The 2022 winners include:

• American Cleaning Institute, District of Columbia;
• The Ashkin Group, LLC, Channel Islands Harbor, California;
• Bona US, Englewood, Colorado;
• Case Medical, Bloomfield, New Jersey;
• Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Ewing, New Jersey;
• Clean Safety & Health in Food Trucks (CleanSHiFT) Team, Seattle, Washington;
• The Clorox Company, Oakland, California;
• Colgate-Palmolive, New York, New York;
• Design for the Environment Logo Redesign Coalition: Environmental Defense Fund, The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Clorox Company, The Procter & Gamble Company, and Reckitt;
• Dirty Labs Inc., Portland, Oregon;
• ECOS, Cypress, California;
• Grove Collaborative, San Francisco, California;
• The Hazardous Waste Management Program, Seattle, Washington;
• Holloway House, Inc., Fortville, Indiana;
• The Home Depot, Atlanta, Georgia;
• Household & Commercial Products Association, District of Columbia;
• Jelmar, LLC, Skokie, Illinois;
• Lemi Shine, Austin, Texas;
• LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, San Francisco, California;
• Mother Africa, Kent, Washington;
• Novozymes North America, Raleigh, North Carolina;
• The ODP Corporation, Boca Raton, Florida;
• The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio;
• PurposeBuilt Brands, Gurnee, Illinois;
• Sensitive Home, Greenbrae, California; and
• Solutex, Sterling, Virginia.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) announced on October 19, 2022, the release of a report finding that life cycle assessments (LCA) of transportation fuels are valuable tools for measuring environmental impacts, but uncertainties remain in the current models and further research should be conducted to strengthen their reliability. The report recommends ways to improve models, increase reporting and transparency, perform targeted verification of emissions, and other avenues that will better inform policymaking for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels. According to NASEM, LCAs have been increasingly applied in the development of transportation fuel policy to estimate and help reduce GHG emissions from fuels such as electricity, biofuels, synthetic fuels, and hydrogen. NASEM states that the report finds that there is no single LCA method capable of answering all questions related to the climate impacts of a transportation fuel, and that both attributional LCA (ALCA) and consequential LCA (CLCA) have important roles to play. CLCA, which considers the consequences of a policy or decision, such as the market effects of production changes, should be used to understand wide-ranging impacts of proposed changes on net GHG emissions. ALCA, which assigns portions of observed environmental impacts from human activities to specific goods and services, can be used to attribute emissions in well-defined supply chains and help identify opportunities to reduce carbon intensity throughout that supply chain. Hybrid methods that use a combination of process-based and economic input-output methodologies can also be useful in some circumstances. In all cases, modelers should provide transparency, justification, and sensitivity or robustness analysis for modeling choices.
 
NASEM notes that the report contains a number of other findings and recommendations for assessing the emissions of specific transportation fuels and their feedstocks, including the following for biofuels:

• Study of land use changes from biofuels has been the topic of intense study over the last decade. Substantial uncertainties remain on key components of the models used to assess the impacts. More research into this area should be supported; and
• Biofuel production facilities typically produce additional products. The distinction between what qualifies as a co-product, byproduct, or waste can be unclear, creating uncertainty in LCA models.

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By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
 
On October 6, 2022, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) announced the availability of a report entitled Update on Potential of Biofuels in Shipping, updating a previous study developed by EMSA on biofuels and examining the full range of biofuels from the perspective of current production capacity, storage and distribution infrastructure, and power-generation technologies. According to EMSA, the report also features techno-economic analyses and includes risk-based case studies to evaluate the potential of biofuels for the maritime sector. According to EMSA, among the broad spectrum of technology and fuel-solution pathways available for ship designers, builders, owners, and operators, biofuels potentially offer medium- and long-term marine fuel alternatives that can enter the market relatively quickly; they also offer the potential, if sustainability criteria are met, to reduce carbon output compared to traditional carbon-based fossil fuels. EMSA notes that although the current use of biofuels in marine-engine applications is very limited, there is significant potential for biofuels to capture a larger share of the total maritime fuel consumption and support the European Union (EU) and International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) greenhouse gas (GHG)-reduction ambitions for the maritime industry. EMSA states that “[r]ecent regulatory developments in the EU covering GHG emissions and the lifecycle aspect of fuels provide a basket of measures in line with the climate goals that could accelerate their adoption.” The “drop-in” characteristics of biofuels -- the possibility to replace conventional petroleum-refined hydrocarbons without substantial modifications to engines, fuel tanks, pumps, or supply systems -- may offer “an immediate, attractive and cost-effective solution, for the existing fleet.”

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