By Lynn L. Bergeson 

On July 31, 2020, DOE announced more than $97 million in funding for 33 projects to support research and development (R&D) of high-impact technology to accelerate the U.S. bioeconomy. The aim is for the selected projects to improve the performance and lower the cost and risk of technologies that can be used to produce biopower, biofuels, and bioproducts from biomass and waste resources. Selected projects will address the following R&D areas:

• Scale-up of bench applications to reduce scale-up risks for biofuel and bioproduct processes;

• Waste-to-energy strategies, including strategies for municipal solid waste; wet wastes, like food and manures; and municipal wastewater treatment;

• Cost reduction of algal biofuels by improving carbon efficiency and by employing direct air capture technologies;

• Quantification of the economic and environmental benefits associated with growing energy crops, focusing on restoring water quality and soil health;

• Development and testing of low-emission, high-efficiency residential wood heaters;

• Innovative technologies to manage major forms of urban and suburban waste, with a focus on using plastic waste to make recycled products and using wastes to produce low-cost biopower; and

• Scalable carbon dioxide electrocatalysis technologies.