Posted on August 04, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
On July 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced that its Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) recently published eight new technical reports and case studies. According to BETO, the publications examine the environmental and economic impacts of a variety of feedstock characteristics and processing techniques:
BETO states that the FCIC “is an integrated and collaborative network of nine DOE national laboratories dedicated to addressing the technical risks that integrated pioneer biorefineries face.” According to BETO, the goal of the FCIC “is to develop science-based knowledge and tools to understand biomass feedstock and process variability, improving overall operational reliability, conversion performance, and product quality across the biomass value chain.”
Posted on August 01, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on July 17, 2023, that it will host a Bioenergy Cybersecurity Workshop, a virtual event organized by Sandia National Laboratories on September 11, 2023, to identify cybersecurity risks in biofuel and bioproduct manufacturing, and develop an approach to address these risks. According to BETO, the workshop will raise awareness of the importance of cybersecurity in biomanufacturing safety, operational continuity, and competitiveness. It will consist of panel presentations by bioprocessing and cybersecurity experts. Participants will discuss the state of biofuel and bioproduct cybersecurity practices, and the security of biobased processes to help identify and define cybersecurity technologies and research needed for cybersecure bioenergy production. Workshop objectives will include:
- Exploring the risks and potential consequences to biofuel and bioproduct production that stem from cybersecurity vulnerabilities;
- Discussing the state of practice in biofuel and bioproduct cybersecurity;
- Gathering stakeholder input on what research and development is needed to fill capability gaps in cybersecurity for bioenergy facilities; and
- Building connections across the bioenergy cybersecurity community.
Posted on July 10, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted its 2023 Project Peer Review on April 3-7, 2023. During the event, more than 280 projects in BETO’s research, development, and demonstration portfolios presented their progress and accomplishments to the public and were reviewed by more than 50 external subject-matter experts from industry, academia, and federal agencies. The 2023 Project Peer Review included presentations in 11 technology areas:
- Advanced Algal Systems Program;
- Biochemical Conversion and Lignin Utilization;
- Agile BioFoundry Consortium;
- Catalytic Upgrading;
- Carbon Dioxide Utilization;
- Data, Modeling, and Analysis Program;
- Performance-Advantaged Bioproducts, Bioprocessing Separations, and Plastics;
- Organic Waste Conversion;
- Feedstock Technologies Program;
- Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium; and
- Systems Development & Integration Program.
The presentations are now available for download from BETO’s Project Peer Review web page.
Posted on June 05, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 30, 2023, that the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium (ChemCatBio) will hold a webinar on June 14, 2023, on “Perspectives on Engineered Catalyst Design and Forming.” ChemCatBio is a consortium of eight DOE national laboratories overseen by BETO. According to BETO, the performance evaluation, and ultimate commercial adoption, of next-generation catalyst materials requires the development of strategies to prepare complex engineered catalysts suitable for operation in commercially relevant reactor configurations and scales. To leverage the fundamental advancements ChemCatBio has made in catalyst technology, BETO states that the consortium recently implemented a new vision to address risks by focusing on process integration and fuel production with engineered catalysts.
In the webinar, Bruce Adkins (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Frederick Baddour (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and Matthew Greaney (Clariant) will present critical considerations for the “engineered” catalyst; an industrial perspective on catalyst design and forming; and ChemCatBio’s industry-informed capabilities that support the transition to more commercially relevant catalyst forms. The webinar will end with a question and answer session.
Posted on June 01, 2023 by Lynn L Bergeson By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has launched a new, comprehensive web page dedicated to one of its priority subprograms, Renewable Carbon Resources (RCR), which helps develop RCR technologies and creates strategies for bioenergy and bioproducts production. In its May 19, 2023, announcement, BETO states that RCR supports applied research and pilot-scale projects for the production, harvesting/collection, supply logistics, storage, and preprocessing of biomass and wastes to feedstock. According to BETO, RCRs are carbon-based resources generated through photosynthesis (plants and algae) or through waste generation (non-recycled portions of municipal solid waste, biosolids, sludges, plastics, and carbon dioxide and industrial waste gases). The subprogram aims to optimize responsibly the use of each of these resources using sustainability indicators such as land-use changes, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity, resource conservation, wildlife habitat, fire mitigation, food security, social well-being, and water, soil, and air quality.
The newly launched RCR web page is organized around the following activities:
- Production and sourcing;
- Logistics;
- Feedstock-conversion interface;
- Waste management technologies;
- Environmental remediation; and
- Carbon management.
Posted on May 31, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced on May 15, 2023, that a new workflow developed by researchers at the Agile BioFoundry (ABF), a BETO-funded consortium of national laboratories and Agilent Research Laboratories (Agilent) addresses the need for faster analytical tools. According to BETO, the workflow “combines state-of-the-art analytical technologies with a machine learning-based algorithm, providing a faster and more powerful way to process data that could accelerate the Design-Build-Test-Learn framework, a bio-engineering cycle used to improve biomanufacturing research and processes.”
BETO notes that speeding up the bio-engineering cycle could ultimately speed up biomanufacturing research. According to BETO, one of the biggest barriers to accomplishing this is the ability to improve the Learn step of the cycle, which involves using data to improve future cycles. Improvements to the Learn step can happen only if large amounts of high-quality data are gathered in the Test step of the cycle, however.
BETO states that the consortium teams set out to create a workflow that could generate high-quality analytical Test data that could feed into the Learn step. The workflow they developed includes several components:
- A high-throughput analytical method developed in collaboration with Agilent that enables a threefold reduction in sample analysis time (compared to previous conventional approaches) by using optimized liquid chromatography conditions;
- The Automated Method Selection Software tool, which predicts the best liquid chromatography method to use for analyzing new molecules of interest; and
- PeakDecoder, a novel algorithm that processes multi-dimensional metabolite data and automatically calculates errors in metabolite identification.
To test the workflow’s effectiveness, the researchers used it to study metabolites of various strains of microorganisms engineered by ABF. The microorganisms they tested all have the capacity to make various bioproducts, such as polymer and diesel fuel precursors. According to BETO, using their workflow, the researchers were able to interpret 2,683 metabolite features across 116 microbial samples.
BETO states that the researchers see PeakDecoder “as a stepping stone towards creating an automated data-gathering pipeline.” According to BETO, the team is already working on leveraging state-of-the-art artificial intelligence methods like computer vision used in other fields. The next version of PeakDecoder is expected to have improved automation and identification performance and to be more applicable to other types of molecular profiling, including proteomics workflows.
Posted on May 10, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) will host a workshop on “Transitioning to a Sustainable, Circular Economy for Plastics.” The June 8-9, 2023, workshop will convene stakeholders for a discussion of the current challenges and opportunities in transitioning to a sustainable domestic economy for plastics. According to DOE, it will include experts in recycling technologies and processes; polymer sciences; biobased plastics innovation and manufacturing; and plastics policy, economy, and sustainability. It will feature facilitated panel presentations and discussions on:
- The current landscape of plastics sustainability and circularity;
- Industry metrics in plastics sustainability and circularity;
- Supply chain and technology gaps;
- Decarbonization opportunities and pathways to achieve them; and
- Collaboration across the plastics value chain to accelerate transition to a more sustainable, circular economy.
DOE states that desired workshop outcomes include:
- Direct connections between stakeholders across the value chain to facilitate collaborations to accelerate innovation toward our collective decarbonization and circular economy goals;
- A publicly available, DOE-issued workshop report recording the discussed problems, research ideas, and industry feedback; and
- Input to ensure the DOE Strategy for Plastics Innovation evolves with the rapidly changing landscape to reflect current needs and challenges related to plastics sustainability and circularity.
Posted on April 10, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
On March 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the release of its 2023 Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP). The MYPP is used as an operational guide, setting forth BETO’s mission, goals, and strategic approach. It also serves as a resource to help manage and coordinate BETO’s activities and communicate its strategy to stakeholders and the public. The new plan identifies BETO’s forthcoming research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) plans and activities and outlines why these undertakings are critical to meeting the energy and sustainability challenges facing our nation. According to BETO, due to the urgency of reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) across all modes of transportation, BETO has shifted its focus to low-carbon and net-zero carbon fuels for the aviation, marine, rail, and heavy-duty, long-haul industries, which have fewer options for reducing carbon impact. The MYPP prioritizes strategies to enable the decarbonization of the industrial sector via the advancement of renewable chemicals and materials, recognizing the potential for bioenergy technologies to decarbonize communities and other economic sectors through sustainable agriculture, improved waste management, and additional beneficial uses of biomass.
Posted on March 06, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will host its 2023 Project Peer Review April 3-7, 2023. Projects in BETO’s research and development (R&D) portfolio will be presented to the public and systematically reviewed by external subject-matter experts from industry, academia, and federal agencies. Simultaneous review sessions of projects across the BETO technology areas will occur. The event will take place in person at the Grand Hyatt Denver in Denver, Colorado. The agenda is available online.
Posted on March 03, 2023 by Lynn L BergesonBy Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will host a listening session at the 2023 Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) to obtain stakeholder feedback on the next Billion-Ton Report. BETO seeks suggestions for making this product even more useful, as well as feedback on the 2016 Billion-Ton Report and related products. The anticipated 2023 Billion-Ton Report will build on previous national assessments that have calculated the potential supply of biomass in the United States. Speakers for the session will include:
- Matt Langholtz, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Bioenergy Resource and Engineering Systems Team Lead;
- Nichole Fitzgerald, BETO Program Manager;
- Mark Elless, BETO Technology Manager; and
- Melissa Ladd, BETO Senior Facilitator.
The session will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 3:45 p.m. (EDT), at the Mayflower Hotel located in Washington, D.C. Registration for ABLC 2023 is open.
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