Methane in biogas offers a renewable alternative to natural gas as a feedstock and intermediate in bioprocesses. The US DOE is supporting a development effort led by NatureWorks in collaboration with Calysta to develop a commercially viable, disruptive fermentation process using methane in biogas and engineered methanotrophic bacteria for the production of lactic acid (HLA). Such a […]
The US Department of Energy initiated a project to identify and mitigate the challenges of moving new fuels and vehicles into markets. Specifically, engaging with all critical stakeholders (OEM’s, fuel producers, distribution networks, gas station owners, UL, regulators, consumers, etc.), to understand and address impacts, concerns, opportunities, and barriers. The goal is to facilitate new […]
The DOE is supporting an Oak Ridge-led project to produce and commercialize lignin-derived, industrial-grade composites with properties including 3D printability, rivaling current petroleum-derived alternatives. The project outcomes? A novel family of commercial-ready, lignin-based 3D-printable composites. Also, suitable for high-volume applications. With recyclable compositions retain their unprecedented mechanical properties. Also, utilizing unmodified lignin at ≥50 (%) […]
What is the Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit, where is it, who does it serve and how? Located at Berkeley Lab, the ABPDU aims to “support the commercialization of industry-, academic-and DOE-driven biofuels and bio-products by providing a key technical resource and an agile, flexible team for process development and demonstration. The project aims to have […]
Hydrogen, hydrogen, hydrogen — the most abundant element in the universe, but the advanced bioeconomy can never seem to get enough of it, and finding ways to produce renewable, affordable hydrogen — well, that’s real gold. A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Abhijeet Borole and including a number of ORNL colleagues and also […]
Hydrothermal liquefaction has a huge fan base in the biorefinery R&D sector. There’s lots to like. It’s robust tech and can be applied to attractive, low-cost wet feedstocks (ag resid, sludge, manure) that exploit HTL attributes and minimize deployment challenges associated with pumping. It’s conceptually simple (feed preparation, pump, heated pipe, gravity separate biocrude). HTL […]
The DOE is funding a fascinating project to develop a continuous electrochemical process to convert biorefinery waste lignin to substituted aromatic compounds for resins and resin binders. The goal? Integration into biorefinery with revenue generated, to reduce cost of biofuel by 25% The problem? Lignocellulosic biofuels are not yet cost-competitive without the protection of schemes […]
How much biomass is there? What types, prices, when will they be available, and produced by whom, and how? These are questions that the US Department of Energy undertook to answer, to address a program-wide need for information on feedstock supplies (quantity, cost, quality). At the DOE’s Project Peer Review 2017, science team leader Matt Langholtz […]
The US Department of Energy has a goal of developing industrially-relevant strains to meet titer, rate, and yield targets for fuel precursors for the 2022 BC Platform cost target goals of $3/GGE. A project led by PI Gregg Beckham at the National renewable Energy Laboratory focuses on aerobic fatty acids and anaerobic, secreted C2-C6 carboxylic […]
Within the ChemCatBio set of core catalysis projects lies Fast Pyrolysis and Upgrading, which has as its goal “to develop cost competitive biofuels through catalytic stabilization and deoxygenation of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-oil. The near-term DOE goal is advancement of the State of Technology for upgrading FPBO by demonstration of gasoline and diesel blend stocks at […]
