Bioenergy Technologies Office Director Speaks at DuPont Grand Opening

Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Director Dr. Jonathan Male was honored to speak at the grand opening of the DuPont cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Iowa—now the largest cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in the world. Various technologies that will be used to convert corn stover to biofuel at DuPont’s facility were developed with help from $51 million in BETO funding to DuPont and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Dr. Male said his visit to this innovative biorefinery inspired him with confidence in the future of advanced biofuels and transportation in the United States. The grand opening is a milestone that shows progress toward national clean energy goals to reduce oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about our long-time collaboration with DuPont and Dr. Male’s visit to the DuPont facility on the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Blog.

BETO-Funded Projects Win at the 2015 R&D 100 Awards

Two BETO-funded projects have received awards at this year’s 2015 R&D 100 Awards. The annual “Oscars of Invention” awards recognize excellence in innovative technologies. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with Genifuel Corporation, received a prize in the processing/prototyping category for their hydrothermal process to convert wet biomass into biofuels. Taking home prizes in the mechanical/materials category, as well as a R&D Magazine’s Editor’s Choice award, was NREL for its work producing bioethylene from cyanobacteria.

New Version of GREET Released

Argonne National Laboratory recently released a new version of the GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model, which is funded in-part by BETO. This update includes a new route to drop-in hydrocarbon biofuels, expanded catalyst and bioproduct modules, an update of combustion equipment emission factors, and new data on land management change effects on stover-derived biofuel life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions.

New Version Released of Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework

In collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, BETO released a new version of the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (KDF), complete with new search tools for the Bioenergy Library and a new, improved look for the KDF Map.

Webinars:

Register for the Next BioenergizeME Office Hours Webinar

Upcoming Webinar: Demonstration of NREL’s BioEnergy Atlas Tools

Join NREL on December 16 at 12:00 p.m. Mountain Time for a webinar demonstrating how to use the BioEnergy Atlas tools, which include the BioFuels and BioPower Atlases. These tools are designed as first-pass visualization tools that allow users to view many bioenergy and related datasets in Google Maps. The webinar will review the data source and date of bioenergy data layers and show users how to view and download data behind the map, how to view state energy data and incentives, and how to view and edit potential biofuel or biopower production in a geographical location. Register for the webinar.

Webinar Slides and Recordings Available: Bioproducts in the Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio and BioenergizeME Office Hours

Did you miss one of our past webinars? Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! The webinar recordings and slides from our recent “Bioproducts in the Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio” webinar and the last two BioenergizeME Office Hours webinars are now available online.

View Our Updated Sustainability Web Page

BioBlogs:

EERE Blog: Biofuel Facts for the Road

Will you or someone you know be driving to visit family or friends this year for Thanksgiving? Chances are you will need to stop at the gas station and fuel up. You may notice special E85 and B20/biodiesel gas pumps, or signs that state your gasoline “contains up to 10% ethanol,” but what exactly does that mean? Read the EERE blog post to learn more about the renewable fuels currently available at the gas pump today and the work BETO is doing to eventually bring more advanced biofuels to consumers. Print out a copy and bring it along on your holiday travels. 

EERE Blog: Night of the Living Trash—Bringing Your Waste Back to Life

Yes, Halloween has passed, but did you catch our great blog? BETO highlighted how waste can be “brought back to life” and turned into something useful. “Waste to energy” could expand nationwide production of renewable biofuels and facilitate sustainable waste management. BETO is currently exploring the feasibility of producing transportation fuels from these underutilized, yet readily available feedstocks and developing robust conversion technologies for diverse waste streams. Read the EERE blog post to learn more.

Past and Upcoming Events with BETO Representation

• Algae Biomass Summit; Sept. 30–Oct. 2, 2015; Franklin Orr; David Danielson, Jonathan Male, Alison Goss Eng, Algae Team; Washington, D.C.
• Ohio State University Bioproducts Innovation Center Sustainable Materials Networking Event; Oct. 15; Valerie Reed; Columbus, Ohio
• The Wildlife Society 22nd Annual Conference; Oct. 17–21, 2015; Kristen Johnson; Winnipeg, Canada
• National Bioenergy Day; Oct. 21, 2015; Nationwide
• National Science Teachers Association Area Conference; Oct. 22–24, 2015; Sheila Dillard; Reno, Nevada
• Bioproducts in the Federal Bioeconomy Portfolio Webinar; Oct. 26, 2015; Nichole Fitzgerald; Online
• International Energy Agency Bioenergy Conference 2015; Berlin, Germany; Oct. 27-28, 2015; Jim Spaeth
• DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol Biorefinery Opening; Oct. 30; Jonathan Male; Nevada, Iowa
• Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference Next; Nov. 2–6; Jonathan Male, Prasad Gupte; San Francisco, California
• tcbiomass: Technology for the Bioeconomy; Nov. 2–5, 2015; Kevin Craig, Liz Moore; Chicago, Illinois
• Global Bioenergy Partnership Meetings; Nov. 11–13, 2015; Kristen Johnson; Rome, Italy
• National Science Teachers Association Area Conference; Nov. 12–14, 2015; Sheila Dillard; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• International Algae Symposium; Nov. 16–17, 2015; Daniel Fishman; Tokyo, Japan
• BioenergizeME Office Hours Webinar: Integrating Bioenergy into the 9th–12th Grade Classroom; Dec. 10, 2015; Online
• Demonstration of NREL’s Bioenergy Atlas Tools Webinar; Dec. 16, 2015; Online

To view past Monthly News Blasts, visit the BETO Newsletter page.