BETO Quarterly Newsletter: Updates on the Bioeconomy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is excited to deliver the latest edition of its newsletter.
About the Bioenergy Technologies Office
BETO supports research, development, and demonstration to enable the sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources to produce biofuels and bioproducts. BETO’s overall goals are to:
- Lower the cost and reduce technology risks to produce biofuels and bioproducts,
- Improve the environmental benefits of bioenergy production,
- Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation, industrial, and agricultural sectors to address the climate crisis,
- Support the scale-up of sustainable, low-carbon biofuel production technologies,
- Create economic opportunities and good-paying jobs in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Meeting these goals requires significant and rapid advances in technology development and innovation across the entire biomass-to-bioenergy supply chain.
Read about the impact BETO has on the bioeconomy and follow the hashtags #bioenergy and #bioeconomy, and #BioenergyCuriosity on social media.
This edition of the BETO newsletter includes:
Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap Published
Federal Agencies Publish Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap to Meet 100% of Domestic Aviation Fuel Demand with Sustainable Fuel by 2050.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm announced in September the release of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap, a comprehensive plan that outlines a government-wide strategy for scaling up new technologies to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) across the U.S. airline industry.
The SAF Grand Challenge Roadmap ensures alignment of government and industry actions and coordinates national policies to achieve the goals of the SAF Grand Challenge, which was signed in 2021 by the partnering agencies—DOE, the Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture—and which consists of two major goals:
- Achieve a minimum of a 50% reduction in life GHG emissions compared to conventional fuel
- Supply sufficient SAF to meet 100% of domestic aviation fuel demand by 2050.
The full Roadmap report and more information about the SAF Grand Challenge can be found on the Department of Energy website.
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Agile BioFoundry Selects New Collaborations
BETO and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences and the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the selection of six projects to conduct research and development that will advance the U.S. bioeconomy.
The selectees were chosen from applicants for a direct funding opportunity titled, “Accelerating Innovations in Biomanufacturing Approaches through Collaboration Between NSF and the DOE BETO funded Agile BioFoundry,” which provides support for researchers from nonprofits and institutions of higher education to collaborate with the Agile BioFoundry.
Information on project selections can be found at the Agile BioFoundry website.
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National Laboratory Bioenergy R&D Success Stories
Below are just a few examples of the latest national laboratory and BETO success stories located on BETO's Bioprose: Bioenergy R&D Blog. The blog also provides bioenergy research and scientific information demonstrating how BETO impacts the U.S. bioeconomy.
BETO Achieves Major Biofuel Technology and Production Milestone
BETO achieved a significant milestone in decreasing the minimum fuel selling price of drop-in biofuels, which are fuels made from biomass and other waste carbon sources. BETO partnered with T2C-Energy, LLC (T2C) to validate pilot-scale production of drop-in biofuels using T2C’s TRIFTS® process, with a price of $3 per gallon of gas equivalent and at least 60% lower greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum. Read more about this BETO achievement.
Ethanol vs. Petroleum-Based Fuel Carbon Emissions
Biofuels have been proven to emit significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based fuels, and recent scientific studies indicate that net-zero emission biofuels are not only possible, but achievable. Learn more about the life cycle emissions of biofuels.
Unlocking the Mystery of Catalyst Poisoning
A research team from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) investigates how potassium in biomass feedstocks poisons a catalyst. Their discovery allowed researchers to better understand catalyst health and regeneration during the conversion of feedstocks into biofuels and bioproducts. Learn more about this catalyst research from PNNL researchers.
Hey Ho Pistachio! NREL Scientists Help Transform Nut Shells Into Carbon-Negative Electricity
New analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in partnership with The Wonderful Company outlines steps for turning piles of waste into a potentially powerful solution to lower one company’s carbon footprint. Read more about NREL’s solution for pistachio waste.
Waste Not, Want Not: Increasing Equity in Bioenergy Research and Beyond
Managing disposal of organic waste, such as food scraps or wastewater sludge, is different in every community—the practices and processes are shaped by a municipality’s specific needs and resources, like infrastructure and staff capacity. BETO has been working with communities across the country to help improve their organic waste management. Learn how your community can manage organic waste.
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BETO publishes Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) Report
The FCIC recently published its Annual Review of Research Fiscal Year 2021 report, which presents an overview of the research accomplishments of FCIC members in fiscal year FY 2021, covering both the low- and high-temperature conversion pathways and all three process areas:
- Feedstock harvest and storage
- Preprocessing
- Conversion
The key research achievements of each process areas are presented, along with planned FY 2022 work that will build on the FY 2021 accomplishments.
Read the full report on the BETO website.
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Finalists Selected for Wood Heater Design Challenge
 Three teams have been selected as finalists from the 2022 Wood Heater Technology Slam and will advance to the 5th Wood Heater Design Challenge in spring of 2023. The Technology Slam was held in September 2022 and allowed teams to pitch innovative wood stove ideas to retailers, the public, and panels of experts, who assessed which stove was the most innovative and had the greatest market potential. The three finalists are:
- Aprovecho Research Center from Cottage Grove, Oregon
- Davidon Industries from Warwick, Rhode Island
- Kleiss Engineering from Cloverdale, Indiana
You can find more information about the three finalists and the Wood Heater Design Challenge on Brookhaven National Laboratory’s website
Upcoming and Past BETO Events
Learn more about BETO events on the event calendar. See below for information on future and past events. Subscribe to learn about BETO’s workshops and webinars.
Upcoming Events
Past Events
Webinars
Cost-Effectively Optimize and Scale Bioenergy Technologies with the Consortium for Computational Physics and Chemistry, October 2022
STEMtember – Ready, Set, Join the BETO Webinar on Internships and Fellowship Opportunities! September 2022
Cutting-Edge Technologies for Accelerating Bioproduct Development at the Agile BioFoundry, September 2022
Promising Approaches for Reducing Methane Emissions in the United States, April 2022
Agile BioFoundry Bioproduct Project Overview, April 2022
Current State of Sustainable Marine Fuels, March 2022
AlgaePrize Competition Office Hours; February 2022
Biomass Feedstock Supply Challenges and Solutions with Idaho National Laboratory; January 2022
Share this newsletter with your network and encourage them to sign up to receive regular communications about BETO webinars, workshops, Bioprose: Bioenergy R&D Blogs, funding opportunities, and technical reports
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