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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wild type algal strains don’t have the productivity and robust growth characteristics needed to push algae forward as a biofuel feedstock, but researchers are working on changing that. Stephen Mayfield from the University of California San Diego, shared the latest research developments at the U.S.
DOE Project Peer Review
March 3, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Reducing cost and improving manufacturability of the biomass sugar platform through Continuous Enzymatic Hydrolysis (CEH) technology is one of the goals for NREL. James D. McMillan from NREL shared the latest research developments at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) 2019 Project
February 26, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Two birds with one stone – if you can get BOTH a clean sugar stream for the production of hydrocarbon fuels AND lignins that can feed multiple product streams, then you are talking economic viability. Eric L. Hegg from Michigan State University, shared the latest research developments
February 21, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Sean Simpson and Michael Köpke from LanzaTech and researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory are working on developing and scaling up a novel technology platform for direct conversion of biomass syngas to acetone, which can be converted into a range of fuels and commodities via existing
February 18, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Everyone wants more productive algal strains – but how do you get them? Can you advance the technology enough to get economical, large-scale algal biofuel production? Ron Chance and Paul Roessler, both of Algenol Biotech, shared this illuminating presentation at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies
February 13, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Scott Twary from Los Alamos National Laboratory is working on how to design an integrated strain improvement platform for algae with faster production and to meet BETO’s mission goals of developing technologies for algae strain improvement to meet biomass yield and productivity goals. Get the latest
February 11, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Eliminating cost and site-location constraints –sounds like something we all want. But there’s a project working on getting rid of those constraints posed by the supply of concentrated CO2 to microalgae farms while simultaneously achieving high seasonal productivities. Their objectives include improving scale and productivity of
February 7, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’sBioenergy Technology Incubator 2 project is looking at how to directly produce ‘drop in’ ready biofuel (ethyl or methyl laurate) by cyanobacteria using CO2, water, and light as the main inputs. Check out the latest results of this project
February 4, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We are always trying to optimize – optimize processes, efficiencies, cost, value, and more, but did you know that the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office has a program just for this sort of thing? The ADO or Advanced Development and Optimization program has several
January 29, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Electrification and batteries can’t remove the need for carbon,and a more sustainable economy is not a low-carbon economy as much as it will be a renewable carbon based economy, according to Ian Rowe, Technology Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office. Check out
January 27, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) With 3 trillion vehicle miles in the U.S. and 11 billion freight tons, transportation is key to our way of life, and the Department of Energy realizes it hits our national energy usage in many ways. That’s why they are researching it all levels from components
January 23, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s a lot of flat, dry land in the U.S. but researchers at Arizona State University and others are looking at how that land could support biofuel production. How about evaporation-resistant reactors coupled with thermotolerant, high-productivity mixotrophic algae? Check out this Slide-Guide from P.I. Peter Lammers
January 22, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) $2.25/gal or less than $3/gge (gallon gasoline equivalent) sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? That is one of the goals of a project that is working on developing engineered clostridial strains and a fermentation process that can directly utilize cellulose and fix CO2 for n-butanol production from
December 4, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Microbial strains convert lignocellulosic sugars to fuel precursors, but Jeff Linger from National Renewable Energy Laboratory gave this illuminating presentation at the DOE’s BETO 2019 Project Peer Review that details how they are looking to develop and optimize hybrid biological routes to be coupled with
December 3, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Did you know that Dow and LanzaTechpreviously validated syngas conversion to fatty alcohols via the +1 pathway (LeuABCD) in Clostridium? There is a project underway now to develop a new bio-syngas fermentation process using engineered bacteria for production of intermediate (C6-C14) fatty alcohols leveraging robust chemical
November 29, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The commercialization of algae has several challenges, but Lieve M. Laurens from National Renewable Energy Laboratory gave this illuminating presentation at the DOE’s BETO 2019 Project Peer Review that details how they are trying to reduce the cost of algal biofuels by increasing intrinsic algal biomass
November 26, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Amyris is working on a MegaBio goal. Mega because it’s a big goal – develop a fully integrated and scalable process to produce farnesene from cellulosic sugars at $2 per liter in the U.S. Quinn Mitrovich from Amyris gave this illuminating presentation at the DOE’s BETO 2019
November 25, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Streamlined Optimization of Filamentous Arthrospira/SpirulinaTraits (SOFAST) is looking at algae in a whole new way. Lumen Bioscience in particular has been working on a unique, patented technology to genetically enhance Arthrospira for improved growth and biomass composition for biofuels and bioproducts. Damian Carrieri from Lumen Bioscience gave
November 6, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Agile BioFoundry brings together a specialist team of scientists, engineers, and technical staff from eight of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, with the aim that their collective skills, expertise, and experience lead to rapid innovation and growth in the biomanufacturing sector. The
October 17, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wouldn’t it be great if we could boost fermentation of high-toxicity biomass hydrolysates? Well, folks are working on this via enhanced biocatalytic tolerance. At the recent DOE BETO 2019 Project Peer Review, Felix Lam and Gregory Stephanopoulos from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared how they
October 4, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Drop-in fuels from syngas are in. Syngas feedstocks are relatively inexpensive and diverse, thermophiles have several unique advantages, and end products have value as fuel and solvent applications among others. Sounds like win, win, win, right? But the big question that Kiverdi and NREL are working
October 3, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As frustrated as you may get with your pet sometimes, we aren’t talking about upcycling dogs and cats here, but PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic that is typically landfilled. One group at NREL and ORNL are working on developing cost-effective biological methods to better breakdown and upcycle
October 2, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The industry is always on the look for microbial pathways that are capable of producing high carbon efficiency intermediates that are amenable to economic bioconversion, separation, and catalytic upgrading to hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. At the recent DOE BETO 2019 Project Peer Review, Min Zhang
October 1, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Enzyme technology enables advanced biofuels. But can we do better? Can enzymes improve conversion? Can understanding enzyme structure, function, activity technology enable industrial enzyme improvement while reducing company R&D cost? Michael Himmel, Senior Research Fellow from NREL’s Biomolecular Sciences group gave this presentation at the DOE’s BETO
September 30, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Converting algae to fuels is challenging. But PNNL is working on developing process models and techno-economic analysis to inform hydrothermal liquefaction algae conversion research for fuels and chemicals. Check out what Susanne Jones and others from PNNL shared as part of the 2019 BETO Peer
September 20, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We all know plastics are an issue but could there be a solution with a circular carbon economy for plastics? That’s exactly what BETO is looking at with biobased designs for recyclability, reduced use, improved properties, and anaerobic digestion and composting. They are asking what
September 19, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Developing efficient and economical biological and chemical technologies to convert biomass feedstocks into energy-dense liquid transportation fuels, such as renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, as well as bioproducts, chemical intermediates, and biopower is the primary goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Conversion R&D team. As
September 18, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) CO2 is one of those things you love to hate, but it’s there and it’s not going away, so if we don’t find a way to use it, isn’t it a missed opportunity? As part of the 2019 BETO Peer Review, Ian Rowe from the
September 17, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) PACE – Producing Algae for Coproducts and Energy, has several project goals including increasing algal biomass productivity to >25 grams dry weight per meter squared per day using robust engineered algal strains to reduce costs. So how do we get these high value, high market algal
September 16, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Noone knows fungus like these guys. A PNNL team has been developing fungal genetic engineering tools for industrially relevant fungi (filamentous and yeasts) and applying them to development of biofuel and bioproduct bioprocesses in stirred tank reactors. Jon Magnuson from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory gave this
September 13, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Petroleum based lubricants are everywhere, but Cargill is working on producing lubricants from cellulosic sugars instead. Utilizing a novel bioprocess that converts lignocellulosic hydrolysate sugars to caprylatemethyl ester, they are laying the foundation for this product to be used more extensively in current applications and open
September 12, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Shawn Jones from White Dog Labs shared this as part of the of U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office presentations on second-generation mixotrophy for the highest yield and least expensive biochemical production. Check out The Digest’s slides on how this project is working on
September 9, 2019
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(U.S. Department of Energy) From March 4–8, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, hosted the 2019 Project Peer Review in Denver, Colorado. This was the largest Peer Review in BETO history—almost 600 people attended the event! Bioenergy researchers
May 3, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Researchersfrom several labs and universities like Georgia Tech, Sandia National Labs, University of Dayton, and others are working together on Engine Optimized Sustainable Drop-in JET High Performance Fuels (HPF). Anthe George manages the Biomass Science and Conversion Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories and gave this illuminating
April 17, 2019
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting the 2019 Project Peer Review on March 4-8, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. Approximately 90% of projects in BETO’s early-stage research and development portfolio will be presented to the public and systematically reviewed by external subject-matter experts from industry, academia,
October 29, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy’s Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy says that 1.2 billion tons of biomass would be available at $40 or less per ton by 2040, and 1 billion tons would be available by 2030, for conversion into biofuels. Compared to the original
August 6, 2018
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Deeper into the Biomass: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to the DOE’s Billion Ton Report, Vol. 2
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy’s Billion-Ton Report: Advancing Domestic Resources for a Thriving Bioeconomy says that 1.2 billion tons of biomass would be available at $40 or less per ton by 2040, and 1 billion tons would be available by 2030, for conversion into biofuels. Compared to the original
August 2, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy has a key project called Co-Optima, which aims to determine key fuel properties that enable improved engine efficiency, provide key science to enable high efficiency combustion modes, and capitalize on unique properties available from bio-blendstocks. Within that project is an emphasis
July 31, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s the latest with carbon fiber? The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop and demonstrate an acrylonitrile (bio-ACN) production process from biomass-derived sugars at ≤ $1/lb. Additionally, the team led by NREL’s Adam Bratis aims to demonstrate suitability of bio-ACN for the production of
March 5, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The DOE is supporting a project to develop engineered clostridia strains and fermentation process that can directly utilize cellulose and fix CO2 for n-butanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. The engineered strains can be used in fermentation to produce n-butanol from lignocellulosic biomass at a targeted cost of
March 5, 2018
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Last spring, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) conducted its seventh biennial external review of its research, development, and communications portfolio. More than 40 external subject matter experts from industry, academia, and federal agencies reviewed over 277 projects across BETO’s nine technology
February 27, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project led by Novozymes that proposes to deliver a screening platform which can be used to reduce discovery time required for tailoring enzymes to process specific contexts. It’s called SynTec — Synthetic Biology for Tailored Enzyme Cocktails — and its one of
February 27, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first demo flight on biofuel which was done by Virgin Atlantic. LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren shared the factoid that, since that day, more than 100,000 commercial flights have used low carbon fuels. “This is especially amazing since in 2006
February 27, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The objective? To create an economically viable process for the production of butanol from the underutilized natural resources domestically available economically sustainable biofuel at or below DOE target selling price. And, suitable for roll-out in multiple regions containing agricultural residues and underutilized forest residuals. Not to mention, able to
February 26, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) You know what they say, “you can make anything you want from lignin except money.” It’s the most challenging issues in biofuel production: upgrading the lignin-containing biorefineryresidues to fungible bioproducts, in an affordable, effective, scalable way. The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can it be done? That is, development of a sustainable green chemistry platform for production of acetone and downstream drop-in fuel and commodity products directly from biomass syngas via a novel energy conserving route in engineered acetogenic bacteria? It’s not only the longest title of a
February 22, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy has a key project called Co-Optima, which aims to determine key fuel properties that enable improved engine efficiency, provide key science to enable high efficiency combustion modes, and capitalize on unique properties available from bio-blendstocks. Within that project is an emphasis
February 21, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We’ve been covering some important movements in the design and performance of yeast in recent weeks, including the arrival of Novozymes’ Innova drive strains. Most of the activity has been focused on 1G ethanol fermentation. But it’s been known for a long time that engineering a
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a Kiverdi-led project to develop microbial biocatalysts to convert syngas into monoterpenes. Syngas feedstocks are relatively inexpensive and diverse, and thermophiles have several unique advantages; Meanwhile, end products have value as fuel and solvent applications among others. The diversity
February 19, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Consortium for Computational Physics and Chemistry (CCPC) is a joint core research and development activity among five national laboratories that has been created to utilize unique DOE computational modeling facilities and experience in order to accelerate the discovery and deployment of novel materials in support
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In the world of bio-oil production, current technologies have low carbon retention in fuel range and high hydrogen consumption. The DOE is supporting a project led by Daniel Resasco at the University of Oklahoma to develop a more effective fractionation, combined with catalytic upgrading for carbon-carbon
Lignin Unchained, 3D Printable: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Engineered Lignin Bioplastics
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The project goal? To produce and commercialize lignin-derived, industrial-grade composites with properties including 3D printability, rivaling current petroleum-derived alternatives. That’s the project undertaken by a team led by Amit K. Naskar, of the Carbon & Composites Group Materials Science & Technology Division at the Oak Ridge
February 13, 2018
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(U.S. Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted the 2017 Project Peer Review on March 6–9, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. During the event, approximately 192 projects in BETO’s research, development, and demonstration portfolio were presented to the public and systematically reviewed by more than
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The presence of significant concentrations of oxygen-bearing compounds, particularly carboxylic acids and other carbonyl-containing compounds, makes biomass derived oils corrosive to many common structural materials. So says everyone. But a research team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory led by Jim Keiser, sponsored by the DOE Bioenergy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) To develop and optimize a hybrid separation method to recover high-value methoxyphenols to improve the process economics and environmental impact for the production of advanced biofuels from catalytic pyrolysis, integrated with hydroprocessing. That’s the ambitious R&D goal outlined by a team from RTI International, supported by
January 31, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Improving hydrogen utilization and carbon recovery, as a pathway to higher efficiency bio-oil production using thermochemical process? That’s the focus for a project from RTI International that picked up significant DOE support in the search for $3 per gallon hydrocarbon biofuels. The researchers aim to increase
January 29, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can you build a catalytic process to produce alpha, omega diols from lignocellulosic biomass? Such a process, using inorganic catalysts for conversion of biomass into 1.5 pentanediol (PDO) and 1,6 hexanediols could reduce the cost of cellulosic biofuels. In this DOE-supported project, a team led by
January 26, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Brazil Bilateral is a co-operative R&D effort between Brazil’s Petrobras and the US National renewable Energy Laboratory. It aims to demonstrate technical and economic feasibility of co-processing raw fast pyrolysis oil in Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) operation, establish collaborations with credible commercial partners, generate co-processing
January 25, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
January 2, 2018
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Industrially-Relevant Strains: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Biological Upgrading of Sugars
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
December 29, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Agile BioFoundry, designed to productionize synthetic biology, is a public infrastructure investment aimed at increasing U.S. industrial competitiveness and enables new opportunities for private sector growth and jobs. Specifically, the foundry aims to enable a biorefinery to achieve a positive return on investment through a 50%
October 17, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project from DMC Limited and Duke University to develop scalable and cost-effective next generation semi-continuous fermentation based processes for biofuels, reducing commercial scale capital costs 5-10 fold. The rationale? Rapid engineering of robust microbial hosts enables the production of
October 12, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to better manage seasonal variation in algal biomass production, through stabilization to reduce conversion costs, and to reduce ash to increase conversion yield. In this project led by Lynn Wendt and Bradley Wahlen at Idaho National Laboratory, researchers are working
September 26, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop and optimize a hybrid separation method to recover high-value methoxyphenols to improve the process economics and environmental impact for the production of advanced biofuels from catalytic pyrolysis integrated with hydroprocessing. The project also aims to
September 21, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to demonstrate the techno‐economic feasibility of upgrading biomass derived pyrolysis oil using electro-deoxygenation process. A ceramic membrane that selectively transports oxygen under an applied electric potential is integrated with a fast pyrolysis unit for in-situ removal of
September 19, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to identify and mitigate the challenges of moving new fuels and vehicles into markets. Including but not limited to: facilitating new fuel standards needed for introduction into the marketplace; identifying vehicle, distribution, and infrastructure compatibility of
September 18, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop a biological approach to depolymerize lignin for upgrading of aromatic compounds to co-products. Lignin valorization is key for meeting the DOE’s hydrocarbon fuel cost and sustainability targets in integrated biorefineries. Principal investigators Gregg Beckham
September 15, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project led by Pacific Northwest National Lab to develop a new deconstruction technology to provide low ash and low impurity sugars and sugar-derived intermediates from lignocellulosic feeds for use in catalytic and biochemical conversions. As the researchers note, “catalysis and
September 15, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project led by Michael Himmell at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop technology to meet or exceed the target of 10 mg/g cellulose on pretreated feedstocks and feedstock blends. Attainment of this overall enzyme cost is consistent
September 13, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop efficient and robust fungal biocatalysts and bioprocesses that utilize lignocellulose feedstocks to produce advanced biofuels and bioproducts at lower cost. Fungus — they know just about everything there is to know about robustly deconstructing
September 12, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting projects to investigate and recommend promising pathways for advanced biological upgrading of biomass sugars and lignin to hydrocarbons (HC) and co-products to support the DOE BETO 2022 goal of enabling advanced HC fuels at $3/GGE. In this project,
September 11, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project within its Advanced Algal Systems Platform to define the indicators of sustainable algal biofuels, and determine best practices for sustainably meeting productivity and profitability goals. A research team led by Rebecca Efroymson at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Environmental Sciences Division
September 7, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project on hydrothermal liquefaction — a thermochemical interface for algae biofuels — developing processing methods to reduce conversion cost, improve sustainability and enable commercialization of algal biofuels while validating conversion processing at engineering scale. Dan Anderson is
September 6, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop a catalyst cost estimation tool that would enable rapid and informed cost-based decisions in research and commercialization of catalysts. As the research team notes, “Nearly all biomass conversion processes rely on catalysis as do many biochemical
September 1, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy is supporting a NREL-led project to establish a novel gas fermentation bioprocess for secretion of an array of fuel and chemical intermediates. The project also aims to develop a novel methanotrophic biocatalyst and fermentation configuration for the production of muconic
August 31, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy initiated a project to advance a hybrid conversion technology for catalytic upgrading of biomass-derived syngas to produce Alcohol-to-Jet fuel and chemicals while meeting the cost, quality and environmental requirements of the aviation industry. Ultimately the goal is to demonstrate that ethanol
August 29, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The DOE established and funded a project to develop a novel Multistage Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) of biomass and integrate with Virent’s Catalytic BioForming Process to efficiently produce cost effective “drop‐in” fuels from woody biomass and corn stover, with particular focus in maximizing jet fuel and
August 28, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy has established a project to reduce cost of algal biofuels by increasing intrinsic algal biomass value, with two specific goals. First, to Identify and isolate scalable, high-value key products in biomass and process streams to improve algal biofuels economics. Second, to
August 25, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Back in 2014, Sapphire Energy and the US Department of Energy embarked on a project to advance Sapphire’s (then) biomass production technologies across three priority areas to meet a target of 2,500 gallons of oil per acre per year by 2018. Productivity is directly related
August 24, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In June 2011, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Energy, and Navy signed MOU to commit $510M (up to $170M from each agency) to produce hydrocarbon jet and diesel biofuels in the near-term. This initiative sought to achieve multiple, commercial scale integrated biorefineries, cost-competitive biofuel with conventional
August 22, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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,
August 18, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 16, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 15, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 14, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 11, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 10, 2017
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Industrially-Relevant Strains: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Biological Upgrading of Sugars
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 9, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 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
August 8, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The US Department of Energy has set a goal to “Select and develop at least one route for catalytic upgrading of sugars/related intermediates and/or biologically derived intermediates into fuel blendstockswith conversion performance than can achieve a MFSP of $3/GGE by 2022 with >25% (GGE basis)
August 7, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ChemCatBio is a research and development consortium dedicated to identifying and overcoming catalysis challenges for biomass conversion processes. Led by U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, the consortium works “with industry to rapidly transition R&D discoveries into commercial processes and grow the bioeconomy in the
August 3, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) At the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review, John Staser of Ohio University gave this illuminating overview on a continuous electrochemical process to convert biorefinery waste lignin to substituted aromatic compounds for resins and resin binders. The hope? To generate additional biorefinery revenue stream and reduce
June 26, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Lysle Whitmer on behalf of an Iowa State-led group of researchers gave this illuminating overview of Liquefaction of Forest Biomass to Drop-in Fuels, at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 23, 2017
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And No Extra Hydrogen: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to One-Step, High-Yield, Drop-In Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Vertimass’ John Hannon gave this illuminating overview of one-step, high-yield production of drop-in fuels without added hydrogen, at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 22, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Mark Huntley and Zackary Johnson gave this illuminating overview of the MAGIC Marine Algae consortium project at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 21, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Arizona State’s Wim Vermaas gave this illuminating overview of Direct Photosynthetic Production of Biodiesel by Decoupled Cyanobacteria at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 21, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Michael Huessmann and John Benemann gave this illuminating overview of Microalgae Biofuels Production on CO2 from Air at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 21, 2017
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On March 6–9, 2017, BETO hosted its biennial Project Peer Review in Denver, Colorado. During the event, approximately 192 projects in BETO’s research and development (R&D) portfolio were presented to the public and a panel of external subject matter experts. Want to learn more about BETO’s R&D portfolio? Project presentations
May 26, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can we enable the sustainable, nationwide production of biofuels that are compatible with transportation infrastructure, displace a share of petroleum‐derived fuels to reduce U.S. dependence on oil, and encourage the creation of a new domestic bioenergy industry According to an NREL-led team, methane-rich biogas offers
May 4, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The program objective seen in these slides is to take a technology from Technical Readiness Level 2 to TRL 3/4 — a technology that directly upgrades ethanol to a drop-in hydrocarbon fuel at a high yield. Among the investors here are three of the technology
February 22, 2017
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From Off-Take to Take-Off: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to the US Renewable Jet Fuels Program
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In June 2011, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Energy, and Navy signed MOU to commit $510M (up to $170M from each agency) to produce hydrocarbon jet and diesel biofuels in the near-term. This initiative sought to achieve multiple, commercial scale integrated biorefineries, cost-competitive biofuel with conventional
February 21, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) According to this presentation deck from NREL’s Melvin Tucker, “to produce high concentration sugar and reactive lignin streams at high yields and low costs from biomass to meet BETO’s 2017 ($5/GGE) and 2022 ($3/GGE) Goals and Targets, the industry needs: •To reduce enzyme loadings below 10 mg
February 20, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) To demonstrate an advanced biofuels technology that integrates a catalytic biomass pyrolysis step and a hydroprocessing step to produce infrastructure compatible biofuels, here’s the basic recipe, according to a research team led by David Dayton at RTI International. You have to: 1) optimize the catalytic biomass pyrolysis
February 17, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As the project team behind this presentation explains, there’s trouble right here in River City when it comes to accessing good market and technical data on making hydrocarbons from a biochemical process. Process and economic data on hydrocarbon production via bioconversion that are freely available
February 16, 2017
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Bioconversion of Lignin Derivatives to Biofuels: The Digest’s Multi-Slide Guide to Value from Lignin
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The goal? Develop microbial biocatalysts to convert lignin-rich streams into value-added products. That’s subject which this project — “Synthetic Metabolic Pathways for Bioconversion of Lignin Derivatives to Biofuels,” led by Oak Ridge National Lab’s Adam Guss — has taken on. Adding value to the lignin fraction
February 13, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) BPA designs, builds, and operates commercial scale Grower Harvester bioreactors that enable efficient conversion of light and CO2 into high value microbial feedstock. BioProcess Algae LLC is based in Omaha, Neb. and is currently running a demonstration plant at the Green Plains Inc. ethanol plant
February 9, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) To “Demonstrate an advanced biofuels technology that integrates a catalytic biomass pyrolysis step and a hydroprocessing step to produce infrastructure compatible biofuels,” that’s the ratuional behind a DOE project with RTI in the lead, aimed at optimizing the catalytic biomass pyrolysis process (1 ton/day) to
February 7, 2017
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The public is invited to join the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) at the 2017 Project Peer Review on March 6–9, 2017, in Denver, Colorado, for an opportunity to learn more about innovation in bioenergy technologies and the BETO project portfolio. The 2017 Project Peer Review will
November 6, 2016
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by Sonja van Renssen (Energy Post) Biofuels are returning to the political agenda in Europe as EU policymakers start to shape a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport after 2020. Biofuels producers continue to argue that they are an essential part of the solution, even as the low
March 3, 2016
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by Osaretin Omorodion* (Advanced Biofuels USA) During late March 2015, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) offered what amounted to a seminar for the public consisting of a series of presentations from industry professionals and researchers from various bioenergy projects. The presenters came to the Washington,
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s the latest with such projects such as Frontline BioEnergy, Myriant, POET-DSM, INEOS Bio, Sapphire Energy, Abengoa, Haldor Topsoe, UOP. ZeaChem, Mercurius, and American Process, among others? In Washington this June 25th, the Department of Energy will publish its annual 2015 Project Peer Review final
May 18, 2015
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(US Department of Energy) Visit the 2015 Project Peer Review Web page to download individual project and plenary presentations from BETO’s 2015 Project Peer Review. The peer review process provided BETO with feedback about the management of each of its technology area portfolios and the Office’s strategic direction. More than 380
April 30, 2015
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The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting the 2015 Project Peer Review on March 23–27, 2015, at the Hilton Mark Center, in Alexandria, Virginia. Approximately 185 projects in BETO’s research, development, and demonstration portfolio will be presented to the public and systematically reviewed by external subject-matter experts from industry, academia,
March 4, 2015
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(US Department of Energy) In 2013, BETO implemented a comprehensive external review of its project portfolio through a Project Peer Review and Program Management Review. Results of this peer review process inform the Office’s strategic planning, budget formulation, FOA development, and other budget and funding decisions. The Final Peer Review
March 5, 2014
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(US Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will provide an opportunity for external experts from industry, academia, and government to review the projects
April 25, 2013
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Each year at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program and Vehicle Technologies Program Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting (AMR) hydrogen, fuel cell and advanced vehicle technologies projects funded by DOE are presented and viewed for their merit. The 2012 AMR was held May
June 14, 2012
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(US Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program will be conducting detailed biennial peer review meetings of its activities throughout the first half of 2011. The process will begin with platform reviews of the Program’s six technology areas between February
June 24, 2011
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All Programs in the U.S Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, are required to conduct a Peer Review of their funded projects on an annual or biannual schedule. The Office of Biomass Program (OBP) conducts these reviews by hosting a series of Project Peer Reviews for each of
July 17, 2009
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