August 6, 2018
BY Erin Krueger
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office has opened a request for information (RFI) that aims to help it understand current needs related to catalyst development for the conversion of biomass and waste streams.
On Aug. 2, the DOE published a notice in the Federal Register inviting public comments on its RFI “to understand research, capabilities and yet-to-be addressed challenges pertinent to production scale-up of catalysts for the conversion of biomass and waste streams.” The BETO also said it aims to understand enhancement capabilities of process development units at the DOE’s national laboratories in order to increase their impact.
According to the DOE, it is seeking information to help identify and understand additional areas of research, capabilities, and yet-to-be addressed challenges pertinent to production scale-up challenges. The RFI specifically targets novel catalysts used to efficiently convert lignocellulosic, waste and algal feedstocks into biofuels and bioproducts.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Responses to the RFI must be received by Sept. 14. Additional information is available on the Federal Register website.
Advertisement
Advertisement
The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced up to $23 million in funding to support research and development (R&D) of domestic chemicals and fuels from biomass and waste resources.
The U.S. DOE has announced its intent to issue funding to support high-impact research and development (R&D) projects in two priority areas: sustainable propane and renewable chemicals and algal system cultivation and preprocessing.
Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., in August introduced the Renewable Chemicals Act, a bill that aims to create a tax credit to support the production of biobased chemicals.
The Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium, a consortium of the U.S. DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, has launched an effort that aims to gather community input on the development of new biomass processing facilities.
USDA on March 8 celebrated the second annual National Biobased Products Day, a celebration to raise public awareness of biobased products, their benefits and their contributions to the U.S. economy and rural communities.