July 22, 2020
BY Erin Krueger
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration is seeking nominations for members of its Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee. Nominations are due July 31.
The committee advises the secretary of commerce regarding the development and administration of programs and policies to expand the competitiveness of U.S. exports of renewable energy and energy efficiency goods and services.
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The committee’s work on energy efficiency focuses on technologies, services and platforms that provide system-level energy efficiency to electricity generation, transmission and distribution. This includes smart grid technologies and services, as well as equipment that increases the resiliency of power infrastructure. The committee does not cover vehicles, biofuel feedstock or energy efficiency as it relates to consumer goods. It does, however, cover non-fossil fuels that are considered renewable fuels, including liquid biofuels and wood pellets.
The committee consists of approximately 35 members. Nominations are invited for qualified individuals who will represent U.S. companies, U.S. trade associations, and U.S. private sector organizations with activities focused on the export competitiveness of U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency goods and services.
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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.