The United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than US$79 million in funding for bioenergy research and development including biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. This funding supports the Energy Department’s goal of providing consumers and businesses with a range of domestic energy options that are affordable, reliable, and secure.
Announced on May 3, 2019, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will provide funding to “address the highest priority R&D areas within biofuel technologies, bioproducts, and biopower.”
At DOE, we are focused on expanding America’s energy supply, growing the economy, and enhancing energy security, which will all be furthered by the significant advancements made in bioenergy technologies. The funding opportunities announced today will help ensure our nation’s competitive advantage in the emerging bioeconomy and allow us to continue to offer US consumers and businesses more homegrown energy choices, said Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes.
According to a statement, it includes Areas of Interest (AOIs) from all five of the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) programs: Feedstock Supply and Logistics; Advanced Algal Systems; Conversion; Advanced Development and Optimization; and Sustainability and Strategic Analysis.
Each AOI supports BETO’s objectives to reduce the minimum selling price of drop-in biofuels, lower the cost of biopower, enable high-value products from biomass or waste resources, and improve the quality of feedstock characterization and reliability of biorefinery operations.
Topics include:
- Cultivation Intensification Processes for Algae
- Biomass Component Variability and Feedstock Conversion Interface
- Efficient Wood Heaters
- Systems Research of Hydrocarbon Biofuel Technologies
- Optimization of Biomass-Derived Jet Fuel Blends
- Renewable Energy from Urban and Suburban Wastes
- Advanced Bioprocessing and Agile BioFoundry
- Plastics in the Circular Carbon Economy
- Rethinking Anaerobic Digestion
- Reducing Water, Energy, and Emissions in Bioenergy
This FOA also supports the Water Security Grand Challenge, a White House initiated, DOE-led framework to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water.
