The US Department of Energy is focusing on applied research, development and deployment to improve the performance and reduce the cost of biofuel production technologies and expand production systems in collaboration with industry.
Progress on this funding will support President Biden’s and DOE’s goals of advancing bioenergy use, achieving cost-competitive biofuels and reaching a net zero carbon economy by 2050.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $59 million to accelerate the production of biofuels and bioproducts. The aim is to reduce emissions in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise and to create high-paying jobs in rural America.
DOE thus focuses on applied research, development and deployment to improve the performance and reduce the cost of biofuel production technologies and to scale up production systems in collaboration with industry.
By reducing costs and technical risks, these efforts, the DOE says, can help pave the way for the biofuels industry to deploy integrated biorefineries on a commercial scale. Progress on this funding will support President Biden and DOE’s goals of advancing the use of bioenergy, achieving cost-competitive biofuels, and reaching a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.
Jennifer M. Granholm, US Secretary of Energy: “Energy harnessed from plants and waste represents an enormous opportunity to reduce emissions from hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as aviation, rail and shipping, while supporting high-quality jobs in rural America. DOE’s investment in biofuels is a key component of the Biden Administration’s effort to support clean energy technologies that increase our energy independence and move us closer to a net-zero carbon economy.”
The marine and aviation sectors require higher energy densities to avoid frequent refuelling stops on long flights, international shipping routes and cross-country rail routes, making it difficult to decarbonise these industries. Currently, electrification cannot meet these requirements, but sustainable, energy-dense liquid biofuels are emerging as a strong alternative to meet these needs.
The Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will advance the development of biorefineries and feedstock upgrading projects. These in turn are in line with a broader DOE strategy to support biorefinery projects that can produce sustainable renewable diesel, aviation, marine and rail fuel at all stages of development.
Encouraging innovation from lab to market helps develop production-scale biofuel technologies and create economic incentives for companies to adopt them.
Sustainable Aviation
The funding also supports DOE’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge goal of enabling the production of three billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel annually by 2030 and 35 billion gallons annually by 2050, enough to meet 100% of U.S. aviation fuel demand. This is the second in a series of “Scale-Up” FOAs.
In September 2021, the DOE awarded $64 million to 22 projects focused on developing technologies and processes that produce low-cost, low-carbon biofuels. This FOA is expected to fund between four and 20 projects.
Source: Renewable Energies Magazine (2022)