ROADMAP

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) published a fact sheet on biofuel innovation in April 2022. The following are current initiatives in place to meet the goal of a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050.[1]

  • Biofuels for existing vehicle fleets – DOE is funding R&D to develop processes to take landfill gas or biogas from an anaerobic digester and turn it into cost effective, carbon neutral/ negative renewable diesel.
  • Sustainable Aviation Fuels – BETO is researching methods to foster biofuel use for aviation by lowering costs and increasing accessibility such as developing catalysts and biocatalysts and upgrading biomass-derived intermediates.
  • Lower Marine Emissions through Biofuels – BETO commissioned an effort to outline the opportunities and challenges associated with using biofuels on marine vessels.
  • Biofuels to support existing fuel infrastructure – BETO is working with industry to encourage co-location of bioenergy processing facilities and the reuse of equipment and utilities to lower upfront costs and reduce long-term operating costs. BETO is also funding projects to develop data to help close gaps and risks associated with refinery integration.[2]

The Bioenergy Technologies Office Multi-Year Program Plan, updated in March 2016 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) provides a roadmap for technology pathways for bioenergy feedstocks. EERE’s Technology Pathways Framework is discussed below:

“The technology pathways framework integrates efforts among the technical program areas and aligns with major bioenergy industry market segments. Figure 2-3 illustrates how the Office program areas seek to leverage the broad diversity of potential bioenergy feedstocks while reducing supply risks through developing a wide range of conversion technologies to produce and distribute bioenergy and bioproducts.”[3]

Source: Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2016[4]

 

Updated by Erin Bennett, June 2022