Bioenergy News
Explore our archive of Bioenergy news stories.
Dec. 21, 2022
Using Machine Learning, the NREL-Led Team Discovered Variants of "Plastic-Eating" Enzymes Adapted To Deconstructing all Varieties of PET--Even Durable Crystalline Varieties
Dec. 15, 2022
Over his 40-plus-year career, Michael E. Himmel has unraveled the complexities of using enzymes to deconstruct lignocellulosic biomass for climate-friendly fuels.
Dec. 12, 2022
NREL will begin work early next year on a series of additions and improvements to two of its campuses made possible by $150 million in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Dec. 6, 2022
NREL and BioPrincipia, a Georgia-based bioprocess technology company, are partnering to scale NREL's fermentation process for producing 2,3-butanediol.
Dec. 5, 2022
It was not even close. In 2022, seaweed levels floating in the Caribbean smashed the record set in 2018 by 20%. You could see the consequences drifting up on shorelines from Puerto Rico to the Florida coast.
Nov. 28, 2022
A plastic-degrading enzyme and an engineered bacterial strain have just been launched into space with an important mission: to convert waste plastics to upcycled materials during spaceflight.
Nov. 15, 2022
Eight scientists from NREL were named today to the Highly Cited Researchers list, including two who are making their first appearance.
Nov. 10, 2022
Renewable fuels still carry a high burden of proof: They need to be high performing, efficient, and cost-effective. Analysis performed by national laboratory researchers has uncovered a slate of biofuels produced from organic materials, including plants and agricultural waste, that have the potential to replace petroleum-derived fuel.
Oct. 25, 2022
Read a summary of the six manufacturing experts profiled throughout the year as part of NREL's Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series.
Oct. 20, 2022
To commemorate Bioenergy Day, NREL is reflecting on recent partnerships, technical advancements, and research breakthroughs in making sustainable aviation fuel from biomass, capturing and recycling carbon from the atmosphere, enabling circular economies for materials, sending research projects into space, and more.
Oct. 13, 2022
Combining chemical and biological processes is a promising new strategy for the valorization of mixed plastic waste, according to researchers with the Bio-Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment (BOTTLE) Consortium.
Sept. 29, 2022
"Science" was a class you probably took in school, but the subject matter you studied was not the only thing you learned.
Sept. 29, 2022
West Gate is a program that embeds innovators at NREL and pairs them with national laboratory scientists and capabilities over a period of two years, during which they have prime access to world-class national laboratory capabilities and expertise to significantly advance the development of their clean-energy technologies.
Sept. 22, 2022
For some entrepreneurs, carbon dioxide is more than a greenhouse gas. It is an opportunity and a business case for decarbonizing fuel and chemical production.
Sept. 22, 2022
Researchers at three institutions—NREL, MIT, and Washington State University—report success in using lignin as a path toward a drop-in 100% sustainable aviation fuel. Other parts of plants are used for biofuels, but lignin has been largely overlooked because of the difficulties in breaking it down chemically and converting it into useful products.
Sept. 14, 2022
As part of the Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series, Avantika Singh shares why she hates waste and what she's doing to help combat it.
Aug. 25, 2022
On Aug. 9-10, 2022, NREL convened its sixth Partner Forum at its Golden, Colorado, campus, pulling together public and private sector leaders to collaboratively explore solutions for sustainable aviation.
Aug. 8, 2022
A critical pathway for producing large quantities of low- to negative-carbon sustainable aviation fuel is enroute to market following a collaborative research and development agreement between NREL and Alder Fuels.
July 28, 2022
Researchers at NREL will send an engineered bacteria into space as early as next year as part of ongoing research into solving the problem of plastic waste mitigation on Earth.
July 27, 2022
Bakers ferment dough for a well-risen loaf of bread. Brewers ferment wheat and barley for a smooth, malty glass of beer. And as nature's foremost bakers and brewers, some microbes can do even more.
July 15, 2022
NREL has been selected to receive over $5.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the development of technologies that can transform buildings into carbon storage structures.
July 15, 2022
From sustainable fuels to airport infrastructure analysis to next-gen aircraft, NREL offers solutions for lowering emissions in a sector that is among the most difficult to decarbonize.
July 6, 2022
NREL researchers made for an inventive bunch in fiscal year 2021, even exceeding record-breaking activity in FY '20. A patent issued in November 2021 for compressed gas energy storage, for example, which covers the idea of injecting compressed natural gas into defunct oil and gas fracking sites, accounted for just one of 36 issued patents in FY '21.
June 15, 2022
Just as the wheels keep turning on cars, trucks, and trains, the planet keeps spinning in its orbit. All the while, climate change is accelerating, along with the dire need to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for global warming.
June 1, 2022
With fuel prices soaring, a new government-industry partnership based at NREL plans to shift the aviation market further away from oil fields and closer to the farmlands.
May 9, 2022
As part of the Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series, Nic Rorrer shares why he loves polymers as well as Legos, yoga, RuPaul's drag races, and saving the world.
April 28, 2022
Scientists at NREL calculated the energy value of landfilled plastic waste in 2019 was enough to supply 5% of the power used by the country's transportation sector, or 5.5% by the industrial sector.
April 22, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office announced 15 student teams advancing as finalists in the 2022-2023 AlgaePrize competition. Finalist teams receive $5,000 to conduct their proposed research projects over the next 16 months and will present the results next year at NREL.
March 31, 2022
Scientists from NREL's Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-Up Center have sought to reduce barriers to early-stage catalyst cost estimation by developing CatCost, a free and publicly available cost estimation tool that aims to equip researchers with the information they need to make informed R&D decisions.
March 30, 2022
A new collaboration between Amazon and NREL-led BOTTLE Consortium could be a major step toward developing solutions to global plastic pollution.
March 3, 2022
Engineers have dreamed of programming organisms to sustainably produce ethylene, a chemical nicknamed "king of petrochemicals" for its importance in plastics. Now, one pathway to this petrochemical is nearing reality, via a photosynthetic bacterium that is genetically specialized to turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into ethylene.
Feb. 24, 2022
When Americans turn on a faucet, they rely on public treatment systems to ensure the water is safe to drink. Recently, Mars Materials was granted an option for an exclusive license to use NREL's renewable acrylonitrile technology in producing polyacrylamide flocculants for commercial use in water treatment systems.
Feb. 23, 2022
Petroleum, coal, and natural gas are not the only starting points for making fuels and chemicals. In fact, growing supplies of renewable electricity open exciting new doors for making identical products at potentially a fraction of the climate cost.
Feb. 18, 2022
Three NREL teams win prestigious REMADE awards to remake recycling, improve manufacturing, and build a circular economy.
Feb. 16, 2022
Like traffic signals controlling cars through the center of town, microorganisms use metabolic signals to control the flow of energy and nutrients.
Jan. 27, 2022
Ten times stronger than steel, nearly half the weight of aluminum, far stiffer than fiberglass—carbon fiber carries a package of advantages, making it a preferred material for use in luxury sedans and Formula One racecars alike.
Jan. 13, 2022
A new competition from the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office encourages students to imagine and develop innovative technology solutions using algae as a potent and flexible energy resource.
