The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $29.5 million to 15 projects to improve the current science and infrastructure for utilizing waste streams, often disproportionately located in underserved communities, and support the development of...
August 31, 2022
minute read time
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $29.5 million to 15 projects to improve the current science and infrastructure for utilizing waste streams, often disproportionately located in underserved communities, and support the development of improved organisms and inorganic catalysts for the production of valuable biofuels and bioproducts that can benefit the local energy economy. This effort will advance DOE goals to deliver a renewable energy future and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.
“It is our responsibility to lift burdens from communities and help them achieve a safer and more sustainable future while we continue to set the global standard for environmental stewardship,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “These projects in bioenergy waste and carbon conversion technologies will transform an economic and environmental hardship into a renewable energy asset.”
Waste streams, including municipal solid waste, animal manure, wastewater residuals, and other organic wastes, are a key feedstock for producing biofuels and bioproducts. However, these waste streams can be an economic liability to the communities managing them and often lead to a multitude of health impacts on surrounding populations.
The selected projects will:
- Research and develop valuable bioenergy resources: Awardees across 5 projects will look into the development of improved organisms and inorganic catalysts to support the next generation of low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts.
- Improve science and infrastructure for converting waste streams: Awardees across 10 projects will help enable waste feedstocks utilization and robust conversion processes to produce low-carbon biofuels that reduce emissions from high emissions sectors such as aviation. This effort is complementary to the Synthetic Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge, a government-wide effort which aims to achieve a zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050.
These projects fall into four topic areas for the “FY22 Waste Feedstocks and Conversion R&D” funding opportunity:
- Municipal Solid Waste Feedstock Technologies
- Robust Microbial Cells
- Robust Catalytic Processes
- Community Scale Resource and Energy Recovery from Organic Wastes
This funding is administered by DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), which is focused on developing technologies that convert domestic biomass and other waste resources into low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. BETO is part of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The following topics were selected:
| Selectee | Location (City, State) | Project Title | Federal Cost Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Area 1: Municipal Solid Waste Feedstock Technologies | |||
| University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY | Surface Enhanced Preprocessing of MSW for Year-Round Supply of Conversion-Ready Feedstocks | $2,116,749 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester, MA | Removing Physical and Chemical Bottlenecks for Hydrothermal Waste-to-Energy through Intensified Conditioning of Blended High Solid Waste Slurries | $1,628,551 |
| Gas Technology Institute | Des Plaines, IL | Carbonaceous Chemistry Improvement of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Gasification | $1,637,362 |
| Michigan Technical University | Houghton, MI | Solvent Targeted Recovery and Precipitation (STRAP) For Recovery of Biogenic Materials and Plastics from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) | $2,250,000 |
| Iowa State University | Ames, IA | Conversion of Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) Rejected Wastes to Value-added Products for Various Material Applications | $2,250,000 |
| North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC | Sargassum and Wood Waste for Aviation Fuel and Graphite (SWAG) | $2,250,000 |
| Topic Area 2: Robust Microbial Cells | |||
| Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis, MO | Understanding and Controlling Cell-to-Cell Variability for Robust Bioconversion | $2,458,134 |
| Washington State University | Pullman, WA | Improving the Longevity of Methanothermobacter wolfeii strain BSEL when Converting Biogas with Hydrogen to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) | $2,500,000 |
| The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH | Continuous n-butanol production from lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates | $2,500,000 |
| Topic Area 3: Robust Catalytic Processes | |||
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation | Lexington, KY | Robust Engineered Catalysts for the Conversion of Algae and Waste Oleaginous Biomass Feedstocks to Fuel-like Hydrocarbons via Decarboxylation/Decarbonylation (deCOx) | $1,373,311 |
| University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL | Sustainable Aviation Fuels from Biomass Derived Ethanol | $2,500,000 |
| Topic Area 4: Community Scale Resource and Energy Recovery from Organic Wastes | |||
| City of Gainesville, Florida | Gainesville, FL | Anaerobic Digestion Feasibility Analysis | $400,000 |
| Yolo County Division of Integrated Waste Management | Woodland, CA | TRIFTS Biogas to Renewable Fuel Technology Evaluation | $1,498,904 |
| Great Lakes Water Authority | Detroit, MI | Hydrothermal Liquefaction to Convert Organic Wet Waste to Transportation Fuels | $1,500,000 |
| Town of Yarmouth | Yarmouth, MA | Cape Cod Municipal Solid Waste Organics Diversion & Contamination Mitigation Program | $1,495,000 |