Celebrate National Bioenergy Day: Explore the Possibilities of Biomass

Today is National Bioenergy Day, an annual opportunity to recognize the role biomass and innovative technologies can play in strengthening the U.S. bioeconomy. Bioenergy is a form of energy produced from alternative feedstocks called biomass. These resources, which include agricultural and forestry residues, purpose-grown crops, algae, and waste materials, can be converted into chemicals, fertilizers, alternative fuels, and other materials to support farmers, ranchers, and consumers while also lowering prices through increased supply.

The United States has an abundant supply of biomass. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO) Billion-Ton Report establishes America’s potential to produce more than 1 billion tons of biomass annually, highlighting the scale of resources available to support a growing bioeconomy and energy security and dominance. 

In celebration of National Bioenergy Day, AFFO is highlighting recent investments, research accomplishments, and resources that demonstrate the possibilities of biomass and the innovative technologies that transform these resources into valuable products.

Exploring Bioenergy in Action

What does that transformation look like? Explore AFFO resources that cover the basics of bioenergy and offer a closer look at how researchers are advancing technologies across the bioenergy supply chain. 

• Watch the Bioenergy 101 video to learn how biomass is broken down and refined through various methods, including combustion, gasification, and fermentation, to advance technology development and innovation across the entire biomass-to-bioenergy supply chain. 
• Take a look inside the Idaho National Laboratory’s Biomass Feedstock National User Facility, which offers technology and expertise to help the U.S. bioenergy industry overcome challenges associated with the scale-up and integration of biomass preprocessing facilities.

Investing in Emerging Chemical Technologies 

These efforts are part of a broader push to move promising technologies from research to commercial application. AFFO recently announced the Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT) funding opportunity, providing up to $58 million for research, development, and pre-pilot testing of innovative chemical technologies that use alternative and waste feedstocks and accelerate domestic chemical manufacturing. ASPECT uses a phased approach designed to move promising technologies from laboratory research to pre-pilot-scale testing.

AFFO also announced its intent to issue a funding opportunity entitled Leveraging Domestic Infrastructure and Resources to Unleash Alternative Chemicals, Fuels, and Feedstocks. This funding opportunity could provide up to $60 million for technologies that use domestic biomass, hydrogen, waste, and existing refinery and pipeline infrastructure to advance alternative chemicals, fuels, and feedstocks. Projects would focus on producing biointermediates from biomass and waste, integrating alternative feedstocks into existing refinery infrastructure, and demonstrating hydrogen and natural gas blending in pipeline systems.

Through ASPECT and AFFO’s other funding opportunities, AFFO aims to advance technologies that can lower costs, enhance performance, reduce reliance on imports, create well-paying jobs, and strengthen domestic chemical production. 

From Award-Winning Innovative Research to Community Solutions 

In addition to investing in emerging technologies, AFFO supports collaborative research across DOE’s national laboratories to advance innovative technologies for converting domestic biomass and waste resources into valuable products. This year, three AFFO-supported technologies developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory were named 2026 R&D 100 Award winners.

The award-winning technologies demonstrate several possibilities for transforming waste and low-cost feedstocks into valuable products, including a process for converting waste terpenes from the U.S. wood industry into drop-in aviation fuel; a low-cost composite material made from wastewater algae and agricultural residues; and an engineered microbe that converts PET plastic waste into a higher-value industrial chemical in a single step. Together, these technologies demonstrate how AFFO-supported research can create new value from domestic resources while moving innovative solutions toward commercialization. 

Beyond these award-winning technologies, researchers contributing to AFFO’s mission are also earning national recognition. Dr. Gregg Beckham, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, was named one of nine recipients of the prestigious 2026 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award. The award is the longest-running and most prestigious scientific and technical award given by the U.S. government. Dr. Beckham was recognized for his research using biology, chemistry, and engineering to convert lignocellulosic biomass and waste plastics into building blocks for chemicals, materials, and fuels. He also leads the Bio‑Optimized Technologies to keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment consortium, an AFFO-funded consortium advancing innovations in waste plastics conversion and technology transfer.

AFFO-supported innovation is also helping communities put new technologies into practice. Through the FY26 Waste to Energy and Materials Technical Assistance Program, AFFO and the National Laboratory of the Rockies selected state, local, and Tribal governments to receive free technical assistance in researching technologies that can turn waste into energy or recover valuable materials, including critical minerals. Now in its sixth year, the program has supported 67 partners in 31 states and territories. Learn more about this year’s selected communities and how the program is turning waste challenges into opportunities.

Think You Know Bioenergy? Put Your Knowledge to the Test

Celebrate National Bioenergy Day by testing your knowledge with AFFO’s Bioenergy Basics Game. Choose from five categories covering different components of the bioenergy supply chain and answer questions that test your knowledge along the way.

Want to dig deeper? Explore the Bioenergy Research and Education Bridge Program, a free, case study-based educational resource that brings real-world bioenergy research into the classroom to prepare the future bioenergy workforce. Access student and instructor guides and explore case studies that challenge learners to apply their knowledge to real-world bioenergy scenarios. 

Whether you’re testing your bioenergy knowledge or exploring a real-world case study, join AFFO in celebrating National Bioenergy Day and discovering the possibilities of biomass.