by Osaretin Omorodion* (Advanced Biofuels USA) During late March 2015, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) offered what amounted to a seminar for the public consisting of a series of presentations from industry professionals and researchers from various bioenergy projects.
The presenters came to the Washington, DC, area to justify DOE investment in their innovations and sought continued governmental support and financial backing. The week-long series was symbolic of the steadily shifting priorities towards investment in renewable energy. One hundred ninety projects were presented across various bioenergy relevant subjects such as terrestrial feedstocks, algal feedstocks, thermochemical conversion, economic market appeal and sustainability analysis.
The presentations were rich in complex biochemical and technical aspects of various forms of bioenergy. All were a showcase of the tremendous commercialization potential that such technologies offer, as well as a better appeal than petroleum-based products, economically and sustainability-wise.
All projects sought to explain how goals of sustainability and efficiency were going to be personalized and cater to the specific technologies for which they were an advocate.
A representative from the University of Hawaii expressed the goals as contributing to sustainability by supporting biomass feedstock supplies in a manner that can be maintained with minimal environmental impact, and that can grow all year long so that they can be depended on during any time of the year to cut back on the need for imported, petroleum-based fuel. The project strived to maximize the availability of high yield crops within the tropical area that is within close proximity to Hawaii and, additionally, to optimize the biomass conversion of such tropical feedstocks, including careful analyzing of grass species to determine the ones most favorable for conversion.
Another representative from the U.S-India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center spoke in great detail of the recent collaboration on clean energy research that will apply expertise in solar energy, biofuels, and building efficiency to address challenges in energy use, foreign oil dependence, and renewable energy implementation. The ambitions of this international collaboration are daunting and designed to tackle broad issues. It will begin as a five-year initiative that will take $20 million financial support from Congress to support work from the American and Indian institutes that participate
All of the projects represent the momentum that renewable energy and bioenergy have been generating and the current trend in environmental sustainability.
Biorefineries and green manufacturing have attracted millions of dollars in investment in recent years from companies like Janicki Bioenergy which designs equipment that can convert human waste into drinking water and electrical energy. Janicki Bioenergy is in the process of establishing a headquarters and manufacturing facility in the Seattle area, which could ultimately lead to creating more than 500 jobs, setting another inspirational example for emerging startups on the global market. The company created a buzz when Bill Gates posted a video of himself drinking water from the Janicki machine.
Such companies’ success is an indicator on how diverse our energy market could be and the revenue and economic stimulation that they can offer.
It’s essential that our policymakers and the general public continue to broaden their minds concerning energy issues. Fossil fuels and its byproducts are archaic technologies with unhealthy consequences for our national security, climate and water resources. Scientists should continue to channel their research into the vast bio-based energy alternatives that are waiting to be explored.
Presentations for the 2015 Project Peer Review can be found under the applicable technology areas below
- Plenaries
- Algal Feedstocks
- Terrestrial Feedstocks
- Biochemical Conversion
- Thermochemical Conversion
- Demonstration and Market Transformation
- Sustainability and Strategic Analysis
- Cookstoves
READ MORE and MORE (U.S-India Clean Energy Research) and MORE (University of Hawaii) and MORE (Biofuels Digest)
* Osaretin Omorodion brings her degree and interest in biology and environmental science to serve as an occasional correspondent for Advanced Biofuels USA.