Emerging bioenergy technologies, including everything from clothing to plastics to fuels, are transforming the foundation of our lives. Through biotechnology and biomanufacturing, sustainable biomass across the United States can be converted into new materials and provide an alternative to petroleum-based production for fuels and products. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is doing its part to strengthen America’s bioeconomy and supply chain to support clean energy innovation.
The White House recently released the Biden-Harris Administration’s Actions to Advance American Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Fact Sheet in response to a September 2022 Executive Order, known as the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative. Actions outlined also support the 2023 report, Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing: Harnessing Research and Development to Further Societal Goals. The President’s commitment to a clean energy economy has spurred $29 billion in public and private sector biomanufacturing investments for projects across the country since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration.
The recently released White House fact sheet highlights BETO’s progress to support long-term success of the nation’s bioeconomy. Several BETO-funded projects across its bioenergy industry consortia and DOE national laboratory system are making an impact to enable substantial investments that translate scientific discoveries into commercial applications.
Decarbonizing the Transportation, Industrial, and Agricultural Sectors
The White House highlighted BETO’s successes through several investments, including DOE’s Clean Fuels & Products Shot™, the seventh initiative in the DOE Energy Earthshots™ portfolio, focusing on decarbonizing the fuel and chemical industry through alternative sources of carbon. BETO hosted a two-day virtual summit in April 2024 that gathered stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations to learn about the Clean Fuels & Products Shot’s objectives, progress, priorities, and future plans.
The Clean Fuels & Products Shot supports the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge and the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 through developing the sustainable feedstocks and conversion technologies necessary to produce crucial fuels and carbon-based products in sectors that are difficult to fully decarbonize.
The decarbonization of America’s transportation and industrial sectors depends on a significant increase in the production of renewable biomass for use in liquid fuel, bio-based chemicals, and other products. BETO’s actions to support the Biden-Harris Administration’s decarbonization goals align with the recently released 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23), which shows that the U.S. could sustainably triple its production of biomass to more than 1 billion tons per year, producing an estimated 60 billion gallons of low greenhouse gas liquid fuels.
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Originally shared by Biodiesel Magazine, September 13, 2024. Title and article updated for purpose.