NREL Analysis Shows Midwestern Electrofuels Could Become Energy Superheroes

If you think an “electrofuel” sounds like something from a comic book, you’d be forgiven. Made from carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial waste gases or directly from the air, e-fuels defy conventional wisdom on how liquid fuels are made. Although e-fuels may be technological marvels, they don’t come from another planet. They come from America’s corn belt, or at least they soon could according to new analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

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Register for the BRIDGES Bioenergy 101 Webinar: Learn How to Bring DOE Bioenergy National Laboratory Case Studies to Your Students

Join DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, for a BRIDGES Bioenergy 101 Webinar on Thursday, November 16, 2023, from 4:00 – 5:00 pm ET. The Bioenergy Research and Education Bridge (BRIDGES) Program is a FREE case study-based education curriculum that is available online NOW. Bioenergy knowledge is not required.

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Measuring methane

What happens when the unit of measurement that scientists have been relying upon to measure greenhouse gas emissions turns out to be inaccurate?

You wind up with inaccurate policy decisions and public perceptions about agriculture, and in particular, ruminant production, according to Logan Thompson, Kansas State University assistant professor. He spoke at the 2023 K-State Beef Stocker Field Day, Sept. 28. Thompson’s research focuses on measuring greenhouse gas emissions in grazing systems, and how we might be able to use grazing management to improve the ecosystem.

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Real-time visualization of plant-plant communications through airborne volatiles

Plants emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere upon mechanical damages or insect attacks. Undamaged neighboring plants sense the released VOCs as danger cues to activate defense responses against upcoming threats. This phenomenon of airborne communication among plants through VOCs was first documented in 1983 and has since been observed in more than 30 different plant species. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying VOC perception to defense induction remain unclear.

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Q&A with Xiaohan Yang: Transforming plants for a cleaner future

Scientist Xiaohan Yang’s research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory focuses on transforming plants to make them better sources of renewable energy and carbon storage. He works with the ORNL-led Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, a DOE Bioenergy Research Center where scientists are developing feedstock crops like poplar trees that grow quickly, require less water and fertilizer and are easily broken down and converted into sustainable aviation fuels.

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Electric Vehicles Play a Surprising Role in Supporting Grid Resiliency

Widespread electrification initiatives are increasing the demands on America’s aging power grid, but utilities and consumers may have an unlikely ally in electric vehicles (EVs).

Research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Leiden University’s Institute of Environmental Sciences in the Netherlands evaluates how vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bidirectional charging programs may offer short-term grid storage opportunities, as detailed in a Nature Communications journal article.

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