The grid needs to change.
To electrify everything from vehicles to heating systems to stovetops, the U.S. grid must expand by about 57% and get more flexible, too. Solar and wind energy are the renewables most likely to dominate a future clean energy grid. But they are found primarily in remote areas, far from the hubs that need their power.
Gerald A. Tuskan, a Corporate Fellow and director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been selected as a DOE Distinguished Scientist Fellow, one of the highest honors bestowed by the agency’s Office of Science for outstanding scientific leadership and research community engagement.
A next-generation biorefinery model holds the potential to produce biofuels and chemicals through a process that researchers say has proven to be more efficient in converting plant biomass.
The co-solvent enhanced lignocellulosic fractionation pretreatment process, or CELF, provides a use for the lignin portion of biomass. Because lignin provides rigidity to a plant cell wall, breaking it down can be difficult. Harsh pretreatment steps can render the lignin useless as a feedstock, leaving it suitable only for burning for process heat.
When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest — breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon neutral.
In 2021, nearly a quarter of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions came from the transportation sector, with aviation being a significant contributor. While the growing use of electric vehicles is helping to clean up ground transportation, today’s batteries can’t compete with fossil fuel-derived liquid hydrocarbons in terms of energy delivered per pound of weight — a major concern when it comes to flying. Meanwhile, based on projected growth in travel demand, consumption of jet fuel is projected to double between now and 2050 — the year by which the international aviation industry has pledged to be carbon neutral.
This series of lessons encompass the topics of bioenergy, biofuels, carbon impacts and life-cycle analysis. The lessons are designed for middle and high school students and have options for advanced students in each lesson. Additionally, the lessons meet Next Generation Science Standards. All these lessons can be adapted to meet the learning needs of grades 4-12.
Dairy Waste To Power is a strongly visual, multimedia lesson. Students learn how dairy waste can be turned into a valuable renewable resource. Students find that what is often a waste disposal problem can produce electricity and a variety of other valuable, environmentally friendly resources.
Growing demand for oil, geopolitical concerns, and social and environmental pressures are pushing the transition from imported petroleum to renewable liquid fuels, with biofuels planned for a major portion of the nation’s future energy.
Carbon credit programs are certainly nothing new, but they are gaining unprecedented popularity as consumer sentiment has prompted companies like Disney, Microsoft, Google and many others to use the credits to offset some of their carbon emissions.
What that means for farmers is that they have more opportunities to get into the game of folding in additional conservation practices (or often, simply documenting what they are already doing) to generate an entirely new revenue stream.
This series of lessons encompass the topics of bioenergy, biofuels, carbon impacts and life-cycle analysis. The lessons are designed for middle and high school students and have options for advanced students in each lesson. Additionally, the lessons meet Next Generation Science Standards. All these lessons can be adapted to meet the learning needs of grades 4-12.
