DOE announces US$18.6M to support low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts production

Located in eight states, the projects will create good-paying jobs, support rural economies, and encourage participation of underserved communities, all while putting the United States on a path to a clean and equitable energy economy.

These critical investments represent DOE’s commitment to tackling the most challenging clean energy problems. These projects have the potential to drastically reduce barriers to producing clean, sustainable biofuels and can jumpstart innovation in the clean energy bioeconomy, said Alejandro Moreno, Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The selected projects support DOE’s investment in the development and production of biofuels and innovation and growth in agricultural industries and will help meet theSustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challengegoal of producing 35 billion (US) gallons (≈ 132.47 billion litres) of low-GHG emission SAF made from domestic biomass and waste resources annually by 2050.

Currently, most biofuels are made from feedstocks such as corn grain and agricultural residues, forestry residues, and solid and wet waste streams.

To meet the growing demand for SAFs and other low-carbon biofuels, affordable feedstock sources must be developed.

The selected projects will address critical bioenergy needs through two topic areas:

• Improving the production of environmentally sustainable and low-carbon feedstocks for bioenergy through climate-smart agricultural practices, and
• Developing algae crop protection methods and strategies for algae cultivation systems.

The selected projects are:

• Aequor’s Algal Crop Protection Treatment(US$1,600,000): Aequor Inc., San Diego, California (CA). This project will test and develop treatments to prevent algae crop productivity loss caused by pests.
• Secretome and Exometabolome Effects on Algal Media and Grazing “SEAMAG”(US$2,000,000): Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona (AZ). This project will test the effects of media components and recycling on the instability of algal cultures caused by pests.

• Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels from Perennial Ground Cover Systems “FAB-PGCs”(US$3,404,663): Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, Iowa (IA). This project seeks to reduce the carbon intensity of corn stover by growing perennial groundcover (PGC) crops in between the rows of corn, thereby decreasing nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions and increasing soil carbon storage.
• Integrated pest management-inspired approach to algal crop protection based on laboratory evolution and engineered antimicrobial peptides(US$1,390,144): Ginkgo Bioworks, Boston, Massachusetts, (MA). This project will develop antimicrobial peptides to treat algae pests and pathogens in real-world conditions at industrially relevant scales.
• Combined Biological and Chemical Pest Management in Outdoors Algal Cultivation Ponds(US$1,750,000): Global Algae Innovations, Lihue, Hawaii, (HI). This project will generate microbiota datasets and develop new treatments to support an improved crop protection strategy that proactively maintains a healthy culture and prevents periods of low productivity.
• Anti-Virulence Approaches to Treat Algal Crops “AVATAC”(US$2,000,000): New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico (NM). This project will identify antivirulence molecules that will be tested against bacterial pathogens of multiple relevant algal strains.
• Preventing Culture Crash Trajectories through Pre-Emergent Pest Detection and Process Control in Mixed Microalgae Cultivation(US$1,999,791): Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York (NY). This project will develop monitoring and process control strategies to mitigate the impact of pests in mixed algal cultures grown for wastewater treatment.
• Biochar Enhanced Ecosystem Services for Energy Crop Systems in the Southeast(US$4,551,944): University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee (TN). This project seeks to reduce the fertilizer requirement for growing two bioenergy crops (miscanthus and biomass sorghum) in six locations in the southeast United States via the application of biochar and poultry litter, which itself will help to trap additional soil carbon, lower N₂O emissions, and reduce the overall carbon intensity of this feedstock supply chain.