3 January 202322 December 2022To Make Valuable Bioproducts, Pick the Right Solvent PretreatmentThree common solvents for pretreating switchgrass yield lignin extracts with the potential for making different valuable bioproducts
1 December 202228 November 2022First 100% bio-based 3D-printed home unveiled at the University of MaineNew, 600-square-foot prototype features 3D-printed floors, walls and roof of wood fibers and bio-resins
14 November 20229 November 2022Oregon State, U.S. Dept. of Energy researchers take key step toward big gains in plastics recyclingA collaboration led by NREL combined chemical and biological processes in a proof of concept and used chemical oxidation to break down a variety of plastic types
15 July 202212 July 2022Closed-loop additive manufacturing fueled by upcycled plasticInnovative method introduces a closed-loop strategy that could globally reduce plastic waste and cut carbon emissions tied to plastic production
7 July 20225 July 2022Scientists Discover “Holy Grail of Catalysis” – Converting Methane Into Methanol Using LightThe method involves a continuous flow of methane/oxygen-saturated water over a novel metal-organic framework (MOF) catalyst
14 March 20228 March 2022NREL Bioengineering Process Prepares To Make a SplashRenewables To Replace Petroleum-Based Materials in Commercial Filtration Systems
3 March 202228 February 2022Carbon-negative platform turns waste gases into valuable chemicalsResearchers built on LanzaTech technology to develop a new process that converts emissions from heavy industry or bio-based syngas, into either acetone or IPA, using an engineered bacterium called Clostridium autoethanogenum
2 March 202228 February 2022Bacteria upcycle carbon waste into valuable chemicalsEngineered bacteria convert captured carbon dioxide into chemicals for fuels, fabric and cosmetics
Klimafreundliches Verfahren: Bakterien bilden Chemikalien aus CO2Modifizierte Bakterien wandeln CO2 in Additive für Treibstoffe, Stoffe, und Kosmetika um
2 June 20219 September 2021LanzaTech Awarded $4.1 Million from ARPA-E for Transformational Energy TechnologyThe funding will be used to enhance existing technology to enable the direct conversion of CO2 to ethanol — a building block for low carbon intensity fuels and chemicals
23 April 20219 September 2021New process could bring down cost of direct carbon captureA peptide-guanidine system soaks up CO2 from air and can be regenerated with mild heat
23 February 20219 September 2021Carbon Capture – A Man-made Solution To Solve A Man-made ProblemMany of the companies, who were not that long ago considered progressive, oil majors etc now hold the key to solving the problem man has created
6 October 20206 October 2020Multifunctional microbe simplifies processing of plant-derived fuels, chemicalsORNL researchers got an organism to co-utilize multiple compounds in a single bioreactor, gaining a better understanding of how these different pathways interact
18 September 202016 September 2020A new method for making a key component of plasticsBacteria create ethylene in a tech-friendly way
19 August 202015 August 2020Danimer Scientific Receives U.S. Department of Energy Grant to Support Bioplastic ProductionNearly $5.7 million in support to conduct research and development projects within the biomanufacturing industry
6 August 20203 August 2020Agile BioFoundry Selects New Projects to Accelerate BiomanufacturingEach of the ABF Directed Funding Opportunity awardees will be invited to collaborate with National Lab research facilities to conduct their proposed research
16 April 20209 April 2020Lignin Research Yields Additional Answers into Bacteria’s RoleNewly published research builds upon previous observations at NREL on the ability of 14 strains of bacteria to break down lignin oligomers and take advantage of those components
Die Lignin-Forschung liefert zusätzliche Antworten auf die Rolle der BakterienNeu veröffentlichte Forschung nimmt frühere Beobachtungen am NREL auf und berichtet über die Fähigkeit von 14 Bakterienstämmen, Lignin-Oligomere abzubauen und diese Komponenten zu nutzen
1 April 202027 March 2020Climate Disrupted: Lignin, Cellulose, and Starch Bioplastics, TSPsThere exist a big variety of biodegradable bioplastics that could be used to replace petro-based materials in 3D-printing
25 March 20209 September 2021Department of Energy Announces $25 Million for Plastics Recycling R&D, Launches Upcycling ConsortiumDepartment ’s Plastics Innovation Challenge is offering a comprehensive program to accelerate innovations in plastics recycling technologies
DOE offers $25 million for plastics recycling R&DBETO issued a joint funding opportunity announcement on March titled “BOTTLE: Bio-Optimized Technologies to Keep Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Environment.”
23 January 202020 January 2020Forscher machen Biosprit-Produktion billigerForscher der Rutgers University entwickeln effektive Konversionsmethode, um Pflanzenzucker in Ethanol umzuwandeln
How to Make it Easier to Turn Plant Waste into BiofuelsRutgers-led team develops innovative process to rapidly dissolve plant fibers
4 December 201929 November 2019Verdict’s in for Vertimass: Yep, it’s commercially viableThe innovative catalytic technology of one of the Digest's 'next 50 companies to disrupt the world' allows any feedstock for the conversion of biomass into fuels
14 November 201912 November 2019Watch the World’s Largest 3D-Printer Spit Out a 25-Foot Boat…and how this is really about using wood to replace metal
6 September 201931 August 2019New Catalysts, Improved Genetic Tools Bring New Opportunities: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to ORNL’s Biomass to BioproductsBrian Davison, Chief Scientist for Biotechnology at ORNL, gave this knowledge-filled presentation at ABLC 2019 in Washington, D.C.
6 June 20193 June 2019Biomass-based 3D printing, renewable solvents, fermentation-based CBD, coffee waste upcycling, algae-based ink, limestone paper and moreThe Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of May 31st
27 May 201922 May 2019Researchers develop biobased, self-healing elastomer derived from ligninTo achieve these results, ORNL researchers developed a unique method to extract a specific form of lignin
15 May 201910 May 2019University of Maine, Oak Ridge National Laboratory to announce $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership to boost forest products industryCollaboration aims to strengthen regional manufacturing by connecting university–industry clusters with the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL
16 January 201911 January 2019New composite advances lignin as a renewable 3D printing materialLignin gives plants rigidity and also makes biomass resistant to being broken down into useful products
15 January 201915 January 2019New composite advances lignin as a renewable 3D printing materialFinding new uses for lignin can improve the economics of the entire biorefining process
23 November 201821 November 2018NREL: Nitrilation Process Produces Acrylonitrile, Attention, and AwardsInterdisciplinary collaboration of researchers across chemical engineering, biology, and computational modeling led to award-winning research about the nitrilation process
12 November 20187 November 2018Economic comparative advantage of willow biomass in the Northeast USAWillow is grown commercially on about 500 hectares in the Northeast, predominantly for biopower but also for some other markets
2 October 20189 September 2021Chemists demonstrate sustainable approach to carbon dioxide capture from airORNL's direct-air-capture approach provides the basis for an energy-sustainable negative emissions technology
14 August 201823 January 2019Cannabis, canola, solids, hog fuel, wheat: what’s new with food and feedstocks?Feedstock that is — crops and residues of the municipal, industrial, agricultural and forest type
18 July 201811 August 2020Taming the Tasmanian Devil of Polymers: lignin, the orneriest, roughest, toughest, most un-cooperative and abundant natural polymer everLignin, the second most abundant natural polymer in the world, has developed into a sustainable and very satisfactory alternative to fossil fuels
27 February 201823 February 2018Materials – Supertough bioplasticORNL researchers designed a new polymer adding tiny amounts of silicon-based materials to usual PLA
8 February 20186 February 2018The Slowed Corrode: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Bio-oils and CorrosionThe team prepared this illuminating overview on the projects progress and promise for the DOE Project Peer Review meetings
1 December 20179 September 2021Pollution to Products!Efficient use of carbon is driven by carbon recycling technologies
23 August 201721 August 20173D printable resin: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to melt-stable engineered lignin thermoplasticA novel family of commercial-ready, lignin-based 3D-printable composites
8 August 20171 August 2017Fungi that Evolved to Eat Wood Offer New Biomass Conversion ToolUMass Amherst microbiologists, international team show fungal deconstruction of wood
24 July 201721 July 2017In search of next-gen bioproducts and fuels, DOE invests $40M in 4 Bioenergy Research CentersThe centers are designed to lay the scientific groundwork for a new bio-based economy that promises to yield a range of important new products
12 July 201710 July 2017Biofuels beyond corn: The pathway from CO2, water and electricity to liquid fuelsElctrofuels made from CO2, water and electricity - how close, how feasible?
17 May 201715 May 2017Bacterial boost for bio-based fuelsLab-scale technology recycles wastewater into hydrogen for use in fuel production
2 May 201726 April 2017Lux Ranks Three Potential Bioplastics for Building LEGO’s 2030 Sustainable BrickAfter interviewing LEGO Director in Materials Department Søren Kristiansen, Lux highlights the materials that LEGO is likely considering for its bricks
17 March 201715 March 2017Recent Lignin Announcements Show Repeated Mistakes, Not ProgressTraditional approaches have already failed and focus on different strategies for lignin-based material commercialization has to be prefered
6 March 20179 September 2021Separating Gases with GrapheneSingle-layer graphene has defined pore sizes in the nanometer range and has been suggested as a material for gas separation
20 February 20179 September 2021Reverse Combustion and its prospectsThere are more than a dozen technologies somewhere in development with a dizzying array of acronyms
20 October 20169 September 2021Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanolHigh-selectivity electrochemical conversion of CO2 to ethanol using a copper nanoparticle/N-doped graphene electrode
15 August 201612 August 2016Feedstocks for the Bioeconomy: The Digest’s 2016 Multi-Slide Behind the Scenes look at the Billion Ton reportMatthew Langholtz of Oak Ridge National Laboratory gave a view at scope and findings