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The National Bioenergy Center (NBC) was established in October 2000 to support the science and technology goals of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biomass Program. Headquartered at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this virtual center unifies DOE's efforts to advance technology for producing fuels, chemicals, materials, and power from biomass. The NBC has primary responsibility for carrying out the agenda of the Office of the Biomass Program of DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and other related goals. Collaborating with industrial, academic, related EERE programs, and other governmental research, development and commercialization efforts is central to that agenda.
Mission
The NBC fosters capability building in renewable bio-based fuels, chemicals,
industrial products, and power to catalyze the creation of new industries and supports
technical improvements in efficient and economical use of biomass in agriculture- and
forest-based industries.
NBC Organization
The NBC is composed of three technical groups and a technical lead for partnership development with industry, who coordinates partnerships with industry in the biomass, biofuels, biopower, and bio-based products research areas. Partnership development includes work performed at NREL under Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, Technical Service Agreements, Analytical Service Agreements, and Work for Others contract research for DOE's industry partners.
The NBC is a real center with a research organization housed at NREL, its lead laboratory, and a virtual center of biomass R&D efforts conducted at four other DOE laboratories. Each of the five laboratories has a designated "relationship manager" to coordinate its interactions with the Office of the Biomass Program within DOE and other DOE laboratories. Visit the Web sites of the other DOE laboratories to learn more about their research in support of the DOE Office of the Biomass Program.
NREL Organization
NREL's three technical groups are organized to align with the integrated biorefinery concept.
- NREL's Applied Sciences Group consists of two teams.
The Applied Biology Team is composed of scientists experienced in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, and fermentation. With the completion of NREL's Systems Biology Laboratory, the team is now developing capabilities in genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics analysis.
The Applied Biology Team uses classical and systems biology approaches to understand and overcome the technical barriers to robust, industrially relevant ethanol fermentation strains (i.e., ethanologens). The team has developed expertise in the testing and validation of fermentation micro-organisms and enzyme preparations at the bench and pilot scales using process-relevant conditions. Team members are also investigating the production of lipids (oils) from carbon dioxide-fixing microalgae, which represents a new, potentially important feedstock that can produce high-energy density, high-quality liquid transportation fuels. The team is addressing, through advanced technologies such as genomics and metabolic engineering, the critical issues of lipid yield and composition in microalgae. The Biomass Analysis Team is composed of scientists with backgrounds in analytical chemistry, natural products chemistry, biochemistry, and chemometrics. This multi-disciplinary team uses a variety of chemical- and instrument-based methods to measure the composition of biomass feedstocks and process intermediates. This team works closely with NREL's Process Development Group and external partners to generate data used to evaluate yields and economics of bioconversion systems. The team is also active in the development of high-throughput wet chemical methods for biomass characterization and online techniques for rapid biomass analysis. Near infrared spectroscopy, optimized by the team for biomass samples, is one rapid analysis technique that can provide chemical composition faster and at a lower cost than traditional wet chemical methods.
NREL's Biorefinery Analysis and Exploratory Research Group includes scientists and engineers who are experts in biomass conversion chemistry and process analysis.
The Biorefinery Process Analysis Team identifies and evaluates potential biomass conversion processes in the context of integrated biorefineries and incorporates biochemical and thermochemical conversion elements. This dedicated group of chemical and process engineers has expertise in biomass conversion and related processes. Its business development and strategic planning capabilities are used to prioritize research and development activities and facilitate efficient private-sector commercialization of biomass technologies and systems. Life-cycle assessment competencies are used to determine and compare the environmental benefits and drawbacks of conversion technologies and systems to guide the selection and development of sustainable energy technologies. The Exploratory Research Team has expertise in biomass conversion chemistries and chemical and structural analysis at the molecular scale using a variety of instrumental and computational tools. This team includes experts in high-throughput analytical molecular beam mass spectroscopy and other techniques critical to feedstock characterization and design that collaborate with plant biologists to rapidly assess the effect of genetic modifications on biomass quality. It also includes chemists who work with soil scientists to develop fundamental quantitative insights into the types and quantities of soil carbon species required to understand sequestration and soil sustainability. The Exploratory Research Team addresses opportunities in the development of future integrated biorefineries. It is devoted to the creation of new and advanced technologies and concepts to convert biomass into liquid fuels, hydrogen, and other products through chemical and catalytic conversion processes using a variety of computational tools and synthetic and physical chemistry. Finally, the group specializes in understanding fundamental molecular biomass conversion processes using a variety of computational tools.
NREL's Biorefining Process R&D Group improves and demonstrates at bench through pilot scales integrated biomass conversion technologies that span biochemical and thermochemical reaction pathways. This multi-disciplinary group—which is split into three teams composed of chemical, biochemical, and mechanical engineers as well as biochemists, chemists, microbiologists, and variously skilled technicians—works in support of a variety of research and development projects for the Department of Energy's Biomass Program and its industrial partners. Biorefining Process R&D engineers and scientists work closely with Biorefinery Process Analysis Team engineers who perform techno-economic analyses to ensure experimental research activities remain focused on the areas with the greatest potential to favorably affect process economics.
Biochemical Process R&D team members focus on biochemical conversion process development and work to advance the performance and increase the mechanistic understanding of biochemical pathway processing unit operations such as biomass pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and mixed-sugar fermentation. Thermochemical Process R&D Team members work to develop and improve performance and knowledge of thermochemical gasification processing unit operations such as synthesis gas reforming to fuels and chemicals and catalytic syngas conditioning and upgrading. Team members also investigate pyrolysis-based technologies for biomass conversion into upgradeable oils. The Process Integration and Operations R&D Team works to validate, scale up, and integrate biochemical and thermochemical process conversion technologies and to demonstrate advanced biorefining concepts.
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