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February 2022
Can We Fix Recycling?
Three NREL teams win prestigious REMADE awards to remake recycling, improve manufacturing, and build a circular economy.
A Metabolic "Traffic Map": Machine Learning Lets Scientists Plot Complex Flow of Compounds Through Microbes
Like traffic signals controlling cars through the center of town, microorganisms use metabolic signals to control the flow of energy and nutrients.
January 2022
Plant-Based Epoxy Enables Recyclable Carbon Fiber, Improves Economics for Mass Market Electric Vehicles
Ten times stronger than steel, nearly half the weight of aluminum, far stiffer than fiberglass—carbon fiber carries a package of advantages, making it a preferred material for use in luxury sedans and Formula One racecars alike.
DOE Launches AlgaePrize for Student Innovators—Competition Will Culminate at NREL in Spring 2023
A new competition from the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office encourages students to imagine and develop innovative technology solutions using algae as a potent and flexible energy resource.
December 2021
Forget Sci-Fi—This NREL Biotechnology Could Actually Help Colonize Mars
NREL scientists are working on harnessing cyanobacteria to convert growing concentrations of CO₂ in Earth's atmosphere into the same chemicals currently made from petroleum and natural gas—a step toward decarbonizing the chemical industry. With partner Nzyme2HC, they are exploring whether astronauts can use NREL's patented ethylene-emitting cyanobacteria to manufacture building materials and produce oxygen on Mars.
Sharing Data in Virtual Hubs Streamlines Energy Materials Research, Spurs Collaboration
A paper co-authored by NREL researchers and others studies the success of the Energy Materials Network Data Hub—a secure, customizable scientific data sharing platform.
Machine Learning Method Could Speed the Search for New Battery Materials
To discover materials for better batteries, researchers must wade through a vast field of candidates. New research demonstrates a machine learning technique that could more quickly surface ones with the most desirable properties.
October 2021
Three Bio-Based Innovations Edge Closer to Market With Private-Public Funding
A more sustainable farming sector, lower industrial emissions, more efficient biochemical production—NREL scientists and industry partners expect sizable benefits from three new projects to commercialize bioinsecticides, enzymatic carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization, and cell-free biocatalysis.
NREL Caps Off a Year of Accomplishments With National Bioenergy Day
On October 20, NREL will join organizations and individuals nationwide in celebrating the ninth annual Bioenergy Day. The day commemorates advancements in the use of biomass to produce energy from sustainable resources such as farm, forestry, and other plant waste.
With NREL's Feedstock Research, Algae and Garbage Could Be Ingredients for Zero-Emissions Fuels of the Future
In theory, over 1 billion tons of biomass could be sustainably collected and processed into biofuels by 2030 in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Energy analysis.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025