The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced funding of up to $60 million to support the development and deployment of technologies for producing and distributing chemicals, fertilisers, fuels and feedstocks from alternative sources, reported Biodiesel Magazine.
The DOE’s Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office is expected to issue a formal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in November, covering three areas: biointermediate depots, refinery integration and pilot facilities for hydrogen-natural gas blending.
Under the biointermediate depots programme, the DOE plans to support pilot-scale facilities capable of processing 5-10 dry tonnes of biomass and waste feedstock daily to produce intermediate products such as sugars, biocrudes and bio-oils. The projects will focus on testing solids-to-liquids conversion technologies and validating the hub-and-spoke model for biorefining.
Potential feedstocks include corn stover, woody residues and other agricultural byproducts, algae, organic wet waste, municipal solid waste, used tyres, non-recyclable plastics and construction and demolition debris.
The refinery integration component will focus on technologies that enable existing refineries and petrochemical facilities to process intermediates such as biocrudes and waste-plastic oils. Research will examine their impact on catalyst life, product composition and compatibility with existing plant equipment.
The third area involves establishing a pilot facility to test the blending of hydrogen with natural gas in distribution systems.
The DOE is targeting hydrogen blending levels of up to 30% by volume, with a higher target of up to 80%.
