The U.S. Department of Energy has announced awards for Phase I Release 2 of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program for FY24. Across DOE, 229 projects in 39 states have been awarded a total of $52 million to advance research and development (R&D) in clean energy, including eventual demonstration projects, reported Ethanol Producer magazine.
Under the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), 13 small businesses across 10 states have been selected to receive up to $206,500 each for their Phase I SBIR awards. Among these awards, six are first-time recipients, four are located in Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) zones, two are in socially and economically disadvantaged areas, and one is a woman-owned business.
The awards under BETO focus on two topics:
1. Sustainable Biomass Conversion to Bio-Based Materials: This initiative supports the development of sustainable replacements for commonly used materials such as foam, adhesives, and resins. BETO aims to decarbonize the industrial sector by utilizing biomass and waste resources to produce cost-effective and sustainable chemicals, materials, and processes.
Selected projects include:
– Altex Technologies Corporation (San Jose, CA): Battery Grade Graphite Production from Biomass.
– Capro-X, Inc. (Ithaca, NY): Cellulose Ester Bioplastics from Organic Waste-based Fatty Acids.
– Dynaflow, Inc. (Jessup, MD): Production and Extraction of High-Value Wax Esters and Lipids from Yarrowia Lipolytica Using Cavitation Enhanced Hot Water Extraction.
– Exelus, Inc. (Fairfield, NJ): Low-Cost Route to Glycols from Lignocellulosic Biomass.
– Global Algae Innovations, Inc. (San Diego, CA): Aqueous Algae Oil Extraction.
– Good Fibes Inc. (Chicago, IL): Additive Manufacturing of Recombinant Elastic Proteins for Sustainable Non-woven Textiles.
– New Iridium (Boulder, CO): Development of Novel Light-activated Process for Bio-acetic Acid Production.
– Physical Sciences, Inc. (Andover, MA): Sustainable Biopolymer Alternatives for Fossil-fuel Derived Foams.
2. Alternative Uses of Commercial Equipment (ACE): This topic focuses on testing commercially available equipment, with modifications as needed, to demonstrate the preprocessing of biomass and waste feedstocks. It supports the production of “drop-in” biofuels compatible with existing fueling infrastructure for aviation, maritime, rail, and heavy-duty off-road vehicles.
Selected projects include:
– Atlantic Biomass Conversions, Inc. (Frederick, MD): Low-Cost Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) from Perennial Feedstocks using Simultaneous Ball Milling and Enzyme Hydrolysis.
– Enexor BioEnergy, LLC (Franklin, TN): Modular Biomass Preprocessing System Development.
– Forest Concepts, LLC (Auburn, WA): Particle-level Densification of Bulk Biomass Materials to Replace Pelletized Fuels and Feedstocks.
– Novastus (Cookeville, TN): Driving Decarbonization – Producing RDF from Waste Feedstocks Using Commercial Equipment.
– WeNeW Carbology, LLC (Charlottesville, VA): Combine and Blower Equipment Adaptation for Biomass Preprocessing.
These initiatives underscore BETO’s commitment to advancing bioenergy R&D and supporting innovative solutions in the clean energy sector.
