DOE’S NATIONAL BIOENERGY CENTER INCLUDES FEEDSTOCK RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

In October 2000 the United States Department of Energy (DOE) established a National Bioenergy Center to create new economic opportunities for farmers, enhance United States Energy Security and help manage the impact of energy on the environment. The Center will partner with industry to achieve cost and performance goals to make bioenergy competitive globally; provide strategic guidance, direction and coordination to assure the best use of national laboratory and university research capabilities; facilitate strategic partnerships to overcome market and institutional barriers; perform worldclass research; and be the focal point of bioenergy analysis information, education, and outreach.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will form the core of this "virtual center." The efforts of the Center will support the multi-agency Bioenergy Initiative as well as core programs in biomass power and biofuels production.

A major goal will be to form strategic partnerships with other federal laboratories and universities to expand the amount and quality of expertise available to industry for helping to make bioenergy globally competitive. The first of several partnership meetings was held April 11-12, 2001, in Golden, Colorado. The report of this meeting will be published on Bioenergy Initiative’s website (www.bioproducts_bioenergy.gov/).

ORNL’s primary contribution to the Center is to supply expertise on biomass feedstock research, analysis and engineering systems. This expertise will be drawn both from ORNL staff and the many collaborators of the Bioenergy Feedstock Development Programs (BFDP).

ORNL provides technical leadership in feedstock research through two integrated programs: Biopower Feedstock Development Program and Biofuels Feedstock Development Program. These programs perform research, development, and analysis to establish that biomass supply systems can be environmentally beneficial and commercially viable. They emphasize developing new, sustainable energy resources based on solar energy captured by living plants. The research, which is supported by funds from the DOE’s Office of Transportation Technologies and Office of Power Technologies, is carried out in partnership with universities, other government agencies and the private sector.

The successful development of new supplies of biomass for bioenergy requires a unique level of cooperation among researchers and institutions in the energy, agricultural, forestry and environmental sectors. The BFDP provide a mechanism for focusing and integrating the efforts of this diverse group of stakeholders. Recognizing that each has different goals, the feedstock development programs conduct operations in a way that integrates and advances objectives for energy, agriculture, forestry and the environment. ORNL places a strong emphasis on ensuring that information from its research and analysis is available to these stakeholders and that the information is current, accurate and understandable.