The FCIC is a multi-lab collaboration focused on developing knowledge and tools to understand, quantify, and mitigate the effects of feedstock and process variability across the bioenergy value chain. These efforts, addressing variability from the field and forest through downstream conversion, target a fundamental challenge facing biorefineries today.
The report presents an overview of the accomplishments of FCIC researchers for FY2020, covering both the low- and high-temperature conversion pathways and all three process areas (feedstock harvest and storage, preprocessing, and conversion). In the report, key research achievements of each process area are presented, along with planned FY2021 work that will build on FY2020 accomplishments.
In Washington, D.C., a programmable algae cultivator designed and patented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with funding support by the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office is speeding up research to improve algae growth and productivity in outdoor algae farms.
The indoor cultivator lets researchers mimic the growth conditions in the warm, dry climate of the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation, an outdoor algae testbed at Arizona State University.
Supported by NREL’s cultivators and compositional analysis, BETO’s DISCOVR consortium demonstrated a 15% improvement in annual algae productivity in 2020, adding to an already significant 36% increase the year before. Better algae productivity means lower costs down the supply chain, making algae biomass an ever more attractive feedstock for companies.