This $300,000 Project Grant awarded by the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing chirally pure (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (R-3HB) from plant waste materials, such as wood and crop leftovers, by modifying Clostridium pathways. The research will create and test two different R-3HB production pathways in Clostridium, then combine and further optimize the approaches to boost R-3HB yields in the bacterium. If successful, this work...
This $866,598 federal Project Grant award, funded under the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) CFDA 10.310 program, supports research to develop cost-effective and environmentally friendly pathways to upgrade lignocellulosic biomass into a bioplastic precursor (3-hydroxypropionic acid) and biopolymers. The key objectives of this 4-year project, led by Kansas State University, are to: (1) identify integrated biomass pretreatment...
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, awarded $175,000 under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to KSE, Inc. of Sunderland, Massachusetts. The award will support KSE's efforts to develop and scale an integrated process for converting lignocellulosic waste streams into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at high selectivity without pre-treatment of biomass compounds. Key activities include improving reactive...
This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.212 - Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program) provides $181,500 to Sustainable Chemicals LLC to develop a family of renewable and biodegradable bioplastics that can replace large-volume petrochemical plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene. The bioplastics are designed to have a 75% lower carbon...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Cooperative Services awarded a $10,000,000 Project Grant under the Biobased Market Development and Access Grant Program (CFDA 10.376) to Allotrope Cellulosic Development Company LLC in Orinda, California. The grant, which runs from January 16, 2025, to January 16, 2027, will support the company's development of advanced biomanufacturing and biorefinery technologies that utilize agricultural commodities as feedstock. The project aims to...
This $2.4 million project grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Bioproduct Pilot Program (CFDA #10.236) supports the development of a modular bioprocessing system to produce bioplastics from food waste. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will lead a consortium including Quasar Energy Group LLC, University of Missouri System, and Iowa State University to establish a 100-liter scale pilot facility. Over three years, the team...
This $1,250,000 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (CFDA 81.089 - Fossil Energy Research and Development) is funding Global Algae Innovations, Inc., a small disadvantaged business, to develop and demonstrate an integrated process for producing algal-based polyurethane consumer products from flue gas carbon dioxide. The key objectives include: 1) scaling up algal oil extraction and fatty acid separation, 2) optimizing the...
Advanced Energy Materials LLC received a $256,500 Project Grant award from the Department of Energy Office of Science on June 27, 2022 to develop bioplastic polyethylene (2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF) using CO2. The one-year project will be performed in Louisville, KY under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA #81.049), which supports basic research to transform understanding of nature and advance U.S. energy and economic security. Specifically, the company will work to...
This $300,000 National Science Foundation project grant, funded under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), supports the development of a new manufacturing process to convert carbon dioxide into bioplastics and design bioplastic composites. Texas A&M Agrilife Research, in collaboration with The Texas A&M University System, will establish an electrochemistry-bioconversion hybrid system to efficiently and cost-effectively produce polyhydroxyalkanoates from CO2. Researchers will...
This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program, CFDA 47.084, provides $550,000 to develop an advanced membrane-contact reactor system for fuel alcohol production from distributed biomass and natural gas resources. The awardee, Power Environmental Energy Research Institute of Covina, California, will design a highly efficient methanol production process using a sweep liquid-facilitated membrane contact reactor. This integrated reactor...