We Have to Replace the Whole Barrel
For many, a barrel of oil is synonymous with its most prominent product, gasoline. While almost 40% of a barrel of oil is used to produce gasoline, the rest is used to produce a host of products, including jet fuel and plastics and many industrial chemicals.
As the US works to reduce dependence on oil, we must recognize the complexity of that dependence and work to replace the whole barrel.
Over the summer, DOE's Biomass Program hosted its fourth annual Biomass 2011 conference on this theme: Replace the Whole Barrel, Supply the Whole Market-the New Horizons of Bioenergy.
If we do not replace the whole barrel, we risk creating knock-on effects that will cause shortages or surpluses in other markets, with the attendant economic consequences. In order to effectively displace crude oil imports, biomass substitutes must be developed for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and the other petroleum products.
The DOE, national labs, universities and industry partners are making strides in developing drop-in biofuels and bioproducts that can replace all the products we get from a barrel of crude oil today, and that can also be compatible with existing refining, distribution and vehicle infrastructure.
National Labs Partnerships Bring Cutting Edge Technology to Market
In 2008, California solar start-up Innovalight teamed with National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) scientists to answer a game-changing question for potential investors: does Innovalight's Silicon Ink actually work?
The findings: Silicon Ink delivered a low-cost, 7% increase in power output for a typical 15% efficient solar cell.
In July, DuPont acquired Innovalight, advancing prospects for innovative, cost-competitive solar manufacturing in the U.S. The team includes about 60 employees.
Partnerships with businesses, from start-ups to large companies, are supported by Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) -- one of the examples of how the Energy Department's National Labs help private industry bring cutting-edge technologies to market - creating new industries and businesses and bolstering the country's economic competitiveness.
"We may come up with a new and innovative technology, but for it to end up on a utility scale deployment or in the fuel tank of a vehicle, there is a commercialization partner who is going to invest in the business, facilities, sales, support - all of which is done outside of the lab," says William Farris, NREL's Vice President for Commercialization & Technology Transfer.
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EERE Network News is a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
