I am interested in this news as not only does it gives me hope that the US Department of Energy (DOE) still give grants that not only boost small businesses but these small businesses are focusing on research projects targeting bio-based materials production, processes that lower carbon footprint as well as enabling circular carbon economy through new innovative technologies. Also, it is good to hear companies that are unfamiliar to me and I am looking forward to getting to know more of them in the future.

The DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program awarded nearly $22 million to several businesses that will receive Phase 1 Release 2 grants that demonstrate technical feasibility for innovations during the first phase of their research. Most Phase 1 awards are for $200,000 for less than one year.  These awardees will have the opportunity to apply for a Phase II award to further develop their innovations for around $1 million.

The nine EERE technology offices will fund awards under 12 topics including three for the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). The three bioenergy topic areas are: (1) Cell-Free Biochemical Platforms to Optimize Biomass Carbon Conversion Efficiency, (2) Reshaping Plastic Design and Degradation, and (3) Algae Engineering Incubator.

Cell-free projects support BETO’s interest in using enzymes alongside industrial inorganic catalysts to perform complicated biochemical reactions that upgrade cellulosic sugars, lignin compounds, and other waste streams into biofuels and bioproducts. Projects funded under Reshaping Plastic Design and Degradation will perform R&D that enables a circular carbon economy through new technologies for plastic recycling and the design of new plastics with superior end-of-life properties. Algae Engineering Incubator projects will produce state-of-the-art technologies in the lab and field that spur innovation and drive down costs.

The BETO awards by topic are:

Cell-Free Biochemical Platforms to Optimize Biomass Carbon Conversion Efficiency

Invizyne Technologies, Inc. (Culver City, CA): Cell-Free Production of Terpenoid Chemicals and fuels

• • Invizyne is addressing one of the major economic barriers to cell-free conversion processes (enzyme cofactors) and will develop technologies to produce and separate these molecules at high efficiency.

Synvitrobio, Inc. (San Francisco, CA): Cell-Free Fermentation for Accessing Nisin-Like Bioproducts from Non-Industrial Hosts

• • Synvitrobio, Inc. will focus on continuous cofactor regeneration and cell-free biosynthesis of Nisin, which is an extremely high-value antibacterial product that cannot be produced via conventional fermentations.

Luna Innovations Incorporated (Roanoke, VA): Comprehensive Enzyme Stabilization for Cell-Free Bioproduction

• • Luna Innovations Inc. will focus on enzyme immobilization and encapsulation in order to improve the long-term stability of the enzyme systems.

BioHybrid Solutions LLC (Pittsburgh, PA): Immobilization, Stabilization, and Recyclability of Enzyme Bioconjugates for Biomass Valorization

• • BioHybrid Solutions LLC will target improvements to enzyme stability through the use of novel microbead scaffolds to produce a high-value product from cellulosic sugars.

Reshaping Plastic Design and Degradation

SusMer, Inc. (Fort Collins, CO): Infinitely Recyclable Bioplastics

• • SusMer will develop next-generation bio-based packaging materials designed with full chemical recyclability built into their performance properties for a circular plastics economy.

Primordial Genetics Inc. (Del Mar, CA): Discovery and Optimization of Effective Plastic Depolymerizing Enzymes

• • Primordial Genetics Inc. will engineer enzymes to degrade plastics into their basic building blocks, providing a direct replacement for the petroleum-derived materials used in plastic manufacturing.

ZymoChem Inc. (Emeryville, CA): Bioproduction of Super Absorbent Polymers

• • ZymoChem will develop sustainable, cost-competitive, and environmentally-friendly microbial processes for the bio-based synthesis of super absorbent polymers.

Pyran LLC (Madison, WI): Biomass-Derived Sustainable Polymers

• • Pyran LLC will provide a renewable alternative to petroleum-based chemicals at one third of the price by making a key chemical in plastics and paints from renewable waste crop residues.

Bio2Electric, LLC d.b.a. EcoCatalytic Technologies (Monmouth Junction, NJ): Catalytic Oxidative Upcycling of Plastic Waste and Heat Integration using Chemical Looping Systems

• • EcoCatalytic Technologies will develop an efficient process to turn waste plastics into high-valued polymer building blocks and valuable fuel additives.

Southeastern Biochemicals, Inc. (Gainesville, GA): Production of Platform Chemicals by Bioconversion of Plastic Waste

• • Southeastern Biochemicals will employ a biological approach to plastic recycling using a market-driven approach that will result in a biochemical refinery that uses plastic waste to produce chemicals for manufacturing detergents, lubricants, and other commercial products.

Algenesis Materials (Cardiff, CA): Optimizing Algae-Based Polyurethanes for Controlled Biodegradation

• • Algenesis Materials is developing biodegradable polymers made from algae to produce athletic shoes and flip flops, and then identify the microorganisms that degrade them, so that it can control biodegradation of shoes for maximum function during use and rapid degradation at the end of the product life.

Algae Engineering Incubator

MicroBio Engineering (San Luis Obispo, CA): Algae Photobioreactor for High-Throughput, Low-Cost Research and Development

• • To support the need for more efficient (higher throughput, lower cost) tools to select for microalgae strains that exhibit high productivity when cultivated in large-scale outdoor ponds for biofuels, animal feeds, and other bioproducts, MicroBio Engineering will build and demonstrate a fully automated laboratory microalgae cultivation system with over a dozen individual reactors.

Lucendi, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA): High-Throughput, Cost-Effective, and Automated Platform for Label Free Monitoring and Characterization of Algae, Their Lipid Content, and Other Micro-Objects

• • Lucendi, Inc. proposes an innovative artificial intelligence-based algae monitoring and characterization technology to empower crop protection methodologies and to optimize algal production to significantly reduce the operating costs and enhance algae output.

Global Algae Innovations, Inc. (San Diego, CA): Novel Liner for Algal Biofuel Production

• • Global Algae Innovations will develop an ultra-low-cost plastic pond liner to facilitate a commercial algae industry for the bioeconomy.

Global Algae Innovations, Inc. (San Diego, CA): Thermal Control in Algae Cultivation

• • Global Algae Innovations, Inc. will develop technologies to control temperature throughout the year in open ponds for algae production to increase the productivity of algae farms and enable reduction in water use.

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