The federal Biomass Research and Development (BR&D) Board recently launched a multi-agency strategy to accelerate innovative technologies that harness the nation’s biomass resources for affordable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. The Bioeconomy Initiative: Implementation Framework was developed by the B&RD Board – an interagency collaborative which is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) – to guide such efforts.
The Bioeconomy Initiative: Implementation Framework outlines an approach for implementing the Initiative. The Framework will serve as a guiding document for the BR&D Board member agencies to increase government accountability and accelerate innovative and sustainable technologies that contribute to a secure, reliable, affordable, and enduring supply of U.S. energy and products.
The Implementation Framework presents goals and actions for addressing knowledge and technology gaps in:
- Advanced algae systems
- Feedstock genetic improvement, production, management, and logistics
- Biomass conversion and carbon utilization
- Transportation, distribution infrastructure, and end use
- Bioeconomy analysis
- Bioeconomy sustainability.
The Implementation Framework lays out activities to address technology uncertainty; leverage government, academic, and industrial resources and capabilities; stimulate public-private partnerships; and generate technical information that can inform decision-makers and policymakers.
The BR&D Board includes officials from DOE, USDA, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President.
