{"id":49314,"date":"2024-07-17T08:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T07:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=49314"},"modified":"2024-07-17T08:57:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T07:57:02","slug":"berkeley-lab-to-convert-agricultural-waste-into-sustainable-bioproducts-and-biofuels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/berkeley-lab-to-convert-agricultural-waste-into-sustainable-bioproducts-and-biofuels\/49314\/","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley Lab to convert agricultural waste into sustainable bioproducts and biofuels"},"content":{"rendered":"
The project will see the Berkeley Lab collaborate with a range of partners, including UC Berkeley and BEAM Circular, to develop bioproducts and sustainable fuels from agricultural waste.<\/p>\n
The Building the Circular Bioeconomy in the North San Joaquin Valley, or BioCircular Valley project, will receive up to $47.3m in funding from Schmidt Sciences’ Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future.<\/p>\n
California’s Northern San Joaquin Valley is a hub for agricultural waste, such as almond shells, fruit peels, and orchard trimmings, making the area ideal for performing the projects.<\/p>\n
Corinne Scown, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley and one of the project leads, explained: “California has this incredible diversity of materials, but they aren’t well understood \u2013 and this makes it difficult to know how to extract the most value out of them.<\/p>\n
“We want to characterise them and make that information available so companies can more easily figure out which feedstock is a good match for them, and then use that agricultural residue to make everything from bio-based polymers and chemicals to sustainable materials and aviation fuels<\/a>.”<\/p>\n One of the primary goals is to create a publicly accessible database and user-friendly map. This resource will provide detailed information on various feedstocks, which are raw plant materials and biomass used for making bioproducts. The database will include:<\/p>\n The project aims to improve the flexibility of the conversion process, which breaks down feedstocks for bioproduct production.<\/p>\n Researchers will use artificial intelligence to analyse lab-generated data, enhancing predictions for efficient feedstock processing and blending.<\/p>\n This innovation could simplify bioproduct manufacturing by allowing the same techniques to be applied to various or mixed plant materials.<\/p>\nBioCircular Valley project overview<\/h3>\n
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Enhancing agricultural waste conversion<\/h3>\n
Building biomanufacturing capabilities<\/h3>\n