Integrated Project

-Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities Biogas
-Opportunities Roadmap Progress Report
-Energy-Positive Water Resource Recovery Workshop Report
-Hydrogen, Hydrocarbons, and Bioproduct Precursors from Wastewaters Workshop Report
-Waste-to-Energy Workshop Summary Report

The Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Technical Assistance for Local Governments pairs national laboratory experts with U.S. local governments and decision makers, and provides technical assistance to advance WTE technologies, including addressing knowledge gaps, specific challenges, decision making considerations, planning, and project implementation strategies. WTE resources considered include organic waste, such as food waste, wastewater sludge, animal manure, and fats, oils, and greases.

BETO provides subject-matter assistance to local governments on a variety of topics including waste resource information, techno-economic comparison options, and market evaluation, among other topics of interest.

BETO is exploring a broad range of possibilities to identify small businesses with early-stage technologies that qualify for DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which increase U.S. private-sector research on innovations to build a strong national economy. The early-stage nature of many waste-to-energy technologies, and the observation that the waste feedstock is readily available in many cases makes them good candidates for the SBIR/STTR programs. SBIR/STTR technical topic areas for both the Fiscal Year 2016 (topics 10 b and c) and Fiscal Year 2017 (topics 14 a and b) included aspects of waste to energy.

Wastes present a unique set of challenges in terms of conversion processes, and BETO has identified and is exploring a number of conversion possibilities at a range of technology-readiness levels.

BETO regularly hosts workshops and listening days to enhance its portfolio and engage key stakeholders in discussion. These workshops seek to integrate the activities of federal agencies to address research that is relevant to industry but which is appropriate to the unique role of government.

Content for id "conDrawing on the workshops listed below, BETO published a report in January 2017, titled Biofuels and Bioproducts from Wet and Gaseous Waste Streams: Challenges and Opportunities. The report found that the United States has the potential to use 77 million dry tons of wet waste per year, which would generate about 1.079 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy. Gaseous feedstocks (which cannot be “dried” and therefore cannot be reported in dry tons) and other feedstocks assessed in the report could produce an additional 1,260 trillion Btu of energy, bringing the total to more than 2.3 quadrillion Btu annually. For perspective, in 2015 the United States’ total primary energy consumption was about 97.7 quadrillion Btu.tent-1"

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