1. Bioresources

Advantages of bioresources

• Can be more sustainable than traditional alternatives (focus on lignocellulosic wastes rather than food-chain crops).
• Domestically produced and support the State’s agriculture economy.
• Help reduce dependency on foreign energy.
• Support farmers and rural communities (improved economics, new markets, improved competitive position, etc.)

Why the focus on “Bio” resources?

Bioresources can be used as feedstocks for:

• Bioproducts: useful non-energy products derived from bioresources.
• Biopower: biomass power systems that use biomass feedstocks instead of traditional fossil fuels (natural gas, oil or coal) to produce electricity.
• Biofuels: liquid or gaseous fuels derived from biomass which substitute for petroleum products such as gasoline or diesel.

2. Research Areas at BSEL

• Biofuels (oils, biodiesel, ethanol and other alcohols, diesel, gasoline, “crude oil”, biogas, syngas, etc.)
• Biochemicals (specialty chemicals such as enzymes, catalysts, proteins, paints, inks, surfactants, polymers, lubricants, solvents, plant-made pharmaceuticals, etc.)
• Biomaterials (fiber products, lumber, leather, processed foods, laminates, roofing, plastics, insulation, etc.)
• Bioprocesses (biological, chemical and thermal conversion methods, improved process engineering, etc.)

3. Research Capabilities

• Lignocellulosic bioethanol laboratories.
• High-pressure catalytic reactor rooms for hydrogenation and other chemical processing.
• Bioprocessing laboratories for developing and engineering fungal fermentations.
• Supporting wet chemical laboratories for synthesis and preparation of catalysts and feedstocks.
• Combinatorial Catalysis Research Laboratory, which houses PNNL’s state-of-the-art, rapid-throughput catalyst discovery instrumentation.
• 2,500 square-foot high-bay facility for integration and scale-up of the various processing steps in bioproducts manufacture.