ST2-04: National Advanced Biofuels Consortium

The objective of the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) is to develop cost-effective technologies that supplement petroleum-derived fuels with advanced “drop-in” biofuels compatible with today’s transportation infrastructure and are produced in a sustainable manner. Our overarching goal is to expedite transfer of the resulting biofuel technology to industrial practice, in order to contribute as rapidly as possible to the national objectives of increased U.S. energy security, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and new economic opportunities.  The most effective means to meet these critical national objectives is to supplement petroleum at the refinery gate. This will avoid the costs of new infrastructure and accelerate broad utilization of biofuels by the existing transportation fleet. However, the chemical and physical complexity of biomass has prevented its use as a refinery feed. As a consequence, the primary source of biofuels to-date has been fermentation of starch (corn) to ethanol, which has two fundamental challenges: 1) competition with food/feed supply, and 2) inability to take full advantage of existing infrastructure. Cellulosic-based ethanol mitigates the food/feed supply competition but does not address the second fundamental challenge–full infrastructure compatibility. Hence it faces the same market growth limitations, such as blend wall, low energy density and limited applicability for diesel and jet use. The objective of this project is to develop one or more biofuel technologies that address both these fundamental challenges and thus takes full advantage of the cost savings that are possible by use of existing refineries, distribution networks and vehicle fleets using high impact lignocellulosic feedstocks.