Bioenergy Research

The INL Bioenergy Program’s mission is to support DOE in achieving their vision by developing processes and technologies through applied science and engineering that remove the barriers associated with accessing a sustainable, efficient feedstock supply.

INL is the nation’s leading laboratory for bioenergy feedstock research.  Specifically, INL’s research is focused on addressing barriers associated with efficiently, economically, and sustainably supplying large quantities of quality feedstock to future biorefineries. This effort includes improving feedstock preprocessing technologies, understanding feedstock variability and its implications on conversion processes, feedstock supply system design and analysis, and at-scale equipment testing and design. INL feedstock research and development occurs at several scales, ranging from laboratory-scale, to bench-scale prototyping, to pilot-scale testing and demonstration in partnership with other national labs, industry, and academia.

INL manages the DOE-funded Biomass Feedstock National User Facility (BFNUF), which is comprised of the Process Development Unit (PDU), a modular research system for testing feedstock formulation processes, collecting process data, and producing small and large quantities of feedstocks for conversion testing. BFNUF also includes the Biomass Characterization Laboratory and Bioenergy Feedstock Library, which enable bioenergy developers to understand feedstock quality and its potential impact on conversion performance.