New Billion-Ton report finds biomass production capacity could triple US bioeconomy

The United States could triple its current bioeconomy by producing more than 1 billion tons per year of plant-based biomass for renewable fuels, while meeting projected demands for food, feed, fiber, conventional forest products and exports, according to DOE’s latest Billion-Ton Report led by ORNL. The 2023 Billion-Ton Report is the fourth in a series of national biomass resource assessments spanning two decades. The report identifies feedstocks that could be available to produce biofuels and bioproducts to decarbonize transportation and industrial processes. Read more and Watch the video

SCIENCE WATCH

Collaboration grows new plant transformation data capability—Scientists at ORNL’s Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility worked together to create a scalable, automated pipeline for plant data generated by the robotic imaging tools and sensors at APPL. The system helps scientists quickly analyze massive amounts of data on the genetic modifications that transform plants as hardy feedstocks for bioenergy and bioproducts, for agriculture, and for climate resilience. Read more

Hydropower accomplishments report—Projects spearheaded by ORNL researchers made up about one fourth of those featured in the DOE Water Power Technologies Office’s new 2022–2023 Accomplishments Report. The year-end report, released March 15, highlights a selection of the many projects advancing hydropower and marine energy technologies that are sponsored by WPTO. Nine of ORNL’s Water Power program projects were featured as major accomplishments in the report. Read more

Bioenergy KDF data portal updated with 2023 Billion-Ton data—New data on the nation’s biomass resources from the just-released 2023 Billion-Ton report has been integrated into the Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework, or Bioenergy KDF. Scientists, government decision-makers, and other stakeholders can download national, regional, and county-specific datasets that follow FAIR, modern data principles to ensure usability and equitable access. Access here

Deep dive into the Land chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment—Peter Thornton, John Field, and other chapter authors presented a webinar in March, providing a deep dive into the science and results found in the Land Cover and Land Use chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Watch here

In peatland soil, warmer climate and elevated CO2 rapidly alter soil organic matter—Researchers at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment site led by ORNL tested whether different compounds of soil organic matter would degrade at different rates in response to climate change. The scientists found that regardless of components, all the soil mixes broke down quickly in warmer conditions. They also found evidence that warming plus higher CO2 levels may shift the peatland carbon budget toward pools with faster turnover. Read more

Women scientists discuss water power research—Three ORNL scientists—Natalie Griffiths, Carly Hansen, and Yilu Liu—discussed their projects supporting renewable hydropower for the DOE Water Power Technologies Office in a new series of videos released on International Women’s Day. Watch here

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Staff win Women’s Alliance Council awards—Two BESSD staff received 2024 Women’s Leadership Awards from the ORNL Women’s Alliance Council. Colleen Iversen was given the Sustained Inclusive Leadership Award, recognizing long-term, continuous pursuit of fostering an inclusive environment. Tonya Thompson was given the 2024 Award for Excellence in Collaboration, recognizing a team that has forged a collaboration across a diverse ORNL community to achieve a goal aligned with WAC’s mission and vision.

Welch named lead author for new national report—Jessica Welch has been appointed Federal Coordinating Lead Author for the Assessment Methods chapter of a new report, the National Nature Assessment, by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Read more

Biosciences issues annual Distinguished Achievement Awards—Biosciences Division Director Julie Mitchell issued the organization’s annual Distinguished Achievement Awards at its March all-hands meeting. Katie Farry was recognized for Administrative Excellence; Dave Weston for Mentorship Excellence; Larry York for Outreach Excellence; Mohan Mood for Postdoctoral Research Excellence; Tao Yao for Technical Excellence; and the Team Excellence Award went to Chloe Freeman, Jessica Johnson, Julya Johnson, Amy Kelley, Jackie Kerr, Stacey McCray, Marissa Mills, and Natalie Parks of the Biological and Environmental Research Information System team.

DOE Biological and Environmental Research Associate Director Dorothy Koch visits ORNL—ORNL hosted Dorothy Koch for her first official visit to a national laboratory since taking on the role of associate director for DOE BER. She toured the Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory and Spallation Neutron Source, learned about BESSD research from Jerry Tuskan, Larry York, Erin Webb, Dave Weston, Christian Salvador, and several others, and met with early career staff.

IN THE COMMUNITY

An ORNL discovery could guide mercury remediation — Jerry Parks presented his work on structure-based antiviral drug discovery and insights into mercury methylation research to the Friends of ORNL group in the Oak Ridge community. Read more or Watch here

BESSD scientists supported the ORNL “Get into Green” traveling science fair exhibit at Harriman High School in Tennessee — The group shared ORNL research with 7th through 12th graders from Roane County schools. Students learned about the many roles microbes play in the environment and how ORNL is working with microbes to produce biofuels and valuable chemicals, break down plastics, benefit plants and carbon storage, and improve human health. Take a virtual tour of the exhibit here.

RESEARCHER PROFILE

Alyssa Carrell: Exploring the microscopic world for maximum impact

Alyssa Carrell, an ecologist with the Plant Systems Biology group at ORNL, started her science career studying the tallest inhabitants in the forest, but today she is focused on some of its smallest—the microbial organisms that play an outsized role in plant health.

Just as the trillions of microbes found in the body play a crucial role in human health, the microbiome around plants influences the development and resilience of natural ecosystems by cycling nutrients, defending against disease and pests, and boosting growth. A single gram of soil can contain several billion bacteria. The plant–microbe partnership underpins the success of plants grown for food, as feedstocks for bioenergy, and as natural carbon storage.

“We’re working to disentangle some of the interactions between plants and microbiomes so we can engineer the environment to enhance plant productivity, nutrient uptake, and stress tolerance."

ORNL scientists have proven that elevated temperatures can result in carbon loss from peatlands, including the release of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Carrell and her colleagues are rapidly working out the genetic links to certain traits in Sphagnum mosses that can increase its resilience to heat and other stressors. They have teased apart how microbial communities are affected by peatland warming and discovered sex differences in mosses that appear to influence the carbon storage process. Read more

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.