Katherine: Hello, and welcome to the first
bioenergy spotlight video of 2014. Today we
will hear from Jonathan Male, Director for
the Bioenergy Technologies Office. Dr. Male
joined the Department of Energy from Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory in the fall of 2013.
He will be interviewed by Valerie Reed, Deputy
Director for the Bioenergy Technologies Office.
Valerie: Jonathan, it's good to see you, and
I know the Bioenergy Office is thrilled that
you're finally here with our program. So,
I wanted to spend some time asking you some
questions for the sake of our audience.
What prompted you to join DOE or to get involved
in the bioenergy field in the first place?
Jonathan: Thank you; that's an excellent question.
Well, I have a background in catalysis, and
I was asked one day: could I utilize that
to work in the field of bioenergy? And so
I went away and did some background research,
and I was able to then take that background
and apply it to the generation of biofuels
and bioproducts and the other area of biopower.
And it's an area where we can address a need
for the U.S. and to help with reducing emissions
for the U.S. and continue to support a diversified
energy portfolio. And so it's remarkably rewarding.
Valerie: Absolutely. I agree with you 100%.
So, you mentioned a need in the U.S., and
I know that we hear the term "bioeconomy"
all the time. Why is that important to the
U.S.? What is it about the bioeconomy in a
renewable energy portfolio that you think
is important for us to be working towards?
Jonathan: Well, the bioeconomy—that is the
vision of standing up a vibrant new industry,
and it's how it brings value. And value can
be measured in many terms: It can be measured
in jobs created in the U.S. It can be measured
in reduction in emissions, in the reduction
of import of foreign oil, in energy security,
reduction of debts for the U.S. because it's
maintaining funds within in the U.S. And it's
along the entire supply chain. So it's bringing
value all the way from the farmers through
engineers to distributors to the end user
using biofuels and bioenergy and biochemicals
derived all from biomass.
Valerie: It just sounds so important for us
to be involved in this area.
So, what are some of the new developments?
Could you name three exciting developments
that you see coming down the pike in bioenergy?
Jonathan: I'd love to. The first of them that
I would point people to is, between 2014/2015,
we're going to see coming to fruition the
first large-scale demonstrations of production
of cellulosic ethanol. Now, these are commercial
scale, they're the pioneers, the first of
their kind. And these will be making millions
of gallons of cellulosic ethanol—other biofuels.
This is showing it's possible. And from those,
they will be able to do the second plant to
the fifth plant. And that's the beginning
of our vibrant new industry that we're trying
to stand up.
Another thing that we're seeing—that was
cellulosic ethanol, and we begin to see other
biofuels come to the forefront. Behind those
in R&D, there's been this transition in the
R&D platform—research and development platform—towards
drop-ins. What are drop-in biofuels? These
are biofuels that are hydrocarbons and can
utilize the existing infrastructure. They
offer additional avenues to get into the market
itself.
The third thing we might like to highlight
is how the biofuels can be utilized, not just
in one sector. We can go to different sectors.
We want to work with things such as electrification
of vehicles. They will be ideal in some scenarios.
We want to work with engine manufacturers
who are looking at engine efficiency. But
the role of the biofuels can aid with engine
efficiency. That's on-road vehicles—on-road,
light-duty vehicles, I should qualify. We
can look at heavy-duty vehicles in other sectors
such as aviation, perhaps heating oil, marine
section, and maybe even rail.
Valerie: It sounds like this is not a new
field. For the sake of our audience, we've
been around for 20--30 years now really plugging
away at this. And we've made some great strides.
It's exciting to hear you talk about that.
But can you speak towards investment? And
how should the investment community be looking
at this? And why is it important for them
to continue to be supporting this? I mean,
we're so close to the finish line.
Jonathan: Thank you for bringing up that point.
It is absolutely vital, as you say, that we
have investment in the technologies and the
companies that are actually doing this. And,
the role of government—and that's not just
the Department of Energy, but many agencies—is
to reduce the technical risk and to work with
the industrial partners and universities and
national labs—to drive down the said technical
risk. As the technical risk is coming down,
that should encourage investors to come into
the market, and then you'll see them owning
more and more, and you're seeing the market
emerge. And you'll see beyond the first plant,
the second plant, going to the tenth plant,
going to the hundredth plant—so we can have
national impact on the scale that we need
for a vibrant America.
Valerie: And that's important for the research
community, the investment community.
What can the American constituent be doing?
What's important for them to know as they
think about bioenergy and their future?
Jonathan: Well, one of the roles that the
constituents can do is they can be open to
the utilization of biofuels. There are lots
of vehicles out there now that are warrantied
or validated to actually use biofuels. Be
open to the utilization of—at the moment,
the fuels that are out there, there are E10—10%
ethanol in gasoline at the moment. There are
newer vehicles that are now able to take E15.
We're beginning to see E15 pumps—15% ethanol.
There are E85 vehicles out there. Finding
an E85 pump may have been a challenge, but
that is progressing as well. The utilization
of the biofuels—it is vibrant to the U.S.;
it's bringing additional resources into the
fuel market, perhaps reducing the volatility.
So, being open to the idea of utilizing biofuels.
The other thing: There are several myths out
there around biofuels. There is the myth that
if biofuels are utilized, then this will dramatically
affect the price of food. There've been significant
scientific studies—not just one, but many
scientists discussing this, looking at sustainable
practices. And the emphasis of the Department
of Energy is on cellulosic biofuels, so it's
utilizing components of, say, one example
might be, corn—not using the corn cobs,
as in the kernels that come off of them—delicious
to eat—but the cobs that are left behind,
the stocks, the stover, and converting those
into biofuels. So that way, you still have
a vibrant food supply for the U.S. and the
rest of the world. But at the same time, these
materials that weren't utilized are able to
be utilized to make biofuels and bioproducts
and energy.
Valerie: Sounds to me like the farmer has
a double win there. They're able to get value
from the food crop that they are producing
and then additional value from the residues
and the leftover wastes that perhaps they
would have been using for lower-value needs
like animal bedding and that sort of thing.
So it sounds like a win-win situation. And
I can only imagine that on a sustainability
front that that's very important for us as
a nation.
I'd like you to talk a little bit if you
would about the President's Climate Action
Plan and things that we're hearing and how
biofuels feeds into that overall environmental
issue.
Jonathan: Right, the President's Climate Action
Plan. The President has outlined that there
isn't a singular fix—one needs many different
technologies in different areas. So there
is renewable power, and you're seeing wind
and solar and other ways to advance renewable
power. There's a play for biopower—perhaps
a smaller role, but it's there.
And then in the transportation mode, we're
seeing engine efficiency increases; we're
seeing the CAFE standards. This is enabling
the consumer to go further on the same gallon
of gas, which is going to be useful to all
of us. When you look at the amount of income
that is spent on fuels—that can be important
to the consumer. With the Climate Action plan,
it's more efficient utilization of the fuel,
going further, so you're reducing the emissions.
Biofuels, because they are able to uptake
things like CO2 (and obviously you have to
take a look at the individual technology and
you have to look at the crop itself and how
it's grown) the emissions that they
give out upon combustion can be balanced by
the amount of emissions that was taken in
upon growing the crops. So this leads to another
way to take down the emissions that you would
emit using petroleum fuels. So, biofuels have
a vibrant role to play in this.
And you might say, as we sort of touched on
previously, "What about electric vehicles?"
They have a vibrant role to play as well.
But it's not going to be one size fits all.
You're going to need biofuels to address certain
markets. And the diversity that is celebrated
across the U.S. means that you have diversity
in technologies. That is why the Department
of Energy is looking at a number of solutions.
We have a diverse portfolio, as you know.
So, biofuels can also help in things like
jet fuel, where perhaps it's one of the leading
options at the moment. There isn't an electrification
option at the moment. Biofuels can have a
role in that one. And that's just one of the
many markets where biofuels can help work
in a sustainable manner to reduce emissions.
Valerie: Very interesting. I know we've touched
on most of the things I wanted to talk about.
I know that you have an open door policy for
people to come in. We're open to the innovative
new ideas that people have.
Is there anything that you'd like to leave
our audience with in terms of a final message?
Jonathan: The bioeconomy will involve all
of us. We have an opportunity to stand up
this new, renewable industry. It will need
all of us working together. There's plenty
of work for everybody. We will need successes
along the entire supply chain. And that can
involve all of us. It can involve future students.
It can involve the consumers. It can involve
many different government agencies, our partnerships
with industry and universities, and the opportunity
here is vast. And so, to be part of that,
that's the kind of thing that gets myself,
and probably yourself, and a lot of individuals
up in the morning. We're all aspiring to leave
the planet better than when we were here,
for future generations. And biofuels can contribute
to that. And that's the kind of thing that
you want to contribute to, and the reason
why we want to be at DOE working on this.
Valerie: Well, thank you very much, Jonathan.
Thank you for being here, for helping us with
this effort. I want to welcome the audience
to spend some time on our website, to learn
more about the things that Jonathan talked
about. And as I mentioned before, our door
is always open. Thank you!
