Teams of researchers from across the country will receive up to $47.3 million from Schmidt Sciences to develop the science to transform natural materials into energy, animal feed and other essential products.
WASHINGTON – Five teams of researchers from across the country will receive up to $47.3 million to develop the science to transform natural materials into energy, animal feed and other essential products. The teams will become part of the Virtual Institute on Feedstocks of the Future (VIFF), a partnership between Schmidt Sciences and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR). VIFF will enhance collaboration across scientific and technological disciplines with the ultimate goal of transforming biomass into key products in a circular, fossil-fuel-free economy.
Byproducts from industry, agriculture, forestry, and cities are abundant and can be leveraged as starting materials for products in a more sustainable, circular bioeconomy. Replacing petroleum-based feedstocks has the potential to increase the environmental sustainability of manufacturing; local sourcing; provide new revenue for farmers, ranchers, and municipalities; and support supply-chain resilience.
“Carbon is all around us, whether it’s the byproduct of an orchard harvest or solid waste from cities, but right now, it’s too expensive to extract and use,” said Dr. Genevieve Croft, Schmidt Sciences program scientist who is directing VIFF. “Turning the carbon we have into the carbon we want is a critical challenge. VIFF aims to accelerate the timeline of the science needed through interdisciplinary research collaboration.”
“Feedstocks — from agricultural residues, like corn stover, or forestry residues, like sawdust — have potential to become useful products, though the process to get there can be logistically and financially challenging,” said FFAR Scientific Program Director Dr. John Reich. “VIFF focuses on driving collaboration to catalyze innovative solutions.”
The following five projects form the new virtual institute and will receive funding over five years to advance their work.
BioCircular Valley
Led by: Blake Simmons, Biological Systems & Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Corinne Scown, Energy Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley
To bring economic livelihood and sustainability to California’s North San Joaquin Valley, one of the country’s most vital agricultural regions, the BioCircular Valley team aims to generate public datasets to map underused biomass, catalog conversion technologies that can turn that biomass into products, and quantify how much those processes can yield.
Wet Agricultural Value Enhanced Separations
Led by: Luke Williams, Idaho National Laboratory, and Owen McDougal, Food and Dairy Innovation Center, Boise State University with funding via Battelle Memorial Institute
The Wet Agricultural Value Enhanced Separations team is using advanced material separations and drying, product characterization, and feedstock formulation to convert food production and processing wastes into clean energy and water. The techniques aim to reduce shipping and food production costs and fossil fuel consumption, and promote sustainable operations.
Dairy Industry Waste Valorization
Led by: Gregory Stephanopoulos, Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Anand Sundaresan, Green Plains, Inc.
Leveraging metabolic engineering, bioprocess optimization, and product development, the Dairy Industry Waste Valorization project aims to address environmental and economic challenges in the dairy and ingredient industry by turning dairy waste into valuable food and feed using microbes through a sustainable bioprocess.
Sargassum Biorefinery
Led by: Jose Avalos, Princeton University; Shishir Chundawat, Rutgers University; & Loretta Roberson, Marine Biological Laboratory
With coastal communities facing significant environmental and economic challenges from excessive seaweed, this team is using a carbon-neutral or negative refinery-style process to convert Sargassum seaweed into fuel, animal feed, and other useful products.
Center for Mineral and Oxide Removal from Biomass (CMORE)
Led by: George Huber, & Styliani Avraamidou, Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Working with abundantly available municipal solid waste and contaminated, highly variable biomass, this project is turning those materials into mineral and metal oxide free pellets that can be used to make low-carbon fuel, chemicals and other products.
About the Organizations
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.
Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that works to advance science and technology that deepens human understanding of the natural world and develops solutions to global issues. The organization makes grants in four areas—AI and advanced computing, astrophysics and space, biosciences and climate—as well as supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines through its cross-sciences program.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media