Research into renewables

Chevron Corporation and the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have entered into a research alliance to advance the development of renewable transportation fuels.

Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and NREL have signed a five-year agreement to research and develop new production technologies for biofuels. Researchers from CTV and NREL will collaborate on projects to develop the next generation of process technologies that will convert cellulosic biomass such as forestry and agricultural wastes into biofuels such as ethanol and renewable diesel.

According to a statement, CTV will also fund research which complements DOE-sponsored work at NREL on bio-oil reforming, a process by which bio-oils derived from the decomposition of biological feedstocks are then converted into hydrogen.

This research may expedite the development of a feed-flexible, distributed-reforming process for renewable hydrogen production as well as provide the hydrogen necessary in some potential biofuels conversion technologies.