91°µÍø

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø recently demonstrated an autonomous robotic field monitoring, sampling and data-gathering system that could accelerate understanding of interactions among plants, soil and the environment.

A team of scientists with two Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers — the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at 91°µÍø and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — identified a gene in a poplar tree that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by about 30% in the field and by as much as 200% in the greenhouse. 

Using a best-of-nature approach developed by researchers working with the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø and Dartmouth University, startup company Terragia Biofuel is targeting commercial biofuels production that relies on renewable plant waste and consumes less energy. The technology can help meet the demand for billions of gallons of clean liquid fuels needed to reduce emissions from airplanes, ships and long-haul trucks.

Hempitecture, a graduate of the Innovation Crossroads program, has been awarded $8.4 million by the DOE's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. As part of the grant, Hempitecture will establish a facility in East Tennessee. 

The Proton Power Upgrade project at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source has achieved its final key performance parameter of 1,250 hours of neutron production at 1.7 megawatts of proton beam power on a newly developed target. 

Researchers have developed and 3D printed the lightest crack-free alloy capable of operating without melting at temperatures above 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, which could enable additively manufactured turbine blades to better handle extreme temperatures, reducing the carbon footprint of gas turbine engines such as those used in airplanes.

The Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory at ORNL utilizes robotics, multi-modal imaging, and AI to enhance understanding of plant genetics and interactions with microbes. It aims to connect genes to traits for advancements in bioenergy, agriculture, and climate resilience. Senior scientist Larry York highlights the lab's capabilities and the insights from a new digital underground imaging system to improve biomass feedstocks for bioenergy and carbon storage.

A new Global Biomass Resource Assessment developed by ORNL scientists gathered data from 55 countries resulting in a first-of-its kind compilation of current and future sustainable biomass supply estimates around the world. 

A new technology to continuously place individual atoms exactly where they are needed could lead to new materials for devices that address critical needs for the field of quantum computing and communication that cannot be produced by conventional means.

ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source, the nation’s leading source of pulsed neutron beams for research, was recently restarted after nine months of upgrade work.