DOE seeks nominations for biomass advisory committee

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is soliciting nominations for candidates to fill vacancies on the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. Nominations are due Aug. 14.

The committee was established by the Biomass Research and Development Act of 2000 and reauthorized in the 2014 Farm Bill. It provides advice and recommendations to the secretary of energy and the secretary of agriculture that promote research and development leading to the production of biobased fuels and products. Specifically, the committee provides guidance with respect to the Biomass R&D Initiative and priority technical biomass R&D needs and makes written recommendations to the Biomass R&D Board. Recommendations relate to whether initiative funds are distributed and used consistent with stated objectives, whether solicitations are open and competitive with awards made annually, whether objectives and evaluation criteria of the solicitations are clear, and whether the points of contact are funding proposals selected on the basis of merit, and determined by an independent panel of qualified peers.

According to information published by the EERE, the committee meets quarterly. Three of the four two-day meetings are held in Washington, D.C., with the fourth held at a separate location. Each committee member serves a two- or three-year term, and committee membership must include individuals affiliated with the biofuels industry, the biobased industrial and commercial products industry, a higher education institution with expertise in biofuels and biobased products, as well as two prominent engineers or scientists from government or academia, an individual affiliated with a commodity trade association, two people affiliated with environmental or conservation organizations, an individual associated with state government who has expertise in biofuels and biobased products, a person with expertise in energy and environmental analysis, an individual with expertise in the economics of biofuels and biobased products, someone with expertise in agricultural economics, and an individual with expertise in agronomy, crop science or soil science.

This year, the DOE is seeking nominations for an individual affiliated with the biobased industrial and commercial products industry, prominent engineers or scientists from government or academia that have expertise in biofuels and biobased products, and an individual with expertise in agronomy, crop science or soil science.

Nominations are solicited from organizations, associations, societies, councils, federations, groups, universities, and companies that represent a wide variety of biomass research and development interests throughout the country.

The 32 current members of the committee include Joseph James of Agri-Tech Producers LLC, William Provine of Dupont, Anna Rath of NexSteppe, Kelly Tiller of Genera Energy Inc., Todd Werpy of Archer Daniels Midland Co., Claus Crone Fuglsang of Novozymes North America Inc., Christine McKiernan of BIOFerm Energy Systems, and Man Kit Lau of BioAmber Inc. Additional information on the committee is available on the Biomass Research and Development website. More information on how to submit a nomination is available on the Federal Register website.