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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Microbial necromass in cropland soils: A global meta-analysis of management effects

Microbial necromass is a large and persistent component of soil organic carbon (SOC), especially under croplands. The effects of cropland management on microbial necromass accumulation and its contribution to SOC have been measured in individual studies but have not yet been summarized on the global scale. For this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of 481-paired measurements from cropland soils to examine the management effects on microbial necromass and identify the optimal conditions for its accumulation. Nitrogen fertilization increased total microbial necromass C by 12%, cover crops by 14%, no or reduced tillage (NT/RT) by 20%, manure by 21%, and straw amendment by 21%. Microbial necromass accumulation was independent of biochar addition. NT/RT and straw amendment increased fungal necromass and its contribution to SOC more than bacterial necromass. Manure increased bacterial necromass higher than fungal, leading to decreased ratio of fungal-to-bacterial necromass. Greater microbial necromass increases after straw amendments were common under semi-arid and in cool climates in soils with pH <8, and were proportional to the amount of straw input. In contrast, NT/RT increased microbial necromass mainly under warm and humid climates. Manure application increased microbial necromass irrespective of soil properties and climate. Management effects were especially strong when applied during medium (3–10 years) to long (10+ years) periods to soils with larger initial SOC contents, but were absent in sandy soils. Close positive links between microbial biomass, necromass and SOC indicate the important role of stabilized microbial products for C accrual. Microbial necromass contribution to SOC increment (accumulation efficiency) under NT/RT, cover crops, manure and straw amendment ranged from 45% to 52%, which was 9%–16% larger than under N fertilization. In summary, long-term cropland management increases SOC by enhancing microbial necromass accumulation, and optimizing microbial necromass accumulation and its contribution to SOC sequestration requires site-specific management.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

The good, the bad, and the future: Systematic review identifies best use of biomass to meet air quality and climate policies in California

Abstract California has large and diverse biomass resources and provides a pertinent example of how biomass use is changing and needs to change, in the face of climate mitigation policies. As in other areas of the world, California needs to optimize its use of biomass and waste to meet environmental and socioeconomic objectives. We used a systematic review to assess biomass use pathways in California and the associated impacts on climate and air quality. Biomass uses included the production of renewable fuels, electricity, biochar, compost, and other marketable products. For those biomass use pathways recently developed, information is available on the effects—usually beneficial—on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and there is some, but less, published information on the effects on criteria pollutants. Our review identifies 34 biomass use pathways with beneficial impacts on either GHG or pollutant emissions, or both—the “good.” These included combustion of forest biomass for power and conversion of livestock‐associated biomass to biogas by anaerobic digestion. The review identified 13 biomass use pathways with adverse impacts on GHG emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, or both—the “bad.” Wildfires are an example of one out of eight pathways which were found to be bad for both climate and air quality, while only two biomass use pathways reduced GHG emissions relative to an identified counterfactual but had adverse air quality impacts. Issues of high interest for the “future” included land management to reduce fire risk, future policies for the dairy industries, and full life‐cycle analysis of biomass production and use.

Agriculture↗
DOE OSTI2026

Decision Support System

Forest-based value chains involve decisions that begin at the landscape level and extend through processing, product manufacturing, and end-use markets. However, these decisions are often made independently across sectors, with limited visibility into how upstream resource conditions, incentives, and land management choices influence downstream production systems. In forested regions of the United States, wildfire risk, fragmented ownership, and uncertain markets for low-value residues complicate efforts to align extraction, processing, and utilization decisions. Without tools that link these stages, stakeholders may overlook opportunities to improve resource utilization or inadvertently shift impacts elsewhere in the value chain. This repository introduces a decision support system (DSS) that applies a system-impact-analysis approach to forest biomass residues and co-products. The framework integrates forest inventory data, geospatial resource assessments, and economic modeling to evaluate how biomass extraction decisions influence downstream product pathways. By linking regional feedstock avail- ability with market incentives and processing options—such as fuels, wood products, or soil amendments like biochar—the tool allows decision-makers to compare value chain outcomes across multiple utilization strategies.

Davis, Maggie [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗
DOE OSTI2025

BiCRS LCA Tool [SWR-26-005]

This is a biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) life cycle analysis (LCA) tool. This version can be used to estimate the impacts of biochar burial BiCRS pathways.

Ware, Anne "Liz" [National Renewable Energy Labora↗
DOE OSTI2025

Advanced Processing of Coal and Coal Waste to Produce Graphite for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

The University of North Dakota (UND) Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC), in collaboration with the UND Center for Process Engineering Research (CPER), conducted a project to validate two technologies capable of converting North Dakota lignite and lignite coal waste to high-quality graphite for fast-charging lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode. The project was conducted over about 3 years from April 7, 2022, to July 6, 2025. The two technological paths pursued in this project include path A – direct conversion of coal or coal waste to graphite by the upgraded carbon ores to products (UCOP) process being developed at the EERC and path B – lignite-derived coal tar pitch (CTP) conversion to graphite (CTP2G) process being developed at CPER. The results from this project validate the two technological approaches and are expected to be an integral part of a portfolio of emerging technologies for making high-quality graphite not only from North Dakota lignite, but from all ranks of U.S. domestic coal and coal waste resources. The quality of the graphite produced by these technologies is high enough for various applications, including batteries for the fast-growing electric vehicle industry, energy storage applications, electric arc furnace electrodes for steel production, and graphene production, among others. Although the two technologies can produce high-quality graphite, they are fundamentally different in that the UCOP technology provides a direct path to transform coal to graphite, while the CTP2G technology needs to go through a CTP intermediate and a coking process for the intermediate, which requires a special facility to accomplish. For application in the industry, the UCOP process is designed to be more flexible, with feedstock to include potentially any carbonaceous material such as all coal ranks and biochar, while the CTP2G process is designed to utilize CTP as the starting precursor. The key project accomplishments include the following: • Successful preparation of high-quality synthetic graphite from North Dakota lignite coal/coal wastes and lignite-derived CTP. • Patent application has been filed for the UCOP process and an internal invention disclosure has been filed for the CTP2G process. • The produced graphite performs better than a commercial battery-grade sample in LIB coin cells, especially fast-charging capability, stability, and long-duration cycling. • Coin-type Li-ion half-cells with CTP2G graphite showed excellent performance, with >370 mAh/g capacity, >90% initial coulombic efficiency, and 93%/67% retention at 1C/2C rate, which outperforms commercial graphite in charging speed, stability, and cycling. • Results of fabricated 18650 cells were consistent with the observations in coin cells. • Preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA) estimates for the UCOP technology indicate a manufacturing cost of about $\$$39/kg based on 50-metric ton/year capacity. • Preliminary TEA estimates for the CTP2G technology indicate a market price of about $\$$7107/ton ($\$$7/kg) based on 22,000-ton/year production capacity.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2025

Stepping into the Midwest Bioeconomy: Stakeholder Engagement and Geospatial Tools to Assist in Perennial Bioenergy Crop Decision Making and Entrepreneurship

This project, “Ecosystem Services and Farm Entrepreneurship Technical Assistance,” was a three-year project originally planned for FY22–FY24. Due to a late start and a few extensions, it is being completed in early FY25. This project explored opportunities to support the deployment of a bioeconomy with a circular, more sustainable supply chain. Using a tool developed by Argonne to identify agricultural areas suitable for use in the bioeconomy, we sought to create opportunities in the bioeconomy as biomass producers, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs. We proposed to focus at the beginning on enhancing the tool’s capabilities, while engaging with key stakeholders to improve and expand the tool’s functionality for all potential stakeholders in the bioeconomy. We believe that expanding our tools and technologies, coupled with conversations in agricultural spaces, will be needed as we continue to explore how best to offer farmers whole-of supply-chain opportunities to participate in the bioeconomy. Through this project we have continued to gain a better understanding of the ways in which farmers, landowners, bioenergy users, and environmental entrepreneurs may approach the bioeconomy. In addition, as we improve our analytic toolkit, we can continue to refine our communication and the ways in which we can valuate the bioeconomy. Refining these tools allows us to dive deeper into conversations around plausible policies and drivers for future bioeconomy investment and engagement by stakeholders. By working with farmers and agricultural landowners to enable a sustainable bioeconomy business model, enhance their energy options, and recover resources from their waste streams, this project directly responds to the Bioenergy Technology Office’s (BETO) priorities of building a resilient energy economy. It addresses BETO’s focus on fostering the development and adoption of energy technologies that enable the conversion of waste to energy, efficient land use, and robust job creation. By establishing a technical assistance program that develops capabilities and practices in agricultural areas to implement a bioeconomy future, this program will develop an important linkage between technology being developed at U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories and the agricultural communities of the Midwest. This project focuses on farmers with lower productivity farmland. Because less productive lands create a more difficult revenue stream for conventional crops, these farmers may therefore be more open to alternative agricultural land management regimes. Consequently, the technical assistance program and the methodologies for targeting perennial bioenergy crop application on marginal land provide a distinct opportunity to engage with and invest in the bioeconomy in these economically stressed areas. Stakeholders in this project include farmers and landowners, local conservation organizations (NRCS, SWCS, etc.), universities, non-profit environmental and agricultural entities, farm consultants, environmental regulators, and industry, including the industries working on conversion technologies, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, and biochar generation, and the companies interested in trading or purchasing/supporting the valuation of ecosystem services (ES).

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2026

An Educational Program on Concentrated Solar Power and Heliostats for Power Generation and Industrial Processes

The objective of this project was to design and implement a comprehensive educational and applied research program in Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSTP) and heliostat technologies at Northeastern University. In alignment with the U.S. Department of Energy's Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon) goals, the project aimed to expand student and public understanding of CSTP systems while simultaneously contributing to workforce development and the broader decarbonization strategy. A particular emphasis was placed on integrating hands-on student design projects and publicly disseminating educational content relevant to CSTP systems. The project addressed a critical gap in renewable energy education: CSTP and heliostats, despite their importance in utility-scale solar energy, are rarely included in standard mechanical engineering programs. This project established new pathways for students to engage with the topic through the creation of a 4-credit graduate/senior elective course, development of five industry-facing short courses, and the inclusion of CSTP-based capstone design projects. Over two academic years, 36 students across six senior design teams developed and tested technologies such as deformable heliostats, beacon-based tracking systems, and solar-powered pyrolizers for biomass-to-biochar conversion. Concurrently, 30 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in the new academic course centered around CSTP principles. To ensure the relevance and accessibility of the short course content, the project team engaged with industry professionals, technical policy stakeholders, and potential course participants through structured surveys and informal consultations. Feedback from 28 respondents guided the structure, length, and delivery format of the courses - resulting in a modular design broken into five workshops. The feedback emphasized the need for flexible, asynchronous delivery and practical case studies, particularly in areas such as heliostat control, thermal storage, and solar fuel production. This engagement helped align the courses with the evolving knowledge demands of the renewable energy workforce and ensured that participants from both technical and policy backgrounds could meaningfully benefit from the material. The research and educational activities advanced the understanding of heliostat control systems, optical performance under misalignment, and thermal system integration in solar-driven pyrolysis applications. Methods and designs explored in this project proved to be both technically effective and economically feasible at the lab scale. Prototypes were constructed using commercially available components and custom-fabricated elements, demonstrating that meaningful performance improvements can be achieved with modest material and fabrication costs, supporting the feasibility of student-led research in this field. The public benefit of this project is twofold. First, it cultivates a pipeline of engineers trained to be familiar with CSTP principles, an essential workforce need identified by the Department of Energy for achieving its 2030 cost and deployment targets. Second, it contributes openly accessible educational materials, course content, and experimental frameworks to the broader community, enabling other institutions to adopt or adapt similar programming. Through outreach activities, curriculum integration, and technical exposure, this project contributes to a more informed and capable renewable energy workforce while supporting innovation in heliostat and CSTP system design. A new technical report is being prepared to document the development of the course and its outcomes, with plans to publish it in the ASME Open Access Journal of Engineering to ensure global accessibility, free of cost.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Biomass for Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Biomass and Bioproduct Data Table

The Biomass for Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Biomass and Bioproduct Data Table was generated using data from biomass and bioproducts (i.e., biochar, pyrolysis oil) supplied by BiCRS project developers. Data was obtained via analytical characterization methodologies listed in the document at the National Laboratory of the Rockies.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste: Products and Their Uses

This brochure provides a brief summary of products associated with anaerobic digestion of food waste, namely biogas and digestate. The focus is primarily on digestate and its utilization options, which include land application, direct and indirect fuel, bio-oil, biochar, and syngas, as well as other uses.

BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hydrocoals from waste biomass via catalytic hydrothermal carbonization processing

This study investigates how operating conditions (temperature and residence time) and benzoyl chloride impact hydrochar production from almond shells through hydrothermal carbonization. Carbon content rises while volatile matter decreases with increasing temperature, yielding a hydrochar with an estimated heating value of 28 MJ/kg. Elevated temperatures lower the O/C and H/C atomic ratios of hydrochars. Even at the lowest temperature under scrutiny, catalytic experiments using benzoyl chloride enhance carbonization and fuel ratio across all temperatures. Hydrochars produced through catalytic runs demonstrate elevated fuel ratios relative to those generated through noncatalytic runs, despite operating under the same conditions. These insights reveal the capacity of benzoyl chloride as a catalyst to improve hydrochar properties, suggesting its utility for advancing both the efficiency and effectiveness of hydrothermal carbonization processes.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dissolved pyrogenic carbon leaching in soil: Effects of soil depth and pyrolysis temperature

We report Pyrogenic organic carbon (PyC) is found in soils as a heterogeneous mixture of thermally altered plant residues that range in their susceptibility to losses via mineralization, leaching, and erosion. Leaching of PyC as DOC (DPyC) within the soil profile is likely influenced by the chemical composition of solid PyC and the dominant soil processes and properties at a particular depth. Here we report the results of a 2-year laboratory decomposition and leaching study designed to investigate the interactive effects of pyrolysis temperature levels (no pyrolysis, 300 °C, and 450 °C) and soil depth (surface soil, 0–10 cm depth; subsurface soil, 50–70 cm depth) on losses of 13 C-labeled jack pine (Pinus banksiana) wood, wood pyrolyzed at 300 °C (PyC300) and wood pyrolyzed at 450 °C (PyC450) as dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Losses of wood and PyC in the 13 C- DOC pool were measured in leachates drained from soils once a month over the course of 1 year, and at one single leaching event after 2 years. We found that pyrolysis temperature levels interacted with time and soil depth to affect losses of wood and PyC as DOC throughout the 1-year incubation and leaching study, with greater DOC losses from wood in surface soil (0.73 ± 0.076% of added C) than in subsurface soil (0.40 ± 0.063% of added C) averaged across sampling time. Monthly DOC losses from PyC were not affected by soil depth. Cumulative data indicated a small contribution of wood (2.86 ± 0.07%), PyC300 (0.40 ± 0.04%), and PyC450 (0.16 ± 0.01%) to total DOC leached from soils. DOC losses from wood and PyC300 (as a proportion of added C) were greater in surface soil than in subsurface soil, whereas DOC losses from PyC450 were unaffected by differences between surface and subsurface soil. Losses of DOC were greater from PyC300 than from PyC450 in surface soil, with no significant differences in DOC losses between PyC300 and PyC450 in subsurface soil. One single leaching event at the end of the 2-year decomposition study resulted in higher DOC losses from wood in subsurface soil than in surface soil likely due to desorption, and no differences in DOC losses between PyC300 and PyC450 regardless of soil depth. Our results suggest strong interactions between the initial physicochemical composition of organic C inputs and soil properties (soil depth as a proxy) that control the mobility and transport of PyC and should be better represented in Earth system models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

At-Line Sampling and Characterization of Pyrolytic Vapors from Biomass Feedstock Blends Using SPME-GC/MS-PCA: Influence of Char on Fast Pyrolysis

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with GC-MS analysis was used for at-line sampling of pyrolytic vapors produced during fast pyrolysis of biomass. The pure and binary blends of switchgrass (SWG) and pine harvest residues (PT6) were used as feedstock. Sequential SPME sampling allowed for monitoring of changes in the pyrolysis vapors as char accumulated in the fluid bed. The concentration and composition of the vapors desorbed from the SPME fibers were investigated using GC-MS, and the data sets were then analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) to compare the composition of the pyrolysis vapors over the course of the pyrolysis run. The chemical composition of both carbohydrate and lignin fragments varied as the char builds up in the reactor bed. Fragments derived from cellulose and xylan included anhydrosugars, furans and light oxygenated compounds. Lignin fragments included methoxyphenols, phenolic ketones and aldehydes, low molecular weight aromatics. The composition of the carbohydrate fragments changed more than the lignin fragments as the char build-up in the fluid bed. This combination of SPME-GC/MS-PCA were a novel, easy and effective method for measuring the composition and changes in the composition of pyrolysis vapors during the fast pyrolysis process. Here, this work also highlighted the effect of char build-up on the composition of the overall pyrolysis vapors.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sequential Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide Adsorption on Pyrolyzed Biomass to Recover Waste Stream Nutrients

Untreated fecal waste in unsewered communities and reactive nitrogen (N) loading from wastewater and urine disposal are important environmental challenges. Through pyrolysis, untreated fecal waste can be converted into amine-rich carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) sorbents, the chemisorption of which tunes the surface chemistry toward ammonia (NH 3 ) uptake. We compared the N-loading potential within amine-rich pyrolyzed human solid waste through exposure to CO 2 followed by NH 3 with the N-loading potential on carboxyl-rich, pyrolyzed oxidized wood using sequential adsorption of isotopically labeled CO 2 and NH 3 . The total N content of pyrolyzed oxidized wood exposed once to NH3 was similar to native, pyrolyzed human solid waste (3.7% compared to 4.6%). However, sorption kinetics and spectroscopic evidence revealed distinct N forms between the two materials affecting subsequent CO 2 and NH 3 uptake. Tertiary amines comprised 70% of N in pyrolyzed waste, compared to only 53% in pyrolyzed oxidized wood. The high heat of adsorption of CO 2 on pyrolyzed human solid waste (50 kJ mol-1) at low concentrations (0.05 mmol CO 2 g -1 ) was indicative of CO 2 reactivity with tertiary amines, consistent with the formation of carbamic acid (Figure S1). Conversely, after exposure to NH 3 , pyrolyzed oxidized wood chemisorbed CO 2 at much higher concentrations (0.7 mmol CO 2 g-1), pointing to primary amines as the active functional moieties. Adsorption kinetics of pyrolyzed oxidized wood revealed continued, albeit diminishing NH 3 uptake with each consecutive CO 2 treatment, averaging 5.9 mmol NH 3 g -1 for the first NH 3 exposure event, and still 3.5 and 2.9 mmol NH 3 g -1 for the second and third. Penetration of 15 NH 3 and 13 CO 2 measured by NanoSIMS reached over 7 µm deep into both materials, explaining the large NH 3 capture. The significantly lower NH 3 adsorption compared to pyrolyzed oxidized wood may be a result of potassium (K) carbonate precipitation precluding a Lewis base interaction between NH 3 and chemisorbed CO 2 , suggested by a 2-fold increase in surface K concentrations after exposure of pyrolyzed human solid waste to CO 2 +NH 3 detected by XPS.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Heating effects on pyrogenic organic matter mass loss and temperature in a sand matrix in a lab setting from 2022

This dataset contains data associated with the preprint “A laboratory method for simulating the effects of subsequent fires on pyrogenic organic matter at different exposure depths in a sand matrix” (https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.30.605814), which has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. The dataset was generated to investigate the effects of subsequent fires on preexisting pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) at different soil depths. Specifically, we designed a laboratory method to simulate soil heating from above, applying realistic heat flux profiles (High, Low, Control) derived from jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) log burns. Using a cone calorimeter, these profiles were applied to buried jack pine PyOM (produced at 350°C) in a sand matrix pyrocosm to examine PyOM mass loss at different depths (surface, 1 cm, 5 cm). Each treatment (e.g., High heat flux at 1 cm depth) was applied once to five replicates in a pyrocosm.The dataset includes mass loss fraction of PyOM and time-series temperature profiles (measured with type K thermocouples). Additionally, calibration datasets for high and low heat flux profiles are provided, including programmed heat flux profile data and three sets of calibration results. All datasets are in .csv format and were analyzed in R using code found at https://github.com/MengmengLuo/Reburning-pyrogenic-organic-matter-A-laboratory-method-for-dosing-dynamic-heat-fluxes-from-above. This dataset supports research on PyOM transformations during subsequent fires, and methodological advancements in simulating soil heating. It can be used to explore fire-induced PyOM alterations across different fire intensities and soil depths.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Heating effects on jack pine pyrogenic organic matter properties from a pyrocosm study in 2022

This dataset contains data associated with the preprint “Fire removes preexisting pyrogenic organic matter from the ecosystem through the mechanisms of both direct combustion and increasing mineralizability” (Luo et al., 2025b), which is the complementary study to the published paper “Reburning pyrogenic organic matter: a laboratory method for dosing dynamic heat fluxes from above” (Luo et al., 2025a). We designed a full-factorial experiment with different burial depths of jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb) pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) (Surface, 1 cm, and 5 cm) and different heat-flux profiles (High, Low, and Control) to examine how subsequent fires affect the properties of preexisting PyOM. We measured total carbon (C), pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and mineralized C (as CO₂-C, from a 12-week incubation).We found that high heat flux and/or surface placement resulted in substantial direct C losses through combustion. Intermediate heat exposure produced both combustion losses and increases in DOC and mineralizability, which may have complex long-term implications: an increased dissolved fraction of PyOM may promote downward transport into mineral soils and potentially contribute to deeper, longer-term C storage, but it may also make PyOM more susceptible to microbial decomposition. Under the lowest heat flux and deepest burial, most PyOM was retained, and changes in DOC and C mineralization were minimal. Finally, PyOM pH, an important chemical property, decreased under low-temperature heating but increased under higher temperatures.We uploaded pH data for all samples (“pH_of_all_samples.csv”); pH and temperature-related data (peak temperature and degree hours) for samples in High and Low heat-flux treatments (“pH_vs_peakT_and_degree_hours_only_for_heated_samples.csv”); total C data (“CN_pct_C_stock_C_loss_in_samples.csv”); DOC and DIC data (“doc_dic.csv”); and mineralized C (CO₂-C) data (“CO2-C_all_original.csv”). Additional details can be found in the Methods & Sampling section.All datasets uploaded to ESS-DIVE are clearly labeled, cleaned, and include both raw and derived data, ready for reuse in other analyses. All analysis code and raw datasets are also available on GitHub: https://github.com/MengmengLuo/Fire-removes-preexisting-pyrogenic-organic-matter-from-the-ecosystem.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗