The Bioenergy Technologies Office and its national lab partners provide a variety of online tools to help analyze data and facilitate decision making. This page links to several of them and includes a widget that calculates the potential volume of ethanol produced from biomass feedstocks.

Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (KDF)

The Bioenergy KDF is an online data resource that can benefit researchers, industry, policy makers, and the general public. This toolkit facilitates informed decision making by providing a means to synthesize, analyze, and visualize vast amounts of information in a spatially integrated manner. A Geographic Information System (GIS)–based framework allows users to comprehensively analyze the economic and environmental impacts of various development options for biomass feedstocks, biorefineries, and infrastructure. The Bioenergy KDF provides access to a variety of data sets, publications, and mapping tools that support bioenergy research. Users can contribute their own data, documents, models, and other types of information, fostering valuable exchange and collaboration among stakeholders.

BioFuels Atlas

The Biofuels Atlas is an interactive map that illustrates the locations of American feedstocks, bioenergy plants, bioenergy sites, as well as fossil fuel infrastructure and alternative fuel stations. This tool also allows users to download data and run analyses on both bioenergy resources and available incentives in order to determine potential biofuels production capacity. The Geospatial Data Science Team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides this resource to the public. 

Biomass Scenario Model (BSM)

The BSM can be used to simulate the potential policy impacts on the domestic biofuels supply chain. This tool integrates biomass resource availability, constraints, behavior, and policy to develop insights into biofuels industry growth and market penetration. It is especially well suited to testing the feasibility and potential side effects of incentives such as tax credits, loan guarantees, research and development investment, volumetric capital, and operating subsidies. The BSM is a product developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation Model (GREET)

GREET is a suite of tools for life-cycle analysis, which can be used to evaluate energy and emission impacts of advanced vehicle technologies and new transportation fuels. The suite includes a fuel-cycle model, vehicle-cycle model, fleet footprint calculator, travel carbon calculator, and power water model. In 2016, an update to the software added an interactive user interface that incorporates graphical simulations. GREET is a product of Argonne National Laboratory. 

Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Biofuel Models

JEDI biofuel models can be used to estimate economic development impacts from biofuel projects. The suite of models includes JEDI Dry Mill Corn Ethanol, JEDI Lignocellulosic Ethanol, and JEDI Biopower. Using default industry average data assumptions and user project inputs, JEDI allows users to estimate job creation of proposed or existing projects. JEDI biofuel models are a part of the JEDI energy analysis suite developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Laboratory Analytical Procedures

These laboratory procedures provide tested and accepted methods for performing analyses commonly used in biofuels and pyrolysis bio-oils research, including biomass compositional analysis, bio-oil analysis, and microalgae compositional analysis. In addition to several procedure downloads, calculation spreadsheets are also provided for the compositional analysis and mass closure for biomass feedstocks, including wood, corn stover, biomass hydrolysate, and corn stover intermediates. This is a resource provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Water Analysis Tool for Energy Resources (WATER) 

WATER is an interactive, visual tool that analyzes water demand and its impact on water availability at county, state, and regional scales. Argonne National Laboratory utilizes water footprint methodology and data on climate, land use, water resources, and process water to allow users to assess water quality and use across the fuel production stages. WATER’s Feedstock and Biofuel Refinery scenarios, along with geospatial analysis, can illustrate the water use of feedstock production through conversion processes.