Circular Bioeconomy
Nature powers the circular bioeconomy
We envision a world in which nothing is wasted. UT Research is disrupting the “take, make, waste” paradigm to deliver innovative solutions that reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, while cultivating valuable new economic opportunities for US agriculture and forestry.
Highlights
NSF Selects UT to Lead Global Center for Sustainable Bioproducts
UT received a $5 million grant to establish the Global Center for Sustainable Bioproducts, which will develop environmentally and economically sustainable bio-derived composites and plastics to replace petroleum and its derivatives.
UTIA Receives Grant to Keep Food Waste out of Landfills
UT researchers are developing and executing a decision support system that will enable cities to easily evaluate options for redirecting food waste from landfills to composting. The new approach means waste can be used to help grow more food while reducing GHG emissions.
Tennessee Partners with Kentucky to Strengthen Circular Economy
UT is a core partner on a new National Science Foundation award led by the University of Kentucky. The project aims to reinforce the circular economy and create economic, societal, and technological opportunities for the Kentucky-Tennessee region.
Trinh Part of ORNL-Led Center Focused on Biofuels
UT Ferguson Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering Cong Trinh plays an important role in the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he is working on efficient processes to convert biomass into fuel or other biobased products using bacteria.
UTIA Collaborating on $1 Million NSF Engines Development Award
This project aims to develop a circular bioeconomy system for building materials and consumer goods in the Southeast that reduces climate change impacts from manufacturing by eliminating industry reliance on petroleum and environmentally costly fibers.
DOE Announces $18.6 Million to Support Low-Carbon Biofuels and Bioproducts
UT is home to one of eight university and industry projects to receive US Department of Energy funding to develop biomass feedstocks, which will ultimately produce affordable biofuels and bioproducts that reduce GHG emissions. Faculty from UTIA are leading the initiative.
Facilities & Initiatives
Our circular bioeconomy faculty collaborate with researchers from national labs, nonprofit research institutions, universities, and government organizations on multiple continents. Their work requires a wide breadth of facilities, equipment, and expertise to tackle global grand challenges requiring the convergence of genomics, chemistry, agriculture, and manufacturing.
- Center for Bioenergy Innovation
- Center for Renewable Carbon
- FEWSUS (International Research Coordination Network for Creating Transdisciplinary Nodes of Food-Energy-Water to Support Sustainable Urban Systems)
- Greening the Southeast (NSF Engines Development Award: Advancing Carbon-Neutral Crop Technologies to Develop Sustainable Consumer Goods)
Our Researchers
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Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Renewable energy production, waste to energy processes, treatment and reuse of waste from energy industries, environmental impact of energy management practices
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Professor & Assistant Director, Center for Renewable Carbon
Circular bioeconomy, integrated biorefining, sustainable advanced manufacturing, green chemistry, bioenergy, bioderived chemicals and materials
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UT–ORNL Governor’s Chair for Polymer Science
Solid state batteries, flow batteries, fundamentals of ion and proton transport in liquids and polymers, ion transport at interfaces, polymer dynamics, glass transition
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Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Sustainable infrastructure materials, decarbonization, building energy, autonomous construction
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Professor, Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
FEWSUS (food-energy-water nexus), fate, transport and bioavailability of contaminants in the environment, physical foundation of soil microbial processes, soil carbon, soil hydrology, plant-soil water relation modeling