Biotech Updates

Bioenergy Atlas Web Portal at NREL Launched

October 8, 2010
http://maps.nrel.gov/bioenergyatlas
http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2010/891.html

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, United States) recently announced the availability of a new web portal at its website: the "Bioenergy Atlas". According to the NREL news release, Bioenergy Atlas provides access to two bioenergy analysis and mapping tools: (1) "BioFuels" Atlas and (2) "BioPower". These tools are built into Google maps and allow users to compare/analyze biomass feedstocks, biopower and biofuels data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The BioFuels Atlas is "an interactive map for comparing biomass feedstocks and biofuels by location. It can also calculate the biofuels potential for a given area. [The] tool helps users select from and apply biomass data layers to a map as well as query and download biofuels and feedstock data ". The "BioPower" tool has an analysis function which offers common conversion factors "that allow users to determine the potential biopower production for a selected feedstock in a specific area". The project was made possible with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Blue Skyways Collaborative and DOE's Biomass Program. The Bioenergy Atlas web portal can be accessed at the URL given above.