How Berkeley Lab is Leading the Biology-Based Industrial Revolution

Berkeley Lab scientists at the ABPDU and JBEI are leaders in the field of technoeconomic analysis (TEA) and lifecycle assessment (LCA) - approaches that paint a picture of the economic and environmental impacts that an early-stage technology could have in the future. Collaboration with our TEA and LCA experts helps innovators address potential issues relating to supply chains and material costs, distribution, sustainability, and price competitiveness while their product is still in development. We have applied these approaches to many emerging technologies, such as our infinitely recyclable plastic and advanced biofuels.

And for researchers and companies that can't work with us directly, our experts have developed two publicly available web-based software tools that can quickly test different scenarios and explore viable bio-based fuels and products.

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab's expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab's world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 16 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.