ORNL is making underused or inaccessible bioenergy data available to accelerate innovation for the bioeconomy. Credit: Andy Sproles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
A research team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified and improved the usability of data that can help accelerate innovation for the growing bioeconomy.
Using the principles of FAIR data, the group has made information about a Florida biorefinery’s operation Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. These data provide background for scientists, industry and other stakeholders about the scale up of biomass conversion processes — including valuable insights into what did and did not work at the plant, which has since closed.
“These data were just sitting on a shelf,” said ORNL’s Jessica Welch. “There are a lot of potentially useful data that haven’t been published for various reasons, and we’d like to make them accessible and easy to use for the bioenergy community.”
“Data fuel science and innovation,” she said. “It is important that we learn from past experiments.”
The group is seeking and publishing other underused industrially relevant data for further study.
