Biofuel centers funded
The Bush administration wants to cut gasoline use by 20% during the next ten years, partly by making ethanol from cellulose in non-food stalks and leaves, rather than corn, and the US Department of Energy (DOE) has created three new research centers to help the cause, investing up to $375 million over the next five years. Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin; and near Berkeley, California, the centers will focus on finding microbes that can break down lignin to get at the cellulose. Making ethanol from corn boosts the price of the food product needlessly, some scientists say, pointing out that such members of the 'lignocellulosic biomass' as switchgrass and poplar trees could be tapped. On the West Coast, the six-partner center will be known as the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Director Jay Keasling said JBEI will be organized like a biotech startup, casting for partners with helpful expertise. Independently titled divisions will handle feedstocks, aimed at improving plants; deconstruction, exploring how lignocellulose breaks down into sugars; fuel synthesis, in which microbes will be engineered to convert sugar; and cross-cutting technologies, dedicated to developing new methods that support and integrate ongoing work. Robert Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley (one of JBEI's collaborators), called the joint effort “perfectly positioned” to get the job done. RO
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