Washington, DC
June 26, 2007
Basic genomics research
furthers President Bush’s plan to reduce gasoline usage 20
percent in ten years
U. S.
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman today
announced that DOE will invest up to $375 million in three new
Bioenergy Research Centers that will be located in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee; Madison, Wisconsin; and near Berkeley, California.
The Centers are intended to accelerate basic research in the
development of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels, advancing
President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative, which seeks to reduce
U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent within ten years through
increased efficiency and diversification of clean energy
sources. The Department plans to fund the Centers for the first
five years of operation (Fiscal Years 2008-2013).
“These Centers will provide the transformational science needed
for bioenergy breakthroughs to advance President Bush’s goal of
making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by
2012, and assist in reducing America’s gasoline consumption by
20 percent in ten years,” Secretary Bodman said. “The
collaborations of academic, corporate, and national laboratory
researchers represented by these centers are truly impressive
and I am very encouraged by the potential they hold for
advancing America’s energy security.”
To bring the latest tools of the biotechnology revolution to
bear to advance clean energy production, the Centers will be
supported by multidisciplinary teams of top scientists. A major
focus will be on understanding how to reengineer biological
processes to develop new, more efficient methods for converting
the cellulose in plant material into ethanol or other biofuels
that serve as a substitute for gasoline. This research is
critical because future biofuels production will require the use
of feedstocks more diverse than corn, including cellulosic
material like agricultural residues, grasses, poplar trees,
inedible plants, and non-edible portions of crops.
The Centers will bring together diverse teams of researchers
from 18 of the nation’s leading universities, seven DOE national
laboratories, at least one nonprofit organization, and a range
of private companies. All three Centers are located in
geographically distinct areas and will use different plants both
for laboratory research and for improving feedstock crops.
The mission of the Bioenergy Research Centers will lie at the
frontier between basic and applied science, and will maintain a
focus on bioenergy applications. These Centers aim to identify
real steps toward practical solutions regarding to the challenge
of producing renewable, carbon-neutral energy. At the same time,
the Centers will be grounded in basic research, pursuing
alternative avenues and a range of high-risk, high-return
approaches to finding solutions. To some degree, one key to the
Centers’ success will be their ability to develop the more basic
dimensions of their research to a point that can easily
transition to applied research.
The Department’s three Bioenergy Research Centers will include:
- The DOE BioEnergy Science
Center led by the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee. The Center Director will be Martin Keller,
and collaborators include: Georgia Institute of Technology
in Atlanta, Georgia; DOE’s National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, Colorado; University of Georgia in
Athens, Georgia; and the University of Tennessee, in
Knoxville, Tennessee.
- The DOE Great Lakes
Bioenergy Research Center will be led by the University of
Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, in close collaboration with
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The
Center Director will be Timothy Donohue, and other
collaborators include: DOE’s Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory in Richland, Washington; Lucigen Corporation in
Middleton, Wisconsin; University of Florida in Gainesville,
Florida; DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee; Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois;
and Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
- The DOE Joint BioEnergy
Institute will be led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory. The Institute Director will be Jay Keasling, and
collaborators include: Sandia National Laboratories; DOE’s
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; University of
California - Berkeley; University of California - Davis; and
Stanford University in Stanford, California.
Subject to the finalization of
contract terms and congressional appropriations, the Centers are
expected to begin work in 2008, consistent with President Bush’s
Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request, and would be fully operational
by 2009. DOE’s Office of Science issued a competitive Funding
Opportunity Announcement in August 2006 to solicit applications.
The three Centers were chosen following a merit-based,
competitive review process that included external scientific
peer review of the applications.
The establishment of the bioenergy research centers culminates a
six-year effort by DOE’s Office of Science to lay the foundation
for breakthroughs in systems biology for the cost-effective
production of renewable energy. In July 2006, DOE’s Office of
Science issued a joint biofuels research agenda with the
Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
titled “Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol.”
The report provides a detailed roadmap for cellulosic
ethanol research, identifying key roadblocks and areas where
scientific breakthroughs are needed.
Today’s announcement follows other key funding announcements
this year to advance President Bush’s Twenty in Ten Initiative,
and to make cellulosic ethanol cost competitive with gasoline by
2012. On February 28, 2007, DOE announced up to $385 million for
six biorefinery projects that when fully operational are
expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic
ethanol per year. On May 1, 2007, DOE announced a funding
opportunity for $200 million over five years (FY’07-FY’11) to
support the development of small scale bio-refineries that
produce liquid transportation fuels such as ethanol. Read
additional information on DOE’s
biofuels
initiatives.
Additional information is available on the Department’s three
Bioenergy Research Centers and the Department’s Genomics
Research Programs.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic
research in the physical sciences in the nation and helps ensure
U.S. world leadership across a broad range of scientific
disciplines. The Office of Science supports a diverse portfolio
of research at more than 300 colleges and universities
nationwide, manages ten world-class national laboratories with
unmatched capabilities for solving complex interdisciplinary
scientific problems, and builds and operates the world’s finest
suite of scientific facilities and instruments used annually by
more than 19,000 researchers to extend the frontiers of all
areas of science. More information is available one the
Office of Science website.
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