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DOE Bionenergy Research Centers
DOE BioEnergy Science Center led by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This center will focus on the resistance of plant fiber to breakdown into sugars and is studying the potential energy crops poplar and switchgrass.
DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center led by the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, in close collaboration with Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. This center is studying a range of plants and, in addition to exploring plant fiber breakdown, aims to increase plant production of starches and oils, which are more easily converted to fuels. This Center also has a major focus on sustainability, examining the environmental and socioeconomic implications of moving to a biofuels economy.
DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This center will concentrate on “model” crops of rice and Arabidopsis, in the search for game-changing breakthroughs in basic science, and is exploring microbial-based synthesis of fuels beyond ethanol.
DOE Genomics:GTL Today, scientists have in hand the complete DNA sequences of genomes for many organisms—from microbes to plants to humans. The U.S. Department of Energy's Genomics:GTL program will use the new genomic data and high-throughput technologies for studying the proteins encoded by microbial and plant genomes to explore their amazingly diverse natural capabilities.