DOE Bioenergy Research Centers
Transformational Science
for Energy Breakthroughs
Bioenergy
Research Centers: An Overview of the Science
(Updated July 2009)
Available as Fast-download PDF or Higher-quality PDF
To order multiple copies of the brochure, contact Anita Alton at 865-574-0597 or email us. Order single copies using this form. [See associated Image gallery.]
What are the Centers?
In June 2007, the U. S. Department of Energy announced that it will invest up to $375 million in three new Bioenergy Research Centers. 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% within 10 years through increased efficiency and diversification of clean energy sources. [Press Release]
The three centers are
- 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.
What is the mission of the Centers?
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 such as agricultural residues, grasses, poplar trees, inedible plants, and non-edible portions of crops. [See graphic, "How Cellulosic Ethanol is Made."]
The mission of the 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 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 Centers will address inherently interdisciplinary scientific problems requiring scientific expertise and technological capabilities that span the physical and biological sciences, including genomics, microbial and plant biology, analytical chemistry, computational biology and bioinformatics, and engineering.
How are the Centers funded?
Each Center is funded up to $125 million over a period of 5 years: $25 million in the first year for startup costs and up to $25 million per year for operations during the subsequent 4 years. The Department plans to fund the Centers for the first 5 years of operation (fiscal years 2008-2013). 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. In addition to DOE funding, each center extensively leveraged funding from other sources including state and corporate monies.
How were the Centers chosen?
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.
Establishment of the bioenergy research centers culminates a 6-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 Office of Science and DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy issued a joint biofuels research agenda 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.
Bioenergy Research Centers Timeline
- "Bioenergy Research Centers: An Overview of the Science" Published (07/2009) [Faster-download PDF or Higher-quality PDF]
- DOE Provides $30 Million to Jump Start Bioenergy Research Centers [10/1/07] Press Release
- Energy Department Selects Three Bioenergy Research Centers for $375 Million in Federal Funding (6/26/07) [Press Release, Webcast, Remarks by Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman]
- Number of Bioenergy Research Centers Increased to Three (02/05/07) [News Release, FY 2008 Office of Science Budget Presentation by Undersecretary Orbach]
- DOE to Invest $250 Million in New Bioenergy Centers (08/02/06) [News Release, Statement by Secretary Bodman, Funding Opportunity Announcement, Compendium of Bioenergy Research Center Related Documents]
- DOE Publishes White Paper on Bioenergy Research Centers
(08/06)
- High-Resolution PDF (740 KB)
- Faster-Download, Lower-Resolution PDF (413 KB)
- DOE Publishes Roadmap for Developing Cleaner Fuels
(07/07/06)
- News Release
- Breaking the Biological Barriers to Cellulosic Ethanol: A Joint Research Agenda (07/06) is a research roadmap resulting from the December 2005 joint DOE SC-EERE Biomass to Biofuels Workshop. [Order Form]
- Office of Science Revises Plans for Facilities [Fact Sheet (03/06)]
- NAS Review of GTL Program Published (02/06)
- DOE SC-EERE Biomass to Biofuels Workshop held December 2005, Rockville, Maryland.
- GTL Roadmap Published (10/05)
Related Materials
Map: Geographic Distribution of Biomass Crops
Brochures:
- "Bioenergy Research Centers: An Overview of the Science," July 2009 [faster-download PDF or higher-quality PDF]
- "Biofuels: Bringing Biological Solutions to Energy Challenges" [PDF]
Graphic: How Cellulosic Ethanol is Made
Graphic: Biofuels Primer
- Part
1: From Biomass to Cellulosic Ethanol. Depicts the improvements
needed to optimize processes to convert biomass (plant matter).
- Downloadable 11" x 17" PDF (6850 kb)
- Browser-Friendly HTML Version
- Primer Image Gallery including captions
- Part 2: Understanding Biomass: Plant Cell Walls. Explains plant cell wall structure and some of the issues preventing efficient conversion to ethanol.
- Downloadable 11" x 17" PDF, (3516 kb); accompanying preamble PDF (657 kb)
- Browser-Friendly HTML Version
- Primer Image Gallery including captions
DOE Joint Genome Institute Bioenergy Fact Sheet: Harnessing DNA to Fuel our Nation’s Energy Security