Biological and Environmental Research

The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program advances environmental and biomedical knowledge that promotes national security through improved energy production, development, and use; international scientific leadership that underpins the nation’s technological advances; and research that improves the quality of life for all Americans. In addition, BER develops and delivers the knowledge needed to support the President’s National Energy Plan.

Facilities

Sandia is a major partner in one of BER’s three bioenergy research centers—the Joint Bio Energy Institute (JBEI).

Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI)
The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), located in Emeryville, California, addresses the numerous technological challenges we must surmount in order to use lignocellulosic biomass to produce renewable fuels. Sandia is part of the JBEI team along with two other national laboratories (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [LBNL] and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [LLNL]) and three leading U.S. universities (University of California campuses at Berkeley [UC Berkeley] and Davis [UC Davis]; and Stanford University). The team works to provide research information addressing challenges and to develop the tools needed for new Biofuels and other technologies for commercialization.

Specifically, Sandia applies its systems engineering and integration function to this facility. Sandia further offers manufacturing experience in technologies, with annual manufacturing products totaling $300 million a year, as well as a diverse mixture of relevant technical specialties, including microfluidics, computation and informatics, robotics, and materials development.