Lignin is a key obstacle to extracting sugars from biomass. Researchers have redesigned lignin to include weak bonds, or “zips,” which make it much easier to break apart. Credit: Shawn Mansfield, UBC

Great Lakes Bioenergy

Great Lakes Bioenergy is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded research center dedicated to developing sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.

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Who We Are

The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is a U.S. Department of Energy-funded Bioenergy Research Center led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With Michigan State University and other partners, we are developing sustainable biofuels and bioproducts made from dedicated energy crops grown on marginal lands. Our mission is simple: creating biofuels and bioproducts that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Research Themes

Sustainable cropping systems

Engineering bioenergy crops to enhance their environmental and economic value

Generating multiple products from plant biomass

Understanding and optimizing the field-to-product pipeline

Autonomous lab accelerates discoveries to harness power of microbes

A researcher in a white lab coat and safety goggles looks through a circular portal into an automated laboratory workstation filled with robotic equipment and chemical vials.

An autonomous experimentation platform at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center is poised to accelerate discoveries that will harness the power of microbes to advance U.S. leadership in the developing bioeconomy. With the ability to design and run multiple concurrent experiments, Proteus expands the scope and pace of exploration, potentially increasing the rate of discovery.

Replanting bioenergy crops at the right time maximizes profits

A dense, rectangular plot of tall green grass in a field under an overcast sky. A white monitoring box with wiring is located at the foreground corner, while short, mowed grass surrounds the experimental crop.

Switchgrass and miscanthus are considered good bioenergy crops. They can grow on lower quality lands not used for food production, add carbon to the soil, and be converted into fuels and chemicals traditionally made from petroleum. Scientists have observed that these grasses produce high yields for a few years and then begin to decline; but they don’t fully understand why that happens. Using data from bioenergy crop experiments in Michigan and Wisconsin, scientists with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center analyzed more than 200 plantings of switchgrass and miscanthus to better understand long-term yield patterns and what drives them.