The flow-through reaction setup progressively dissolves biomass producing fractions that are rich in (from left to right) lignin monomers, hemicellulose and cellulose-derived sugars. Photo by Matthew Wisniewski

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

GLBRC researcher selected for DOE grad student program

GLBRC researcher Brandon Kristy from Michigan State University has won a prestigious Department of Energy fellowship that will allow him to study mutually-beneficial relationships between plants and microbes at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Hybrid reactor system optimizes production by ‘multitasking’ microbes

Four-stage cyclic diagram of a membrane bioreactor sequencing batch process: (1) Fill — aromatics fed into reactor; (2) React — microbial conversion occurs; (3) Filter — membrane separates PDC product; (4) Harvest — solids containing astaxanthin and CoQ10 are collected.

Researchers tested a bioreactor system to process aromatics from poplar trees with a modified strain of Novosphingobium aromaticivorans that releases a chemical known as PDC while accumulating two other products inside the cells: a natural pigment and a vitamin-like substance found in most human cells. PDC can be used to make plastics, while the other products are used in nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and animal feed.