Bioenergy Research Center Program Overview

The BRC program was established in 2007 to address one of this country’s greatest challenges – developing sustainable alternatives to the fuels and chemicals currently derived from petroleum. The BRCs are thus charged with making the basic science advances needed to produce fuels and chemicals from biomass and to add non-edible, lignocellulosic plant material to the nation’s energy supply chain.

Roughly a thousand BRC scientists, engineers, and staff work collaboratively to improve the sustainable production and conversion of bioenergy crops into fuels and chemicals. Research activities include increasing biomass yield, improving plant feedstocks, optimizing biomass deconstruction for cost-effectiveness, and engineering microbes to maximize biomass conversion.

Learn more about the BRC program, read about highlights from the first ten years, and see where our research is headed in the next five years by downloading our BRC Program handout.