Scientists at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) and three partner U.S. Department of Energy research centers recently achieved an important milestone by registering more than 1,000 inventions in their shared mission to support a vibrant domestic bioeconomy.
Tasked with fundamental research into the workings of microbes, plants, and agricultural processes, scientists with GLBRC provide knowledge for industry to produce jet and other hydrocarbon fuels, plastics, and other essential products from inedible plants including grasses and trees that can be grown on land unsuitable for food production.
Established in 2007 by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the center is based at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in collaboration with Michigan State University and other partner universities.
In partnership with the other Bioenergy Research Centers – the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Joint BioEnergy Institute at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – GLBRC scientists are working to address the most significant barriers to affordable, sustainable, and scalable advanced liquid transportation fuels.
“The Bioenergy Research Centers are leading the way in developing breakthroughs needed to ensure that the United States achieves its goal of building a secure bioeconomy that is powered by homegrown crops, dependent on innovations in plant and microbial systems, and supported by a specially trained workforce,” said GLBRC Director Tim Donohue.
Economists have shown that public support for science — particularly the basic research that private industry considers too risky or time consuming — pays substantial long-term dividends, returning at least $5 in economic gains for every dollar spent.
With a focus on hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals made from non-food plants, the Bioenergy Research Centers are developing a portfolio of plant-based products, methods, and tools for use in an emerging U.S. bioeconomy.
“The scientific advances behind these inventions can provide the foundation for a 21st Century revolution in biotechnology,” Donohue said. “This revolution can provide farmers with revenue for agricultural residues, create jobs and industries in rural areas of the country.”
In addition to training more than 1,600 scientists, GLBRC has produced 255 inventions, including plant-based medicines and plastics made from agricultural waste, highly effective and affordable organic fungicides, more resilient and productive crops, and trees engineered to more easily break down into fuels and chemicals.
Commercialization partners at UW–Madison and MSU have licensed dozens of GLBRC patents to companies that work to bring the technology to market.
“WARF’s licensing team knows firsthand that the bioenergy industry has keen interest in what’s going on at GLBRC,” said Michael Falk, chief IP and licensing officer for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, UW–Madison’s patent organization. “Companies respect the research that’s taking place, and they recognize the very real potential for practical applications and marketable results.”
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Bioenergy Research Centers
Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation | cabbi.bio
The Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, integrates recent advances in genomics, synthetic biology, and computational biology in a transformative research model designed to accelerate research and development while retaining the flexibility to incorporate new technologies. The center is developing the predictive capability to determine which feedstock combinations, regions and land types, market conditions, and bioproducts have the potential to support the bioeconomy.
Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) | cbi.ornl.gov
The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is creating robust, high-yielding non-food feedstock plants using genetic technology and bioengineering; developing biocatalytic methods for high-yield production of advanced biofuels that can be blended with existing transportation fuels; and studying ways to produce valuable byproducts from lignin left over after biomass processing.
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) | glbrc.org
The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) is a cross-disciplinary research center led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With Michigan State University and other partners, GLBRC is developing resilient biofuels and bioproducts from dedicated energy crops grown on marginal lands. GLBRC has three integrated areas of research – bioenergy cropping systems, biomass conversion, and field-to-product optimization – that will help build a resilient bioeconomy.
Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) | jbei.org
Led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) works to establish the scientific knowledge and new technologies to convert bioenergy crops and carbon-rich waste streams, such as agricultural waste and forest debris, into economically viable, carbon-neutral biofuels and renewable chemicals and bioproducts.