https://energybiosciencesinstitute.org/
The Energy Biosciences Institute is a partnership of three world-class public research institutions and a corporate sponsor. Starting in 2007, the EBI embarked on a 10-year, $500 million quest to help the world transition from a carbon-based fuel strategy to one that incorporates sustainable, environmentally friendly fuels into a balanced portfolio of responsible, renewable energy sources.
The consortium -- the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the energy company BP - is dedicated to developing an integrated holistic understanding of the research topics related to the energy biosciences. Topics of interest such as cellulosic biofuels are unusually complex and involve research questions in subjects that include agronomy, microbiology, mechanical and chemical engineering, biochemistry, chemistry, geography, economics, law and policy analysis.
The EBI supports about 60 research groups involving about 120 faculty and about 200 graduate students and postdocs. Research topics largely focus on understanding the issues associated with the proposed development of a cellulosic biofuels industry. One group is exploring the microbial ecology of fossil fuel reservoirs.
