COLLEGE STATION — A federal grant of $800,000 to advance biofuels research to a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station-led collaborative team is among $5.7 million in awards announced Aug. 10 in Washington, D.C.
The principal investigator is Experiment Station plant breeder Dr. William “Bill” Rooney.
Over the next two years, the grant will go toward genomic and genetic research of sorghum for use as a biofuel, Rooney said.
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the two departments have jointly awarded nine grants totaling $5.7 million for bio-based fuels research to accelerate development of alternative fuel resources.
“This grant will enhance our ability to develop a better understanding of the sorghum genome to produce better biomass and a better biofuel,” Rooney said.
Co-principal investigators are Dr. John Mullet, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Institute for Plant Genomics and Biotechnology; Steve Kresovich, Cornell University; and Doreen Ware, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
“To be a reliable energy source, producers must be able to grow biomass in large quantities,” Johanns said. “This joint research initiative will address our nation’s need for alternative energy resources and improve the efficiency with which biomass and plant feedstocks are used to produce fuels such as ethanol or renewable chemical feedstocks.”
The research projects build on the energy department’s strategic investments in genomics, step up scientific discovery and promote development of alternative energy sources vital to America’s energy and economic security, added Bodman.
USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research awarded the grants. The two groups jointly initiated this fundamental research program to aid use of woody plant tissue, specifically lignocellulosic materials, for bioenergy or biofuels. The research projects focus on sorghum, poplar, alfalfa, wheat and other grasses.
This is the first year the groups have solicited competitive grants in this joint program.
The energy department is funding six projects of nearly $3.9 million, while the agriculture department granted more than $1.8 million to fund three projects.
Initial funding will support research projects up to three years.
Recently, Johanns and Bodman announced the two agencies will co-host a national renewable energy conference in October to help create partnerships and strategies needed to speed commercialization of renewable energy industries and distribution systems, the crux of President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative.
Visit http://sc.doe.gov/ober/ober_top.html and http://www.csrees.usda.gov for more information.
Other awards went to:
The Noble Foundation, Okla., $800,000.
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, University of Wisconsin, $333,000.
Purdue University, Ind., $1.4 million.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, $359,100.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, $300,000.
North Carolina State University, $700,000.
Kansas State University, $700,000.
University of Georgia, $445,000.
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