WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) applauds a multimillion dollar federal grant to form an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) at Pennsylvania State University. The grant of $2-5 million annually for five years will create the Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation, which will focus on the study and development of biofuel technology. The funding is contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“I am pleased that the federal government is supporting the innovative research at Penn State that will help us develop the next generation of cutting-edge biofuel technology,” said Senator Casey. “Penn State has proven again that they are at the forefront of biofuels research, and the work done at this new Research Center will help us create a 21st century energy economy, which is critical for America’s future.”
The Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation is one of 46 EFRCs that have been formed nationwide as part of a push to address fundamental issues in fields ranging from solar energy and electricity storage to materials sciences, biofuels and carbon capture and sequestration. Each EFRC was selected from a pool of some 260 applications received in response to a solicitation issued in 2008 by the U.S. Department of Energy.
This EFRC at Pennsylvania State University seeks to dramatically increase fundamental knowledge of the physical structure of bio-polymers in plant cell walls to provide a basis for improved methods for converting biomass into fuels. It has strong potential for transforming bioenergy and materials sciences through combined molecular, genetic and nano-materials engineering approaches and includes planned collaborations with scientists at North Carolina State University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Over 110 institutions from 36 states plus the District of Columbia will be participating in the EFRC research. In all, the EFRCs will involve nearly 700 senior investigators and employ, on a full- or part-time basis, over 1,100 postdoctoral associates, graduate students, undergraduate students and technical staff. Roughly a third of these researchers will be supported by funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
###
