The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will inject $178 million into the bioenergy sector. DOE wants to foster technologies in the areas of public health and climate change. The goal is to improve agricultural production and create more resilient supply chains.
Research grants
DOE is providing a grant to Northwestern University, LanzaTech NZ, Yale University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Thus, they received $18.5 million to fund research on cell-free systems and the genome. Ultimately, the challenge is to accelerate the design of low-carbon biosystems and biofabrication.
Research will focus on the development of new synthetic biology tools and artificial intelligence model programming. The objective is to better understand the biosystems using CO2 in order to accelerate sustainable development. The objective is also to produce bio-based fuels on an industrial scale.
Finally, the researchers’ work will focus on the fundamental rules that apply to microbial systems. The next step will be to determine how to create new products based on biological processes. LanzaTech NZ is testing over 100 new products through its Synthetic Biology platform.
A university collaboration
Northwestern University and LanzaTech NZ were already collaborating before this DOE grant. In addition, they received a Biosystem Design Award for their innovative work. They demonstrate that vitro prototyping through biochemical pathways can accelerate the design of cell factories.
The partnership also covers the biomanufacturing of basic chemicals such as acetone or isopranol. Professor Michael Jewett, of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Nortwestern University, says:
“We need to move forward and apply our ability to rely on biology to produce the resources we need, when we need them, in a sustainable and renewable manner. This project will allow us to grow U.S. production based on basic research.”
The DOE funds research and development in cutting-edge biotechnology in collaboration with LanzaTech.
Biotechnology plays a key role in achieving President Biden’s goal of zero net emissions by 2050. The work of Northwestern University, Yale and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory looks at a post-pollution future. Thus, this work attempts to develop a more circular economy.
