Joint BioEnergy Institute

A group led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will build and operate a $125 million biofuels research center, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The Energy Department project is slated to receive $25 million annually for the next five years to support high-tech chemistry breakthroughs to produce clean-burning fuels made from plant fibers. One of the center's divisions will research new plants to create a source of farmed, renewable carbon. A second will focus on enzymes that transform plant cellulose into sugar. A third will develop biofuels and more energy-rich fuels. The fourth will support the 3 research lines and the biofuels industry in general.