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DOE funds Center for Bioenergy Innovation at ORNL to accelerate biofuels, bioproducts research

Posted at 5:17 pm July 17, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Gerald Tuskan will serve as chief executive officer of the new ORNL-led Center for Bioenergy Innovation, one of four DOE bioenergy research centers. (Photo by ORNL)

Gerald Tuskan will serve as chief executive officer of the new ORNL-led Center for Bioenergy Innovation, one of four DOE bioenergy research centers. (Photo by ORNL)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced funding for new research centers to accelerate the development of specialty plants and processes for a new generation of biofuels and bioproducts.

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI), led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is one of four bioenergy centers chosen by DOE to advance a new biobased economy with the production of fuels and other products directly from nonfood biomass. The DOE announcement provides a total of $40 million in initial funding for the four centers in fiscal year 2018, with plans for a total five years of funding, a press release said.

The new centers follow the success of predecessor Bioenergy Research Centers established by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE’s Office of Science in 2007. The ORNL-led BioEnergy Science Center (BESC), for instance, has demonstrated scientific breakthroughs in its mission to overcome the natural resistance of plants to being broken down and converted into useful bioproducts.

“Our team of leading researchers is excited to use new approaches in biology to address the basic research challenges in developing real-world applications in the future sustainable bioeconomy,” said CBI Chief Executive Officer Gerald Tuskan. Tuskan, an ORNL Corporate Fellow, led the sequencing of the genome of Populus—a fast-growing perennial tree recognized for its potential in biofuels production—as well as the largest study of natural diversity in poplar trees for BESC. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: BESC, bioenergy center, Bioenergy Research Center, Bioenergy Research Centers, BioEnergy Science Center, biofuels, bioproducts, bioproducts research, CBI, Center for Bioenergy Innovation, Colorado State University, Dartmouth College, DOE, Gerald Tuskan, GreenWood Resources, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moe Khaleel, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science, ORNL, Pennsylvania State University, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Thomas Zacharia, U.S. Department of Energy, University of California–Riverside, University of Colorado–Boulder, University of Georgia, University of North Texas, University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin–Madison, West Virginia University

ORNL-led team identifies process that can break down toxic methylmercury

Posted at 1:34 pm July 3, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments. Microscopy images by Jeremy Semrau, University of Michigan. (Screenshot from a video by ORNL)

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments. Microscopy images by Jeremy Semrau, University of Michigan. (Screenshot from a video by ORNL)

 

Note: This story was originally published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory on May 31.

A team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a fundamental scientific discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments.

Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that forms in nature when mercury interacts with certain microbes living in soil and waterways. It accumulates at varying levels in all fish—particularly large predatory fish such as tuna and swordfish—and, when consumed in large quantities, can potentially cause neurological damage and developmental disorders, especially in children.

A previous ORNL-led study, published in Science in 2013, unlocked the genetic code that led scientists to accurately identify microbes responsible for methylmercury production in the environment. Following this finding, the ORNL team has now discovered which bacteria perform the reverse process, called demethylation. Details are published in Science Advances.

“Much attention has focused on mercury methylation or how methylmercury forms, but few studies to date have examined microbial demethylation, or the breakdown of methylmercury at environmentally relevant conditions,” said Baohua Gu, co-author and a team lead in ORNL’s Mercury Science Focus Area. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Alan DiSpirito, Baohua Gu, demethylation, DOE, Iowa State University, Jeremy Semrau, Linduo Zhao, mercury, Mercury Science Focus Area, methantrophs, Methlyosinus trichosporium OB3b, methylmercury, Methylmercury uptake and degradation by methanotrophs, Methylococcus capsulatus Bath, microbial process, Muhammad Farhan Ul Haque, neurotoxin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science, ORNL, Science Advances, toxic methylmercury, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Michigan, Wenyu Gu, Xia Lu

DOE event marks beginning of landmark ecosystem experiment

Posted at 11:56 pm August 31, 2015
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Carbon Dioxide Test Chambers

By controlling the temperature and the amount of carbon dioxide in the test chambers, scientists hope to learn how microbial communities, moss populations, various higher plant types, and some insect groups respond. (Photo by ORNL)

 

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn.—Scientists are getting a glimpse of the future with a U.S. Department of Energy large-scale experiment designed to answer questions about how carbon-rich peatlands will respond to projected warming of the climate and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

SPRUCE, which stands for Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, was launched Wednesday, August 26, at the experiment site about 25 miles north of Grand Rapids. Among those attending the ceremony were Gary Geernaert and Daniel Stover of DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research; Thomas Schmidt, assistant director for research, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Research Station; and Martin Keller, associate laboratory director of Energy and Environmental Sciences at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

The site consists of about seven acres of raised bog in the peatlands of the Chippewa National Forest. The natural spruce bog in northern Minnesota contains more than 10,000 years of carbon accumulated from peatlands and answers to questions related to the predicted warming of ecosystems. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atmospheric carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon-rich peatlands, Chippewa National Forest, climate, Climate Change Science Institute, Daniel Stover, DOE, ecosystem, ecosystem experiment, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Environmental Sciences Division, Forest Service, Forest Service Northern Research Station, Gary Geernaert, Marcell Experiment Station, Martin Keller, methane, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science, ORNL, Paul Hanson, peatlands, Randy Kolka, SPRUCE, Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, spruce bog, Thomas Schmidt, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, UT-Battelle

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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