What Is The Cbi Center For Bioenergy?

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) is a U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Center led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. CBI was established in 2017 with the mission to develop sustainable and cost-effective technologies for converting non-food biomass into fuels and products (Center for Bioenergy Innovation). Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, CBI brings together multidisciplinary teams of experts across institutions to drive breakthroughs in bioenergy research. The center’s vision is to accelerate domestication of bioenergy-relevant, non-food plants and microbes to enable high-impact, value-added coproducts from biomass (The Center for Bioenergy Innovation | CBI).

History and Background

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) was established in 2016 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) [1]. CBI is part of the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program within the DOE Office of Science. It is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and is a consortium that also includes researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and several other institutions [2].

The primary motivation for establishing CBI was to pursue breakthrough scientific research and technology innovation in the area of bioenergy. Specifically, CBI aims to create bio-based products and fuels from non-food biomass sources that can be cost competitive with petroleum-based equivalents [1]. This supports the DOE’s broader mission of advancing an affordable and secure energy future for the United States.

Leadership and Organizational Structure

The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) has a leadership team and research council that oversees the center’s operations. The Chief Executive Officer of CBI is Gerald Tuskan.

Domain leads direct the research in key areas. CJ Tsai is the Research Domain Manager for Feedstock. Other domain leaders focus on Deconstruction, Conversion, Microbiology and Sustainability.

The Research Council consists of scientists that help set the strategic vision and research priorities for CBI.

An organizational chart shows the leadership hierarchy and different teams that make up CBI. The leaders collaborate to advance bioenergy research and achieve the center’s goals.

Areas of Research

The CBI Center for Bioenergy conducts research across four primary areas: sustainable production of dedicated bioenergy crops, sustainable deconstruction of biomass, synthesis of fuels and chemicals from sustainable biomass, and sustainability metrics and analysis for understanding the implications and societal acceptability of bioenergy deployment and expansion.

Some of their major ongoing research projects include:

• Improving switchgrass genetics for more robust plant lines with enhanced production potential.
• Developing models to predict biofuel crop yield and guide crop improvement.
• Designing new enzymes and microbial strains to efficiently break down plant biomass into fermentable sugars.
• Engineering yeast and other microbes to produce advanced biofuels beyond ethanol.
• Analyzing data across the bioenergy supply chain to assess sustainability.

They take a coordinated systems biology approach across these areas, leveraging multi-scale data and models to integrate fundamental basic science discoveries with downstream applied bioenergy solutions [1].

[1] https://www.ornl.gov/project/center-bioenergy-innovation

Facilities and Equipment

The CBI Center for Bioenergy Innovation boasts world-class facilities and state-of-the-art equipment to support its research efforts. The center is headquartered at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, which provides access to specialized facilities and instrumentation.

Key facilities utilized by CBI researchers include:

• The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, home to some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers which can model complex biological systems and processes https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/
• The Center for Structural Molecular Biology, featuring cryo-electron microscopy capabilities to visualize biomass at the molecular level https://cbi.ornl.gov/facilities/
• The Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, containing advanced manufacturing equipment to prototype biorefinery processes and products https://cbi.ornl.gov/about/
• The National Transportation Research Center, housing labs and test tracks to evaluate biofuels and vehicles https://www.ornl.gov/facility/national-transportation-research-center

By leveraging these specialized resources, CBI researchers can conduct their bioenergy work at unprecedented scales and resolutions.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The CBI Center for Bioenergy Innovation partners with a range of organizations in industry, academia, and government to support its mission.

Key partners include:

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
• Colorado School of Mines
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Harvard University
• Penn State University
• Texas A&M University, Texas Agrilife
• University of Connecticut

These partnerships leverage the unique strengths of each institution to advance solutions in bioenergy, such as biomass deconstruction, sustainable biofuel and biochemical production, and integrated analytic tools.

Government partnerships include the Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory. These relationships help CBI move innovations effectively into the marketplace and policy realms.

Finally, industry partnerships with Novozymes, DuPont, and others help connect CBI’s discoveries to commercial applications that benefit society.

Funding Sources

The CBI Center for Bioenergy receives the bulk of its funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science through the Biological and Environmental Research program. In March 2023, the DOE announced $590 million in funding for CBI and two other DOE Bioenergy Research Centers over the next five years (DOE funds next-generation Center for Bioenergy Innovation). This funding enables CBI to pursue advanced bioenergy research in areas like sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.

Additional funding comes from collaborating institutions like Oak Ridge National Lab, which houses CBI’s headquarters, as well as partner academic institutions. Industry partnerships also provide support through collaborative research projects relevant to commercial applications of bioenergy (CBI: Center for Bioenergy Innovation).

Education and Outreach

The CBI Center for Bioenergy Innovation makes it a priority to engage and educate the public on bioenergy science and research. They offer a variety of educational programs and outreach initiatives:

CBI provides interdisciplinary research opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scientists through an annual solicitation process. These opportunities allow young researchers to gain hands-on experience in bioenergy and take part in advancing the field (https://genomicscience.energy.gov/cbi/).

Outreach programs like the BioEnergy Science Center Museum exhibit educate the public on bioenergy basics and showcase CBI’s research. Traveling exhibits have reached over 1.5 million people at museums and science festivals nationwide (https://cbi.ornl.gov/outreach/).

The CBI website offers educational resources like animations, infographics, videos and more to explain complex bioenergy concepts in simple terms. K-12 lesson plans aligned with state standards bring bioenergy science to classrooms.

Overall, CBI’s education and outreach efforts spread awareness of bioenergy research and applications, foster interest in STEM careers, and promote public understanding of this important field.

Notable Achievements and Impacts

The CBI Center for Bioenergy has made significant contributions to advancing bioenergy research and development over the past decade. Some of their major accomplishments include:

– Developing high-yielding energy crops and crop rotation strategies that optimize biomass production for biofuels.

– Engineering enzymes and microbes to improve the efficiency of converting biomass to biofuels through biological and thermochemical conversion processes.

– Designing modular, scalable systems for distributed biofuel production from organic waste streams and agricultural residues.

– Advancing biofuel combustion systems and engine technologies to maximize performance and minimize emissions.

– Assessing sustainability impacts of various bioenergy production systems through life cycle assessments and technoeconomic analyses.

– Training over 500 students and professionals in bioenergy topics through courses, internships and outreach programs.

– Contributing cutting-edge bioenergy research to over 350 peer-reviewed publications that have been cited over 8000 times.

– Developing strong partnerships with industry, government labs, NGOs and communities to support the translation and commercialization of bioenergy technologies.

– Informing policy and supporting development of regulatory frameworks for sustainable bioenergy production and use.

Future Directions

The CBI has ambitious goals for the next 5-10 years as it continues pursuing innovative technologies to make biofuel production more efficient and cost-effective. According to the CBI website, the center plans to “pursue a host of new technologies to alleviate critical cost barriers to sustainable, economically viable production of bio-based products and advanced biofuels.”

Some of the key areas the CBI plans to focus on in the coming years include:

• Developing high-yielding, robust feedstocks that can grow on marginal lands with minimum inputs.
• Optimizing plants and microbes to improve biomass quality and lower processing costs.
• Pursuing consolidated bioprocessing to create “one-pot” conversions of biomass to fuels.
• Designing chemical catalysis pathways for converting sugars into hydrocarbon fuels.
• Improving pretreatment processes to access all sugars in biomass.
• Advancing bioinformatics and modeling capabilities.
• Integrating data science and artificial intelligence into biodesign.

The CBI aims to continue bridging fundamental research with applied industry research and development. By pursuing cutting-edge bioenergy innovations, the center hopes to pave the way for cost-competitive advanced biofuels within the next decade.