What is the GLBRC?

To increase the contribution of biofuels to the US energy portfolio, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) will conduct fundamental, genomics-based research to remove bottlenecks in the biofuel pipeline. The GLBRC will develop a set of vertically integrated research programs aimed at removing existing bottlenecks in the bioenergy pipeline, developing economically- and environmentally- sustainable bioenergy practices, and educating society, scientists and biomass producers or consumers about bioenergy issues.

Project Objectives:

The long-term goals of the GLBRC are to improve:

• Characteristics of biomass plants;
• Procedures for processing plant biomass;
• Biological or chemical processes to convert biomass into energy products; and
• Economic and environmental sustainability of the biomass–to–biofuel pipeline.

To achieve these goals, the GLBRC will combine biological, physical, and computational approaches to resolve currently limiting factors in biofuel production. Imaging, high-throughput genomic, proteomic or metabolomic technologies, synthetic biology, and computational modeling will be vertically integrated into GLBRC research activities. The Center will concentrate on corn stover, switchgrass, and poplar. The GLBRC will develop programs to inform farmers or educate scientists, students, and society about advances in biofuels technology.