News Archive

TIMBR investigator Paul Dauenhauer of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded a prized Early Career Award in Basic Energy Sciences from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The award will provide $800,000 for five years to support his research on “Natural and Primary Catalysts for Molten Cellulose Pyrolysis to Targeted Bio‐oils.”

Sam Hazen received an award from the DOE to research the use of genomics and genetics in a model grass system to identify genes involved in light perception and signaling to increase the yield and improve the composition of bioenergy grasses. The project aims to provide valuable candidates for manipulation in bioenergy grass crops via targeted breeding or engineering efforts.

 TIMBR researchers Jeff Blanchard and Susan Leschine explain how the discovery of the Q Microbe at UMass has introduced to industry an organism that directly converts non-edible plant residue, as well as industrial and municipal waste, to ethanol which is a liquid transportation fuel of growing importance to reducing dependance on petroleum.

Dr. Huber will explain how zeolite catalyst can be added into the pyrolysis reactor to produce aromatics and olefins directly from solid biomass in a process called catalytic fast pyrolysis. The advantage of this approach is that high value aromatics and olefins can be produced directly from solid biomass in a single catalytic reactor using inexpensive zeolite-based catalysts.