MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 28, 2009)—A team of University of Minnesota researchers and BioCee, a university start-up company, have been awarded $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for a research proposal using bacteria to produce biofuel.
The team proposes to develop a bioreactor using bacteria embedded in a thin latex coating to produce hydrocarbon fuel. They are one of the only groups in the world with the ability to make biohydrocarbons.
“This is part of a new effort by the U.S. to spur the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. All of the proposals are creative longshots, any one of which could help solve global energy problems if successful, he said.