Energy Biosciences Institute

Energy Biosciences Institute
Established 2007
Director Chris Somerville
Location Berkeley, California
Website energybiosciencesinstitute.org

The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) is an organization dedicated to developing new sources of energy and reducing the impact of energy consumption. It was created in 2007 to apply advanced knowledge of biology to the challenges of responsible, sustainable energy production and use. Its main goal is to develop next-generation biofuels—that is, biofuels that are made from the non-edible parts of plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[1]

Funded by BP, which has agreed to contribute $500 million over a 10-year-period, with $350 million slated for academic research, EBI is a joint initiative between the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the energy company.[2] It is the largest public-private venture of its kind. All research from its academic labs is published and publicly available. More information about the EBI is available to the public through the EBI Bulletin and its magazine, Bioenergy Connection, which cover emerging trends in the field of bioenergy.)[3]

EBI was designed as a creative, multidisciplinary institution. Because bioenergy research is so complex, the institute promotes a holistic view by encouraging scientists from many disciplines – biology, chemistry, botany, environmental science, economics, and others – to collaborate on investigations. The institute’s main research areas are:

Achievements

Since its inception in 2007, EBI has published nearly 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Science and Nature. Among its significant investigations:[5]

The EBI has come under scrutiny from some groups and individuals concerned about the influence of private corporations on public universities.[8] Berkeley campus officials dismiss charges that academic freedom is at risk, noting that BP does not influence EBI’s academic research agenda and that all research in EBI’s academic labs is unclassified and published.[9]

Critics also have expressed concerns about first-generation biofuels, such as corn ethanol, on food prices and the environment. EBI’s focus is on next-generation biofuels, however, which include only non-food plant sources and agricultural waste material.

References

  1. ↑ Annual Report, Energy Biosciences Institute, 2012
  2. ↑ "BP selects UC Berkeley to lead $500 million energy research consortium with partners Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of Illinois, Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley News Center, Feb. 1, 2007, http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/01_ebi.shtml
  3. ↑ Annual Report, Energy Biosciences Institute, 2012
  4. ↑ EBI Bulletin, Energy Biosciences Institute, Spring 2013
  5. ↑ Annual Report, Energy Biosciences Institute, 2011, http://www.energybiosciencesinstitute.org/content/communication-materials
  6. ↑ "Biofuel Created by Explosive Technology," Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 13, 2013
  7. ↑ EBI Bulletin, Winter 2013, http://www.energybiosciencesinstitute.org/content/communication-materials
  8. ↑ "Berkeley's energy deal with BP sparks unease," Nature, Vol. 2225, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4445/n7129
  9. ↑ Research Administration and Compliance Guidelines, UC Berkeley, http://researchcoi.berkeley.edu/guidelines.html

External links

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