Purdue-led C3Bio video in running for DOE People's Choice Award
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A bioenergy research initiative led by Purdue University has released a video that highlights its efforts to advance how liquid fuels and high-value bioproducts are made from non-food plant biomass.
The video for the Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels, known as C3Bio, was submitted as part of a People's Choice Award competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science Energy Frontier Research Centers program, said C3Bio project manager Carl Huetteman.
The three-minute Purdue video, "Moving from Petroleum to Plants to Energize our World," can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97bV3F6jaf0
To vote for the video in the DOE competition, go to https://www.energyfrontier.us/videos
Videos produced by other universities participating in the Energy Frontier Research Centers program also can be found at the website, Huetteman said.
The video with the most votes by 5 p.m. May 24 will be shown and the video team recognized at the Energy Frontier Research Centers summit on May 25-27 in Washington, D.C. Two members from each of the winning teams travel for free to the event.
The summit, Science for Our Nation's Energy Future, is designed to highlight early successes of the Energy Frontier Research Centers and promote future collaboration across the national energy enterprise, Huetteman said.
The Purdue video includes C3Bio director Maureen McCann, a biological sciences professor and director of Discovery Park's Energy Center; Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering; and chemistry professor Hikka Kenttämaa.
Purdue graduate student Sara Yohe, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in chemical engineering, narrates the video, which was produced and filmed by a Purdue Marketing and Media team. Chemical engineering professor Fabio Ribeiro also helped develop the video concept from ongoing research in his laboratory.
Funded with a $20 million DOE grant, C3Bio is investigating methods to bypass currently used biological fermentation processes to reduce the need for large and expensive biorefineries and to produce "drop-in" biofuels similar to gasoline.
C3Bio, based in Discovery Park's Bindley Bioscience Center, is one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers funded in 2009 spanning the full range of energy research, and one of the 16 that were funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Its partners include the University of Tennessee, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Northeastern University and Argonne National Laboratory.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Sources: Carl Huetteman, 765-496-9640, chuettem@purdue.edu
Maureen McCann, 765-496-1779, mmccann@purdue.edu
Related web site:
Discovery Park