DOE Names JBEI as One of Three New Bioenergy Research Centers

Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman has announced that a partnership between Berkeley Lab and five other institutes has been chosen to host one of three bioenergy research centers (BRCs) being funded through its Biological and Environmental Research Genomics:GTL research program in the Office of Science. This new center will be known as the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (DOE JBEI) and it will be headquarted in the East Bay. It is expected to receive $125 million in DOE funding over the next five years. “The selection of DOE JBEI is a major vote of confidence in the Bay Area’s growing leadership in the national effort to develop new and cleaner sources of renewable energy,” said Jay Keasling, director of Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division and a UCB Professor of Chemical Engineering, who has been designated as DOE JBEI’s Chief Executive Officer. For more information, go here.