What Does it Take to Build a Thriving Bioeconomy?
The Center for Bioenergy Innovation (CBI) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Research Center headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. CBI is accelerating breakthroughs in plant biology, microbial science, and bioprocessing to support a reliable and economically competitive bio-based energy future.
CBI’s mission is to advance the domestication of non-food, bioenergy-relevant plants and microbes — unlocking new possibilities for producing new fuels, chemicals, and materials for the nation’s emerging bioeconomy.
CBI brings together leading scientists from 17 research institutions. With deep expertise in genomics, microbiology, engineering, and systems biology, our multidisciplinary teams are targeting the most critical challenges in the bioenergy supply chain, with research focused on four key areas:
Resilient Bioenergy Crops
We are harnessing beneficial plant-microbe interactions, plant genomics and bioengineering to develop hardy crops that are optimized for energy conversion and thrive in real-world growing conditions.
Feedstock Development
We are designing high yielding, uniform biomass feedstocks for fuels, chemicals, and materials and finding new uses for lignin — the tough, leftover part of plant biomass — by converting it into valuable fuels and chemical feedstocks.
Deconstruction and
Separation
We are advancing processes to break down plants and convert them into fuels, chemicals and materials, eliminating existing economic impediments by reducing the need for costly pretreatment and enzymes.
Scalable Biofuel Production
We are developing technologies that enable the production of advanced biofuels that can blend with today’s transportation fuels, cutting costs and supporting U.S. energy independence.
A Look Forward
At CBI, we’re harnessing the power of biotechnology to engineer new sources of energy, chemicals, and materials — developing foundational technologies that will strengthen America’s global competitiveness, energy independence and economic prosperity.
CBI is one of four DOE Bioenergy Research Centers funded by the Office of Science’s Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. Together, these centers form a national network of innovation in plant biology and bioenergy.