BBE researchers part of $65mil funding from DOE to decarbonize aviation fuel

October 13, 2021
Two commercial airplanes wait on a runway on a clear blue sky day.

BBE professor Shri Ramaswamy and his team of researchers will receive $3.5mil in funding from the Department of Energy to research cost-effective, low-carbon biofuels. This project will be part of the US administration's new goal of decarbonizing the aviation sector by 2050. Ramaswamy and his team will work with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and GEVO, companies that have operations in Minnesota making bioproducts, as well as Argonne National Laboratory based out of Illinois. They will couple isobutanol (a precursor for sustainable aviation fuel) fermentation with a membrane separations system – reducing energy used in the separation process by 50%. 

The full project summary can be found here