Synergy of Research

C2B2 Seed Grants

C2B2 solicits research proposals from the partner institutions in search of highly innovative research projects covering all aspects of renewable resource conversion. Each year, a portion of these Seed Grant Proposals are selected for funding using C2B2 Center Sponsorship dollars.

For the 2008 financial year, ten Seed Grants were selected for funding out of a total sixty-seven submitted proposals. A list of the ten Seed Grants selected for funding and their placement within the C2B2 six research thrusts follows.

Feedstock Engineering, Plant Biotechnology & Crop Science
Seed Grant: Enhancing Yield in Sugar Beet as a Model Energy Crop
Project Investigator: Daniel Bush
C2B2 Institution: Colorado State University

Seed Grant: Establishment of a Bioenergy-Focused Microalgae Strain Collection Using Rapid, High-Throughput Methodologies Project Investigator: Al Darzins
C2B2 Institution: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Biochemical Engineering
Seed Grant: Biofilm Engineering for Improved Production of Cellulosic Biofuels
Project Investigator: Ryan Gill
C2B2 Institution: University of Colorado

Seed Grant: Multifuntional, High-Throughput Optical Screening of Fuel Producing Microbes
Project Investigator: Ralph Jimenez
C2B2 Institution: University of Colorado

Seed Grant: Protoemic Investigation of the Mechanisms for Lipid Storage in Microalgae
Project Investigator: Kenneth Reardon
C2B2 Institution: Colorado State University

Process Engineering
Seed Grant: Sugar and Enzyme Recovery During Saccharification with High Solids Loading
Project Investigator: Robert Davis
C2B2 Institution: University of Colorado

Seed Grant: Alcohol/Water Separations Using IL-Based Polymer Membranes
Project Investigator: Richard Noble
C2B2 Institution: University of Colorado

Thermochemical Engineering
Seed Grant: Rapid Solar-thermal Conversion of Algae to Syngas
Project Investigator: Alan Weimer
C2B2 Institution: University of Colorado

Product Engineering
Seed Grant: Biorefinery Integration through Coproduction of Bioplastics
Project Investigator: John Dorgan
C2B2 Institution: Colorado School of Mines

System Assessment and Analysis
Seed Grant: A Field-to-Wheel Systems Optimization and Process Design for a Thermochemical Lignocellulose-to-Biofuels Plant
Project Investigator: Thomas McKinnon
C2B2 Institution: Colorado School of Mines