Project Grant 201633610253531

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) supports the development of a novel bioprocess to produce n-butanol, an industrial solvent and advanced biofuel, from low-cost agricultural residues such as corn stalk. The $175,000 award to Bio-Missions LLC, a for-profit, veteran-owned limited liability company, aims to...

This $300,000 Project Grant was awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program. The grant will support Purdue University in developing and validating a new, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly technology - fully electrified ultrasonic separation - to obtain fuel-grade butanol from fermentation broths. The key objectives are to optimize the operating conditions for ultrasonic separation of...

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, awarded $175,000 under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to KSE, Inc. of Sunderland, Massachusetts. The award will support KSE's efforts to develop and scale an integrated process for converting lignocellulosic waste streams into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) at high selectivity without pre-treatment of biomass compounds. Key activities include improving reactive...

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $198,114 supports collaborative research at Michigan State University to develop a low-energy tandem process for fractionating and reversibly preserving lignocellulose using multifunctional aldehyde sulfonic acids. The research will test the hypothesis that aldehyde sulfonic acids can more effectively and selectively fractionate lignocellulose than current mineral/organic acid and aldehyde combinations under mild conditions. It aims to maximize...

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Auburn University $300,000 under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program (CFDA 10.310) from January 2023 to January 2025. The project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing optically pure (R)-1,3-butanediol from paper mill sludge through metabolic engineering of a microbial host. Specifically, the university will construct a synthetic pathway to produce...

This $300,000 Project Grant awarded by the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing chirally pure (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (R-3HB) from plant waste materials, such as wood and crop leftovers, by modifying Clostridium pathways. The research will create and test two different R-3HB production pathways in Clostridium, then combine and further optimize the approaches to boost R-3HB yields in the bacterium. If successful, this work...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) supports research at Howard University to develop a sustainable, chemical-free method for separating agricultural biomass residues into cellulose-rich and lignin-rich fractions. The $613,732 award will enable the university to: Investigate the relationship between the triboelectric charging behaviors of biomass particles and their composition/physical properties; Explore the...

This three-year, $600,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will fund research at the University of California, Davis to develop a scalable and sustainable process for nano-cellulose production by leveraging the surface activity of hydrophobin bio-surfactants. The goal is to improve the rate and extent of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose for conversion into nano-cellulose and value-added fuels and chemicals. Researchers will examine how...

The National Science Foundation awarded a $130,000 Project Grant to The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York (SUNY ESF) to support collaborative research titled "LOW-ENERGY TANDEM PROCESS FOR FRACTIONATION AND REVERSIBLE PRESERVATION OF LIGNOCELLULOSE USING MULTIFUNCTIONAL ALDEHYDE SULFONIC ACIDS." The award was made under the NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop new techniques for fractionating and preserving lignocellulose using multifunctional...

Integrated Lipid Biofuels LLC was awarded a $650,000 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The two-year award will support the company's efforts to develop a process for converting organic waste into biopolymers by synergizing anaerobic digestion and synthetic biology techniques. The SBIR Program aims to stimulate technological innovation through the investment of federal...