Project Grant DESC0004198

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $181,500 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase I grant to Terragia Biofuel Inc., a start-up based in Hanover, New Hampshire. The grant, awarded on August 15, 2025, will fund the development of an innovative consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) approach using engineered thermophilic bacteria to convert cellulosic biomass into fuels at low cost without added enzymes or...

This federal Project Grant award of $199,850 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CFDA 47.041) supports research at the University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) to develop advanced zeolite-based catalysts for more efficient conversion of biomass into valuable chemicals and fuels. The key goals of the research project are to synthesize large-lateral-size multilayer zeolite nanosheets with tunable interlayer gaps of...

This $256,000 Project Grant was awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program. The award to Terragia Biofuel Inc., a for-profit organization, aims to develop innovative bioprocessing technologies for converting lignocellulosic biomass into hydrocarbon fuels and products. Specifically, the project is focused on demonstrating the feasibility of a technique called Continuous Evolution with Multiplex Natural Transformation...

This $362,687 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Engineering program will fund research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2025. The grant supports the development of new catalytic materials for the deoxydehydration of biomass-derived diols into olefin chemicals. Researchers will gain mechanistic insights into deoxydehydration catalysis and leverage...

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...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded a $168,289 Project Grant to Catapower Inc., a cleantech chemical company, under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 10.212). The funding will support the basic chemical engineering R&D required to translate Catapower's prior lab-scale successes into a pilot-scale demonstration of its proprietary catalytic technology that converts glycerol waste from the biodiesel...

This federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program aims to de-risk Arbor Energy & Resources Corp's advanced biomass gasification approach. The $175,000 award, granted on August 15, 2025, will fund the development of an analytical model to support the successful deployment of a novel high-pressure energy conversion...

This $369,285 National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry Project Grant supports the development of novel nonaqueous solvents known as "water-like ionic liquids" for use in enzymatic carbon-carbon bond formation reactions. Principal investigators Dr. Hua Zhao of the University of Northern Colorado and Dr. Gary Baker of the University of Missouri-Columbia, along with collaborator Dr. Katie Mitchell-Koch of Wichita State University, are designing dual-functionalized ionic liquids...

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) provides $250,000 to Professor Abu-Omar of the University of California, Santa Barbara through July 2024 to develop catalytic processes for upgrading biomass-derived chemicals into renewable feedstocks. Specifically, the funding supports research designing metal oxide catalysts to selectively transform mixtures of molecules from biomass deconstruction into important monomers. It...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) program grant for $278,606 awarded to the University of Delaware aims to advance the fundamental understanding of biomass conversion through electrocatalysis. The project combines catalyst development expertise from the University of Delaware with electrocatalysis experts at the University of Colorado's Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute. The key objectives are to develop efficient, selective, and stable...