The Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio) will be led by Dr. Maureen McCann in the Department of Biological Sciences, with an expected funding level of $20M.

The ChE faculty participants are Rakesh Agrawal, Nick Delgass and Fabio Ribeiro. 

This EFRC will use fundamental knowledge about the interactions between catalysts and plant cell walls to design improved processes for the conversion of biomass to energy, fuels, or chemicals. It includes collaborations with scientists and engineers at the University of Tennessee, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Institute for Atom-Efficient Chemical Transformations (IACT) will be led by Christopher Marshall, Director; Argonne National Laboratory, with an expected funding level of $19M.The ChE faculty participants here are Chelsey Baertsch, Nick Delgass and Fabio Ribeiro.

This EFRC aims to discover, understand, and control efficient chemical pathways for the conversion of coal and biomass into

chemicals and fuels. The IACT includes collaborations with researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University, Purdue University, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.