BER Science Highlights
U.S. Department of Energy | Office of Science | Biological and Environmental Research Program

Bioenergy

  • Switchgrass with Microbes

    Switchgrass fragment decomposing in contact with cow rumen microbes.

  • Illustration of a cell with arrows pointing to chloroplasts.

    Thylakoids in Green Algae and Cyanobacteria

    Molecular complexes involved in mediating electron flow from water to carbon-fixing or hydrogen-production reactions make up the photosynthetic electron-transport chain found in the thylakoid membranes of cyanobacteria and green algae. In eukaryotic green algae, thylakoid membranes are housed within a cellular organelle known as the chloroplast; in prokaryotic cyanobacteria, thylakoids are found in the cytoplasm as an intracellular membrane system

  • Gene Expression

    To understand how plants respond to various environments, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers have mapped gene expression in plants that use different photosynthesis strategies. Here, blue edges show positive correlations in gene expression between Kalanchoë genes (dark green nodes) and pineapple genes (yellow nodes). Red edges show negative correlations between gene expression in Kalanchoë and pineapple and in Arabidopsis (light green nodes), a model plant that uses a different photosynthesis strategy.

  • A person stands in front of a miscanthus stand with a measuring stick; the miscanthus is nearly double her height.

    Miscanthus Growth over a Single Growing Season in Illinois

    Miscanthus has been explored extensively as a potential energy crop in Europe and now is being tested in the United States. The scale is in feet. These experiments demonstrate results that are feasible in development of energy crops. (Caption from 2006)

  • Cellulose Illustration

    Structure of Cellulose

    Structures of cellulose in plant cell wall and its hydrolysis challenges.

  • Corn Stover Illustration

    Biomass Feedstock Corn Stover

    Biotechnology offers the promise of dramatically increasing ethanol production using cellulose, the most abundant biological material on earth, and other polysaccharides (hemicellulose). Residue including post-harvest corn plants (stover) and timber residues could be used, as well as such specialized high-biomass “energy” crops as domesticated poplar trees and switchgrass.

  • Illustration of a poplar tree.

    Biomass Feedstock Poplar

    Biotechnology offers the promise of dramatically increasing ethanol production using cellulose, the most abundant biological material on earth, and other polysaccharides (hemicellulose). Residue including postharvest corn plants (stover) and timber residues could be used, as well as such specialized high-biomass “energy” crops as domesticated poplar trees and switchgrass.

  • Switchgrass Illustration

    Biomass Feedstock Switchgrass

    Biotechnology offers the promise of dramatically increasing ethanol production using cellulose, the most abundant biological material on earth, and other polysaccharides (hemicellulose). Residue including post-harvest corn plants (stover) and timber residues could be used, as well as such specialized high-biomass “energy” crops as domesticated poplar trees and switchgrass.

  • Escherichia coli Imaging

    Electron micrograph shows rod-shaped Escherichia coli secreting oil droplets containing biodiesel fuel, along with fatty acids and alcohol.

  • Biomass with stained C. thermocellum

    Clostridium thermocellum on Poplar

    Study of Nature’s Best Biocatalysts for Biofuels Production. The microbe Clostridium thermocellum (stained green), seen growing on a piece of poplar biomass, was among several microorganisms evaluated in a comparative study analyzing their ability to solubilize potential bioenergy feedstocks.