2008 Woodie Awards
Microbe gets more funding
UM project attracts four grants
Emily Reynolds, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News
The Department of Energy has given four research grants to local company Qteros, formerly SunEthanol, which will be building a plant in Springfield starting next year.
The company is based around "Q," a microbe found in the Quabbin Reservoir by University of Massachusetts microbiologist Thomas Warnick. Professor Susan Leschine, chief scientist and cofounder of the company, found the qualities of "Q" that may revolutionize energy.
Basically, "Q" will eat plant waste from cars that use ethanol and then will create more ethanol from the waste, making it a carbon-neutral source of energy.
Qteros has already made huge leaps in the field, increasing productivity by 15 times. According to their Web site, the expense of breaking down plant material has been reduced with a new process, called C3. Complete Cellulosic Conversion makes it so that "Q" can multitask. A four-step process has been turned into a three-step process by making "Q" decompose the plant waste and convert it into ethanol at the same time.
Qteros is being recognized as a contributor to reaching the goals set by president-elect Obama of reducing dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
He plans to invest $150 billion into researching clean energy technology, a step toward the Congress-mandated goal of 16 billion gallons of advanced cellulosic biofuels by 2022.
Emily Reynolds can be reached at ereynold@student.umass.edu.
The company is based around "Q," a microbe found in the Quabbin Reservoir by University of Massachusetts microbiologist Thomas Warnick. Professor Susan Leschine, chief scientist and cofounder of the company, found the qualities of "Q" that may revolutionize energy.
Basically, "Q" will eat plant waste from cars that use ethanol and then will create more ethanol from the waste, making it a carbon-neutral source of energy.
Qteros has already made huge leaps in the field, increasing productivity by 15 times. According to their Web site, the expense of breaking down plant material has been reduced with a new process, called C3. Complete Cellulosic Conversion makes it so that "Q" can multitask. A four-step process has been turned into a three-step process by making "Q" decompose the plant waste and convert it into ethanol at the same time.
Qteros is being recognized as a contributor to reaching the goals set by president-elect Obama of reducing dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
He plans to invest $150 billion into researching clean energy technology, a step toward the Congress-mandated goal of 16 billion gallons of advanced cellulosic biofuels by 2022.
Emily Reynolds can be reached at ereynold@student.umass.edu.
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