Feds earmark $22.1m for Mass. energy projects

April 30, 2010 01:20 PM E-mail| |Comments ()| Text size – +

Globe Staff

Seven Massachusetts projects that seek to change the way that energy is produced and used have been selected to collectively receive $22.1 million in federal research funding, the US Department of Energy said.

A Boston company selected to receive $6 million is Ginkgo BioWorks, which seeks to engineer the E. coli bacterium to harness electric current to convert carbon dioxide and water into isooctane, a component of gasoline, the department said.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is set to receive nearly $5 million for a project that aims to develop a new battery concept that combines the best elements of rechargeable batteries and fuel cells. Such a battery could help power "affordable electric vehicles," the department said.

Another MIT project looks to engineer two microbes to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into oil, which could be refined into biodiesel. That project is in line to receive about $3.2 million, the department said. Two other MIT projects are set to receive about $2.8 million.

Nearly $4.2 million has been set aside for a project from Harvard Medical School-Wyss Institute. This project looks to engineer a bacterium that can use electricity to convert carbon dioxide into octanol, an energy-dense liquid fuel, the department said.

Also on the list is University of Massachusetts Amherst, which is being allocated $1 million for a project in which microorganisms use electric current to convert water and carbon dioxide into butanol at much higher efficiency than traditional photosynthesis and without the need for arable land, the department said.

Nationwide, the department said in a press release that it is awarding $106 million for 37 projects.

The grants were announced by Vice President Joe Biden, who said in a statement, "By investing in our top researchers, we’re not only continuing in the spirit of American innovation, but helping build a competitive American clean energy industry that will create secure jobs here at home for years to come."