UC San Diego Takes Top Two Positions in National Rankings for Biofuel Research
A new report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) ranked programs at UC San Diego as the two best in the country for algal biofuels research, including Scripps Institution of Oceanography as top in the nation.
An external group of experts from industry, academia, government, and the non-profit sector evaluated 219 projects across nine technology areas representing $1.6 billion of BETO-supported research.
For the 28 Algae Technology Area projects reviewed by the panel, Mark Hildebrand and his team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego were ranked the highest for criteria that included technical progress, project relevance, and critical success factors.
The report specifically cited the lab’s “outstanding research” in the genetic manipulation of algae to improve the yield of key growth components for biofuel production. Coming in second was the UC San Diego Consortium for Algal Biofuels Commercialization (CAB-Comm) led by Stephen Mayfield. Members of the consortium from UC San Diego include Susan Golden, James Golden, Michael Burkart, Steven Briggs, Jonathan Shurin, and Mayfield; Scripps Institution of Oceanography members include Hildebrand, Greg Mitchell, Brian Palenik, and Bianca Brahamsha; Industry collaborators Sapphire Energy and Life Technologies and other academic institutions also participated in the consortium.
