DOE announces $30 Million Electrofuels Grant

ARPA-E* is seeking new ways to make liquid transportation fuels - without using petroleum or biomass

 - by using microorganisms to harness chemical or electrical energy to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels.
ARPA-E requests innovative proposals which can overcome these challenges through the utilization of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological approaches for the efficient con version of carbon dioxide to liquid transportation fuels. ARPA-E specifically seeks the development of organisms capable of extracting energy from hydrogen, from reduced earth-abundant metal ions, from robust, inexpensive, readily available organic redox active species, or directly from electric current. Theoretically such an approach could be 10 times more efficient than current photosynthetic-biomass approaches to liquid fuel production. View full announcement here

EXAMPLE depicted in above photo of  Sandia researcher Rich Diver assembling a prototype device intended to chemically reenergize carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, which ultimately could become the building block to synthesize a liquid combustible fuel. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

*The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is a new agency of the Department of Energy. ARPA-E was authorized by the America COMPETES Act (PL 110-69) and charged with the mission to fund projects that will develop transformational technologies that reduce Americas dependence on foreign energy imports; reduce U.S. energy related emissions, including greenhouse gases; improve energy efficiency across all sectors of the U.S. economy; and ensure that the United States maintains its leadership in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies.