I-CARES Externally Funded Research
Renewable energy and energy efficient technologies are key to creating a clean energy future for not only the
nation, but also the world. Their use can substantially reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants that
contribute to global climate change.
I-CARES coordinates research efforts at Washington University and works with other organizations and universities worldwide to explore alternative energy sources and to develop novel products, applications, and sustainability practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable energy independence. An overview of current research activities follows.
PARC
Established with a $20 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Photosynthetic Antenna Research
Center (PARC) is one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) created by the DOE on April 27, 2009.
EFRCs bring together groups of leading scientists to address fundamental issues in fields ranging from solar
energy and electricity storage to materials sciences, biofuels, advanced nuclear systems, and carbon capture
and sequestration.
As an I-CARES solar initiative, the goal of PARC is to understand the basic scientific principles that underlie the efficient functioning of the natural photosynthetic antenna system as a basis for manmade systems to convert sunlight into fuels. The center is organized around three programmatic themes:
Specific underlying issues include structure determination of natural antennas using both traditional and novel techniques at different levels of scale, as well as the connections between new structural detail that is revealed and the functional characteristics.
Other areas if research involve elucidation of how the size and pigment composition of natural antenna systems affect the efficiency of energy conversion, as well as how the range of photosynthetically active radiation might be extended into other wavelength regions of the solar spectrum. Additional research goals involve how bioinspired and biohybrid systems can be designed to use the principles of natural antennas to enhance solar energy collection and storage.
PARC brings together a core of Washington University researchers along with selected other scientists from academia, private research institutions, and national labs to produce an international interdisciplinary team that brings extraordinary breadth and depth of intellectual and technical expertise to this important research area. Washington University researchers come from the College of Arts & Sciences - Departments of Biology and Chemistry, and the School of Engineering - Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. Prof. Robert Blankenship will serve as the director of PARC and Prof. Dewey Holten will serve as associate director. Other Washington University participants are Profs. Himadri Pakrasi, Pratim Biswas, and Cynthia Lo. Other PARC participants include: Richard Sayre, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Andrew Shreve and Gabriel Montano, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Jonathan Lindsey, North Carolina State University; Dean Myles and Volker Urban, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Jerilyn Timlin, Sandia National Laboratory; David Bocian, University of California, Riverside; Richard Cogdell, University of Glasgow, UK; P. Leslie Dutton and Christopher Moser, University of Pennsylvania; and Neil Hunter, University of Sheffield, UK.
I-CARES coordinates research efforts at Washington University and works with other organizations and universities worldwide to explore alternative energy sources and to develop novel products, applications, and sustainability practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable energy independence. An overview of current research activities follows.
Hydrogen
I-CARES received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the cyanobacterium Cyanothece as a model ogranism for photobiological hydrogen production. Working in collaboration with colleagues at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, researchers hope to develop a deeper understanding of the metabolism of these microbes as it pertains to hydrogen evolution.Biomass
The Missouri Life Sciences Research Board awarded I-CARES nearly $3 million for biofuels research. Now in its second year of funding, faculty at I-CARES along with others at Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri campus in Columbia and St. Louis, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are completing research activities aimed at the efficient production of renewable biofuels. The two primary objectives of this project are to improve the process of converting lignocellulosic materials using genomics and metagenomics-aided approaches; and to identify photosynthetic microorganisms that can efficiently convert carbon dioxide into biomass, which can be further converted into biofuels, providing both a source of renewable energy and carbon capture.PARC
Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center
Established with a $20 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Photosynthetic Antenna Research
Center (PARC) is one of 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) created by the DOE on April 27, 2009.
EFRCs bring together groups of leading scientists to address fundamental issues in fields ranging from solar
energy and electricity storage to materials sciences, biofuels, advanced nuclear systems, and carbon capture
and sequestration.
As an I-CARES solar initiative, the goal of PARC is to understand the basic scientific principles that underlie the efficient functioning of the natural photosynthetic antenna system as a basis for manmade systems to convert sunlight into fuels. The center is organized around three programmatic themes:
- Efficiency of Natural and Genetically Modified Antenna Systems;
- Structure and Function of Natural and Biohybrid Antenna Systems; and
- Development of Bioinspired Antenna Systems.
Specific underlying issues include structure determination of natural antennas using both traditional and novel techniques at different levels of scale, as well as the connections between new structural detail that is revealed and the functional characteristics.
Other areas if research involve elucidation of how the size and pigment composition of natural antenna systems affect the efficiency of energy conversion, as well as how the range of photosynthetically active radiation might be extended into other wavelength regions of the solar spectrum. Additional research goals involve how bioinspired and biohybrid systems can be designed to use the principles of natural antennas to enhance solar energy collection and storage.
PARC brings together a core of Washington University researchers along with selected other scientists from academia, private research institutions, and national labs to produce an international interdisciplinary team that brings extraordinary breadth and depth of intellectual and technical expertise to this important research area. Washington University researchers come from the College of Arts & Sciences - Departments of Biology and Chemistry, and the School of Engineering - Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. Prof. Robert Blankenship will serve as the director of PARC and Prof. Dewey Holten will serve as associate director. Other Washington University participants are Profs. Himadri Pakrasi, Pratim Biswas, and Cynthia Lo. Other PARC participants include: Richard Sayre, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Andrew Shreve and Gabriel Montano, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Jonathan Lindsey, North Carolina State University; Dean Myles and Volker Urban, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Jerilyn Timlin, Sandia National Laboratory; David Bocian, University of California, Riverside; Richard Cogdell, University of Glasgow, UK; P. Leslie Dutton and Christopher Moser, University of Pennsylvania; and Neil Hunter, University of Sheffield, UK.
I-CARES Director, Himadri Pakrasi: Wilson Hall 308, phone 935-6853,
pakrasi@wustl.edu
Washington University in St. Louis | Campus Box 1137 | Wilson Hall | p:(314) 935-9541 | f:(314) 935-8818
