Penn State biotechnology research got a leg up recently after receiving a $610,913 grant from the federal departments of Agriculture and Energy.
Announced by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the grant was part of a $23 million funding program for universities to research alternative fuel sources, said Luke Bernstein, a Santorum spokes-man.
Bernstein said the project is related to the Bush administration's efforts to become more independent of foreign oil.
He said Penn State received the grant because of the university's past achievements in biotechnology research.
"It's really a testament to the biotech research done at Penn State," Bernstein said. "I think it's directly related to [the administration's goals], and it's a step in the right direction to alleviate foreign oil dependency."
He said Penn State's research efforts tie into the United States' ability to become friendlier to the environment.
The project, "Coupled Processes for Bioenergy Production: Biological Hydrogen Linked with Microbial Fuel Cells," will be conducted through the College of Engineering.
John Regan, professor of civil engineering, who is working on the project with several faculty members, said the research is part of a biomass research and development initiative sponsored by the USDA and DOE.
Penn State submitted its research proposal last May.
"Biomass is basically renewable cellulosic materials, such as agricultural crops and renewable resources," Regan said. "It's about not being dependent on fossil fuels for energy."
He said that the project started with a preliminary grant of $42,500, which was given by the Huck Institute for Life Sciences.
The bulk of the USDA and DOE grant will fund graduate student work on the project, he said.
Regan said they are currently in the recruiting phase and no graduate students have been approached for the project.
Fellow researcher Mark Guiltinan, professor of plant molecular biology, said he got involved because he and colleague Bruce Logan, professor of civil engineering, were neighbors who started brainstorming.
"I worked on corn, and we think it will be an important biological material," he said. "They needed a molecular biologist and that's where I came in."
Guiltinan said while not many people know about the project yet, he is looking forward to facing the challenges of research.
"We're really just getting moving," he said. "We spent a while on the first few steps and got stalled when [a researcher] left. Initial funding didn't allow for us to hire anyone, but now we have enough money for things to really take off."
