Clarkson professor recieves grant to increase the efficiency of biofuel production

In a national effort to increase biofuel production and use, Dr. Sergiy Minko, a professor of chemistry at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY has been awarded $201,000 from the National Science foundation to develop cost reduction technology for the production of such fuels. Dr. Minko will work with two professors from South Dakota, who have been awarded an additional $309,000, to make cellulose enzyme extraction more cost efficient.

The professors have identified the problem to be in discarding the enzymes after use and plan on developing a process to recycle the enzymes for further use. Such a process has the potential to reduce the price of biofuels to a point where they are in direct competition with traditional fossil fuels.

The funding comes from the Obama administration's goal to produce more than 30 billion gallons of biofuels in the next decade.

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