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July 2018
Chunmei Ban is Getting Charge Out of Battery Research by Finding Right Chemistry
Growing up in remote northwest China, researcher Chunmei Ban seemed destined to be a doctor--but decided to be a scientist, although she didn't know what scientists do.
June 2018
News Release: Researchers Discover New Enzyme Paradigm for Critical Reaction in Converting Lignin to Useful Products
An international research team, including scientists from NREL, has discovered and characterized a new family of cytochrome P450 enzymes that is critical to improving the conversion of lignin--one of the main components of plants--into valuable products such as nylon, plastics, and chemicals.
News Release: Novel Genetic Method Improves Efficiency of Enzyme
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Georgia developed a new genetic engineering technique to dramatically improve an enzyme's ability to break down biomass.
International Interest in NREL's Fuels and Engines Research
The European Union's goal is for 10% of all of Europe's transportation fuels to come from renewable sources by 2020. In April, CNBC World's international news program "Sustainable Energy" came to NREL to spotlight how the lab's breakthrough biofuels research is advancing progress toward that ambitious objective.
May 2018
Breakdown Breakthrough: NREL Finds Easier Ways to Deconstruct Biomass
Technical challenges have stymied efforts to produce bioethanol on a commercial scale, but research underway at NREL may hold the key to overcoming those barriers.
News Release: NREL Names Four Scientists Senior Research Fellows
Mowafak Al-Jassim, Andy Walker, Robert McCormick, and Gregg Beckham were chosen for their significant contributions to NREL and the larger scientific community.
News Release: NREL's Gregg Beckham Wins Prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Award
Gregg Beckham, a senior research fellow and group leader at NREL, was awarded the prize for the development of hybrid biological-catalytic and recycling processes to convert biomass and waste plastics to useful chemicals and high-value materials.
Remember the Algae that Went to Space? Here's What Happened Next
NREL scientists and Chatfield High School students are seeing the results of their collaborative experiment that sent a novel bioreactor housing two different strains of algae into space last summer.
April 2018
Co-Optima Transportation Ingenuity Capitalizes on Strengths of U.S. Energy Resources and Existing Infrastructure
The FY17 Year in Review describes recent advances including identification of key properties for new fuels, assessment of compatibility with vehicle components and infrastructure, and expansion of research to encompass solutions for the entire on-road fleet. This research effort, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is providing industry with the scientific underpinnings needed to accelerate introduction of high-performance fuels and engines that reduce energy consumption, improve air quality, and lower drivers' costs.
News Release: Research Team Engineers a Better Plastic-Degrading Enzyme
A breakthrough in enzyme research led by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the United Kingdom's University of Portsmouth has led to an improved variant of an enzyme that can breakdown ubiquitous plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025