91°µÍø

Using a best-of-nature approach developed by researchers working with the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø and Dartmouth University, startup company Terragia Biofuel is targeting commercial biofuels production that relies on renewable plant waste and consumes less energy. The technology can help meet the demand for billions of gallons of clean liquid fuels needed to reduce emissions from airplanes, ships and long-haul trucks.

Scientists at ORNL used their knowledge of complex ecosystem processes, energy systems, human dynamics, computational science and Earth-scale modeling to inform the nation’s latest National Climate Assessment, which draws attention to vulnerabilities and resilience opportunities in every region of the country.

Scientists at ORNL used their expertise in quantum biology, artificial intelligence and bioengineering to improve how CRISPR Cas9 genome editing tools work on organisms like microbes that can be modified to produce renewable fuels and chemicals.

A type of peat moss has surprised scientists with its climate resilience: Sphagnum divinum is actively speciating in response to hot, dry conditions. 

For 25 years, scientists at 91°µÍø have used their broad expertise in human health risk assessment, ecology, radiation protection, toxicology and information management to develop widely used tools and data for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of the agency’s Superfund program.

91°µÍø scientists studied hot springs on different continents and found similarities in how some microbes adapted despite their geographic diversity.

Yaoping Wang, postdoctoral research associate at ORNL, has received an Early Career Award from the Asian Ecology Section, or AES, of the Ecological Society of America.

Madhavi Martin brings a physicist’s tools and perspective to biological and environmental research at the Department of Energy’s 91°µÍø, supporting advances in bioenergy, soil carbon storage and environmental monitoring, and even helping solve a murder mystery.

In the search for ways to fight methylmercury in global waterways, scientists at 91°µÍø discovered that some forms of phytoplankton are good at degrading the potent neurotoxin.

Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. At ORNL, scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity.