Sandia National Lab develop advanced biocatalyst technologies

In California, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories will use their expertise in protein expression, enzyme engineering and high-throughput assays as part of a multiproject, $34 million effort by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) aimed at developing advanced biocatalyst technologies that can convert natural gas to liquid fuel for transportation.

The ARPA-E program is Reducing Emissions using Methanotrophic Organisms for Transportation Energy, REMOTE, and involves 15 different projects. Sandia is a part of a two-year award led by MOgene Green Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based MOgene, LC, and will work toward sunlight-assisted conversion of methane to butanol.

The broad goal is to have another source of energy in the U.S. that doesn’t have to be imported and could lead to lower carbon monoxide emissions than conventional fossil fuels.