U.S. Sen. Tom Udall will speak at 4 p.m. today at a groundbreaking ceremony for the New Mexico Consortium (NMC) Biological Research Laboratory at 95 Entrada Dr. near the Los Alamos Cooperative Market.
Construction of the laboratory, and the ensuing research, is the product of a partnership from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos County and NMC.
The new lab will be utilized by Dr. Richard Sayre and his growing team of researchers.
Sayre is director of the Biofuels Project at NMC and chief scientist for the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB).
Their research on domestic algae biofuel aims to increase the energy density of this biofuel, increase overall production and lower its cost.
The research is supported by federal funding from the United States Air Force, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
Last September, Udall introduced the Renewable Fuel Parity Act of 2011, a bipartisan initiative to provide legislative parity for algae based biofuels in the Renewable Fuel Standard to incentivize further use of algae biofuels.
Udall also has championed the Department of Energy’s algae biofuel research program, which has been funded at $30 million in the past two years.
Prior to the ceremony, Udall is scheduled to meet privately with LANL Director Charlie McMillan.
