1. Welcome Back Message 2. Introducing EBI Seminar Shorts 3. Help Us to Build a Bioeconomy Hub in Richmond 4. EBI Recharge Facility 5. EBI Business Incubator 6. Job Opportunities 7. North American SAF Conference & Expo 8. PG&E’s 2025 Innovation Pitch Fest 9. National Clean Energy Week 10. UIUC: Decarbonize Agriculture by Expanding Policies Aimed at Low-Carbon Biofuels 11. UIUC: NSF reinvests in Molecule Maker Lab Institute, AI Tools to Solve Chemistry’s Challenges 12. Tom’s Hardware: AI’s Soaring Energy Consumption is Causing Skyrocketing Power Bills for Households Across the US — States Reporting Spikes in Energy Costs of up to 36%
13. Interesting Engineering: California could Slash 56 million Tons of CO₂ Emissions by Using Retired EV Batteries 14. Ecosystems United: 7 Biofuel Trends to Expect in 2025 15. LBL: New Thin-Triple Glass Could Open Window of Opportunity for Energy Savings and Jobs
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| The Energy & Biosciences Institute is pleased to welcome all students to a brand-new academic year! Whether you’re a freshman just beginning your college journey or a returning student continuing your path, we’re excited to have you back on campus. This year will surely bring incredible opportunities for discovery, collaboration, and learning —and we hope that you will want to find out more about the groundbreaking research that is happening at the Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI) and the International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC).
With over 18 years of experience, the EBI is a multi-partner institute (UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and leader in bridging the gap between research and commercial innovation. The EBI is not just a hub of academic excellence—it’s where ideas meet real-world impact. In January 2025, the EBI founded the IBMC, an ambitious, NSF-supported center focused on developing seaweed as a sustainable, third-generation feedstock. Collaborating across 9 countries and 15 institutions, IBMC is driving innovation across the entire seaweed value chain.
We hope that you will follow us on LinkedIn and X to stay updated on our latest events and opportunities. Join our growing community and be part of the conversation!
We’re excited for all that this year holds—welcome back, and here’s to a successful and inspiring semester ahead. |
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| Introducing EBI Seminar Shorts |
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| EBI is debuting Seminar Shorts, a new series featuring concise highlights from our seminars. These curated clips showcase key insights from leading experts in energy and bioscience, making our research more accessible to a broader audience.
Watch the latest installment below! |
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Help Us to Build a Bioeconomy Hub in Richmond |
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EBI’s Executive Committee member David Zilberman has a released a new blog post titled “Help Us to Build a Bioeconomy Hub in Richmond,” where he discusses how the Richmond Field Station (RFS) can become a cornerstone for advancing UC Berkeley’s marine and macroalgae research through the International Bioeconomy & Macroalgae Center (IBMC).
Learn about the resources that the RFS provides and the vision of a bioeconomy hub by reading more.
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Berkeley Lab’s Computing Sciences Area is now accepting applications for the Luis W. Alvarez Postdoctoral Fellowship and the Admiral Grace M. Hopper Postdoctoral Fellowship in Computing Sciences. Open to early-career researchers (≤3 years post-PhD) in computer science, mathematics, data science, and computational sciences, these prestigious fellowships support cutting-edge research in HPC, AI/ML, advanced algorithms, and data-intensive science across fields from energy and climate to biology and astrophysics. |
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Position available for Assistant or Associate Professor at Energy and Resources Group |
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The Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at the University of California, Berkeley seeks applications for an open field tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor nine-month faculty position. ERG is a graduate group within the Rausser College of Natural Resources with a teaching and research mission motivated by a sustainable environment and a just society. Its faculty and students embrace the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to address society’s most complex problems. ERG focuses on teaching and research that span four pillars: economics, energy systems and engineering, environmental science, and qualitative social science. Though ERG organizes itself into these pillars, collaborative research that crosses disciplinary domains is encouraged and nurtured. |
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North American SAF Conference & Expo |
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Taking place September 22-24, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the North American SAF Conference & Expo, produced by SAF Magazine, in collaboration with the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) will showcase the latest strategies for aviation fuel decarbonization, solutions for key industry challenges, and highlight the current opportunities for airlines, corporations and fuel producers. |
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PG&E’s 2025 Innovation Pitch Fest |
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PG&E is calling on innovators to co-create the energy system of the future. This year’s Innovation Pitch Fest zeroes in on 10 urgent challenges, ranging from powering AI data centers and advancing neighborhood electrification to wildfire risk reduction and AI-driven grid reliability. With up to $25M in funding available through EPIC, selected innovators will get a fast track from pitch to deployment alongside PG&E teams. |
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National Clean Energy Week |
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Celebrate innovation across solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, carbon capture, and more during this week-long event uniting policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, and advocates. Highlights include the Policymakers Symposium, VIP Reception & Dinner, and a Young Professionals Happy Hour. National Clean Energy Week fosters bipartisan collaboration to advance clean energy solutions, strengthen the economy, and preserve the environment. |
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UIUC: Decarbonize Agriculture by Expanding Policies Aimed at Low-Carbon Biofuels |
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Researchers from the University of Illinois and colleagues propose expanding biofuel policies to reward farmers for adopting “climate-smart” practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, biochar application, and precision fertilizer use. By linking existing biofuel markets with carbon-offset mechanisms, they argue farmers could be compensated more effectively for lowering the carbon intensity of crops used in ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel. The team sees this approach as a pathway to decarbonize agriculture while ensuring accurate, lifecycle-based accounting of emissions from farm to consumer. |
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UIUC: NSF Reinvests in Molecule Maker Lab Institute, AI Tools to Solve Chemistry’s Challenges |
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The U.S. National Science Foundation has renewed funding for the Molecule Maker Lab Institute with a five-year, $15 million award to advance AI-driven molecular discovery and synthesis. Headquartered at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the institute has already produced 166 publications, 11 patent disclosures, and two startups by integrating AI models with automated molecule-building systems. Over the next phase, researchers plan to develop next-generation AI tools—including generative models for catalysts and a large language model for modular chemistry—while expanding education and workforce programs. |
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Tom’s Hardware: AI’s Soaring Energy Consumption is Causing Skyrocketing Power Bills for Households Across the US — States Reporting Spikes in Energy Costs of up to 36% |
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AI-driven demand from U.S. data centers is straining electric grids and driving household energy bills higher, with average prices rising 6.5% between May 2024–25 and some states like Maine seeing spikes of over 36%. Utilities are leaning on aging fossil fuel plants and grid operators warn of blackout risks as backup generators from data centers can destabilize supply. By 2028, data centers could consume up to 12% of U.S. electricity, worsening costs and infrastructure stress while shifting much of the burden onto consumers. |
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Interesting Engineering: California could Slash 56 million Tons of CO₂ Emissions by Using Retired EV Batteries |
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A new study finds that California could avoid 56 million tons of CO₂ emissions by giving retired EV batteries a second life as grid storage before recycling them. Reusing spent batteries helps balance renewable-heavy grids and displaces the need for newly manufactured lithium-ion units, delivering greater climate benefits than recycling alone. However, by mid-century, the volume of retired batteries will exceed grid storage demand, making early investment in large-scale recycling infrastructure essential. |
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| Ecosystems United: 7 Biofuel Trends to Expect in 2025
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| From farm waste to jet fuel, biofuels are evolving fast. 2025 could be a tipping point as new policies, tech advances, and industry demand accelerate their role in cutting emissions and reshaping the energy landscape. |
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| | | LBL: New Thin-Triple Glass Could Open Window of Opportunity for Energy Savings and Jobs |
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| Technology developed by Berkeley Lab paved the way for making highly insulating and lightweight triple-pane windows. With help from Berkeley Lab, the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office, and the private sector, U.S. window companies are opening new manufacturing plants in America to make thin triple-pane windows. Scaling up production of these windows will create opportunities: New options for affordable, energy-saving products, new jobs, and more reliable access to the materials that U.S. builders need. |
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