St. Simons Island, GA, 17 April, 2006 – Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and Congressmen Jack Kingston and Sanford Bishop have announced that The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. (CPBR) was appropriated $4.2 million for FY2006, which includes $3.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and $750,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funds will support 30 competitively selected research projects and fellowships, including projects at the University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology (a new member), and a fellowship at Albany State University. Because CPBR’s federal funds will be matched 130 percent with funds from industry and other non-federal sources, every federal $1.00 will provide $2.30 worth of research.
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| CPBR-funded Albany State Assistant Professor Ravindra Malik collects samples of a giant grass, a potential ethanol source |
The Georgia projects will benefit the Georgia economy, Georgia agriculture, Georgia drivers, and breathers of Georgia air. The research will improve crop yields and decrease pesticide use; develop faster-growing loblolly pines to produce lower-cost wood with special properties that will make possible the manufacturing of higher value products; reduce the level of allergens in peanuts to make a safer, higher value crop; and develop a grass variety that will grow in marginal soils, withstand drought and can be used to make ethanol.
Congressman Jack Kingston said, "CPBR has been a leader in ethanol and biodiesel research since 1993 and has laid the foundation for a strong renewable fuel industry. At a time when our country needs to reduce its reliance on foreign oil, CPBR-funded researchers at universities in Georgia and other states have been and will continue to make scientific breakthroughs to bring down the cost of transportation fuels made from corn and other plant materials such as plantation-grown trees.”
“CPBR shows how research should be done in the United States,” Senator Isakson remarked. “Through this Consortium, government, universities and companies collaborate to create profitable industries that use plants and plant materials -- instead of coal or natural gas or petroleum -- to manufacture transportation fuels, plastics, pharmaceuticals and electric power. The Consortium's innovative research conducted by outstanding scientists in Georgia and other states is playing a key role in helping our country realize a brighter future.”
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| CPBR-funded UGA Professor Andrew Paterson working in his lab to improve sugarcane important for the refinery in Port Wentworth, GA. |
UGA Professor Peggy Ozias-Akins looks at peanut seedlings for her CPBR peanut allergen reduction project, at the Experiment Station in Tifton, GA. |
GA Tech researcher Dr. Gerald Pullman displays superior loblolly pine tree seedlings from his lab |
“CPBR has been a real pioneer in the ethanol-biodiesel arena, funding high quality research that is making these transportation fuels cost competitive with petroleum-based fuels,” Senator Chambliss observed. “CPBR has made and is making important contributions to the creation of a safe, reliable, renewable, and domestic energy supply.”
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| Dr. Dorin Schumacher, CPBR President |
Congressman Sanford Bishop said, “The programs operated by CPBR bring exciting new technologies into the laboratories of colleges and universities across Georgia. The advanced biotechnology research that they undertake, especially at Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Albany State, will help prepare our students to be competitive for high tech jobs after graduation.”
On behalf of CPBR’s 80 university and company members, Chairman and President Dorin Schumacher expressed appreciation for the Congressional support that has made possible such pioneering research and education. "Congressman Kingston, Congressman Bishop, Senator Isakson and Senator Chambliss have shown real leadership in supporting CPBR’s energy and environmental research programs to create affordable and environmentally safe alternatives to products made from fossil fuels. We all appreciate their foresight in being on the cleaner, renewable energy bandwagon from the beginning.”
Founded in 1985, The Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. is a national, non-profit consortium, partnering U.S. research universities with companies for the development of improved products and processes. Since 1989, CPBR has funded nearly 350 research projects with over $100 million in federal funds and non-federal matching funds. CPBR's national headquarters is on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
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